Samurai Banners

Samurai Banners
Directed by Hiroshi Inagaki
Produced by Hiroshi Inagaki
Tomoyuki Tanaka
Toshiro Mifune
Yoshio Nishikawa
Written by Shinobu Hashimoto
Takeo Kunihiro
Yasushi Inoue (novel)
Starring Toshiro Mifune
Yorozuya Kinnosuke
Music by Masaru Satô
Release dates
  • 1969
Country Japan
Language Japanese

Samurai Banners (風林火山 Fūrin Kazan) is a Japanese samurai drama film released in 1969. It was directed by Hiroshi Inagaki and is based on the life of the famous Sengoku-era battle strategist, Yamamoto Kansuke.

Plot

Yamamoto Kansuke (Toshiro Mifune) is a general of warlord Takeda Shingen (Yorozuya Kinnosuke), whose titular red banners are his trademark.[1] Yamamoto has a ruthless but effective approach to battle and politics, and advises Takeda Shingen on almost everything he does, including the assassination of Suwa Yorishige (Akihiko Hirata). Of Lord Suwa's household, Princess Yu (Yoshiko Sakuma) refuses to commit suicide, and the film comes to center on a love triangle between the lord, his general, and the princess.

The movie ends with the fourth Battle of Kawanakajima, in which Yamamoto erroneously believes his battle tactics have failed and commits a pincer attack, but is killed in action before the battle is won.

Cast

References

  1. ↑ Galloway, Patrick (2005). Stray Dogs & Lone Wolves: The Samurai Film Handbook. Berkeley, California: Stone Bridge Press. pp. 134–137. ISBN 1-880656-93-0.

External links