is a

1955 Events January * January 3 – José Ramón Guizado becomes president of Panama. * January 17 – , the first nuclear-powered submarine, puts to sea for the first time, from Groton, Connecticut. * January 18– 20 – Battle of Yijian ...

Japanese film The has a history that spans more than 100 years. Japan has one of the oldest and largest film industries in the world; as of 2021, it was the fourth largest by number of feature films produced. In 2011 Japan produced 411 feature films that ea ...

directed by

Kenji Mizoguchi was a Japanese film director and screenwriter, who directed about one hundred films during his career between 1923 and 1956. His most acclaimed works include ''The Story of the Last Chrysanthemums'' (1939), ''The Life of Oharu'' (1952), ''Uget ...

. It is based on a prose version by

Eiji Yoshikawa was a Japanese historical novelist. Among his best-known novels are revisions of older classics. He was mainly influenced by classics such as ''The Tale of the Heike'', ''Tale of Genji'', ''Water Margin'' and ''Romance of the Three Kingdoms'', m ...

of a Japanese

epic poem An epic poem, or simply an epic, is a lengthy narrative poem typically about the extraordinary deeds of extraordinary characters who, in dealings with gods or other superhuman forces, gave shape to the mortal universe for their descendants. ...

, ''

The Tale of the Heike is an epic poetry, epic account compiled prior to 1330 of the struggle between the Taira clan and Minamoto clan for control of Japan at the end of the 12th century in the Genpei War (1180–1185). Heike () refers to the Taira (), ''hei'' being ...

''. It is Mizoguchi's second and last film in color, the other being ''

Princess Yang Kwei Fei is a 1955 Japanese historical film directed by Kenji Mizoguchi. It was a co-production between Daiei Film and Shaw & Sons, Hong Kong (later Shaw Brothers). It is one of Mizoguchi's two colour films, the other being '' Tales of the Taira Clan'', ...

'' (''Yōkihi'') of the same year.

Critical reaction

Kevin B Lee in a 2009 review for ''

Slant Magazine ''Slant Magazine'' is an American online publication that features reviews of movies, music, TV, DVDs, theater, and video games, as well as interviews with actors, directors, and musicians. The site covers various film festivals like the New York ...

'' found it a rather tentative attempt at color filmmaking and a self-conscious "prestige" picture, with Mizoguchi's usual themes present but at odds with the desire for spectacle and action of a samurai movie. After the American release of the film in 1964, Eugene Archer of ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'' wrote that the plot was "subordinate to the decor". Various critics have suggested that the film's setting at the end of the

Heian period The is the last division of classical Japanese history, running from 794 to 1185. It followed the Nara period, beginning when the 50th emperor, Emperor Kanmu, moved the capital of Japan to Heian-kyō (modern Kyoto). means "peace" in Japanese. ...

, a politically unstable time, and its concern with the transition of power reflect the situation of

Post-occupation Japan Post-occupation Japan is the period in postwar Japanese history which started when the Allied occupation of Japan ended in 1952 and lasted to the end of the Showa era in 1989. Despite the massive devastation it suffered in the Second World War, ...

, when the film was made in the 1950s.

Cast

Ichikawa Raizō VIII was a Japanese film and kabuki actor. His birth name was ,While the stage names of all kabuki actors have retained traditional order (Surname-Givenname) on Wikipedia, birth names of those born after the Meiji Restoration are in Western order (Give ...

Taira no Kiyomori was a military leader and ''kugyō'' of the late Heian period of Japan. He established the first samurai-dominated administrative government in the history of Japan. Early life Kiyomori was born in Heian-kyō, Japan, in 1118 as the first so ...

* Ichijirō Ōya as

Taira no Tadamori was the head of the Taira clan. He was son of Taira no Masamori, and father of Taira no Kiyomori. Tadamori was also governor of the provinces of Harima, Ise, Bizen, and Tajima. He consolidated the influence of the Taira clan at the Imperial Co ...

, father of Kiyomori *

Yoshiko Kuga is a Japanese people, Japanese actress. Biography and personal life Kuga was born in Tokyo, Japan. Her father, , was a marquis and a member of the House of Peers (Japan), House of Peers. In 1946, while still attending Gakushuin Junior High Sc ...

Taira no Tokiko was a Japanese aristocrat from the Heian period. She was the concubine of Taira no Kiyomori, mother of Taira no Tokuko, and grandmother of Emperor Antoku. Later she took the vows to become a nun, after which she was generally referred to by her ...

, concubine of Kiyomori * Naritoshi Hayashi as

Taira no Tokitada The Taira was one of the four most important clans that dominated Japanese politics during the Heian, Kamakura and Muromachi Periods of Japanese history – the others being the Fujiwara, the Tachibana, and the Minamoto. The clan is divi ...

, brother of Tokiko *

Tamao Nakamura (born July 12, 1939 in Kyoto, Japan) is a Japanese actress. Her father is kabuki actor Nakamura Ganjirō II. She was scouted by director Teruo Ogiyama and made her film debut with ''Kageko to Yukie'' when she was a junior high school student. A ...

as Taira no Shigeko, sister of Tokiko *

Michiyo Kogure (31 January 1918 – 13 June 1990) was a Japanese film actress. She appeared in nearly 200 films in a career which spanned 45 years, starring in works by Akira Kurosawa, Kenji Mizoguchi, Yasujirō Ozu, Mikio Naruse, and others. Film histor ...

as Empress consort

Fujiwara no Taishi Fujiwara no Taishi may refer to either of the following Japanese noblewomen: * Fujiwara no Taishi (died 794), wife of Prince Ate, who became Emperor Heizei after her death * Fujiwara no Taishi (died 1155), wife of Emperor Toba {{set index ...

Eijirō Yanagi (16 September 1895 – 24 April 1984) was a Japanese actor. He appeared in more than 160 films from 1940 to 1975. Career Starting out in shingeki theater, Yanagi moved to shinpa (also rendered ''shimpa'') is a form of theater in Japan, ...

Retired Emperor Retired Emperor, Grand Emperor, or Emperor Emeritus is a title occasionally used by the monarchical regimes in the Sinosphere for former emperors who had (at least in name) abdicated voluntarily to another member of the same clan, usually their s ...

Shirakawa *

Hisao Toake Hisao (written: 央生, 久生, 久雄, 寿雄, 寿夫, 尚雄, 尚久 or 尚勇) is a masculine Japanese given name. Notable people with the name include: *, Japanese voice actor *, Japanese government official *, Japanese baseball player *, Japa ...

Regent A regent (from Latin : ruling, governing) is a person appointed to govern a state '' pro tempore'' (Latin: 'for the time being') because the monarch is a minor, absent, incapacitated or unable to discharge the powers and duties of the monarchy ...

Fujiwara no Tadamichi was the eldest son of the Japanese regent ('' Kampaku'') Fujiwara no Tadazane and a member of the politically powerful Fujiwara clan. He was the father of Fujiwara no Kanefusa and Jien. In the Hōgen Rebellion of 1156, Tadamichi sided with the ...

Koreya Senda was a Japanese stage director, translator, and actor. He was born in Kanagawa Prefecture.CITWF. Koreya Senda< ...

Minister of the Left The ''Kenkyusha's New Japanese-English Dictionary'', Kenkyusha Limited, was a government position in Japan in the late Nara and Heian periods. The position was consolidated in the Taihō Code of 702. The Asuka Kiyomihara Code of 689 marks the i ...

Fujiwara no Yorinaga was a Japanese statesman and a member of the Fujiwara clan who was highly significant in determining the course of 12th century Japanese political history. Early life Born in 1120, Yorinaga had a turbulent youth. He later wrote that he did not ...

, brother of Tadamichi *

Kunitarō Sawamura was a Japanese kabuki and film actor. Career Sawamura, whose original name was Yūichi Katō, was born in Tokyo to the kabuki actor Denzō Takeshiba. He studied acting under Sōjūrō Sawamura VII before taking the stage name Kunitarō Sawamura I ...

as Jokū

Notes

References

* http://www.raizofan.net/link4/movie1/heike.htm

External links

* 1955 films Jidaigeki films Samurai films 1950s Japanese-language films Films directed by Kenji Mizoguchi Daiei Film films Films produced by Masaichi Nagata Cultural depictions of Taira no Kiyomori 1950s Japanese films {{1950s-Japan-film-stub