151 minutes
1/8/1981
The film depicts carnivalesque atmosphere summed up by the cry "Ei ja nai ka" ("Why not?") in Japan in 1867 and 1868 in the days leading to the Meiji Restoration. It examines the effects of the political and social upheaval of the time, and culminates in a revelrous march on the Tokyo Imperial Palace, which turns into a massacre. Characteristically, Imamura focuses not on the leaders of the country, but on characters in the lower classes and on the fringes of society.
Shigeru Izumiya
as Genji
Kaori Momoi
as Ine
Masao Kusakari
as Itoman
Ken Ogata
as Furukawa
Norihei Miki
as Masuya
Junzaburō Ban
as Toramatsu
Mitsuko Baisho
as Oko
Shigeru Tsuyuguchi
as Kinzo
Ако
as Oyoshi
Shōhei Hino
as Magoshichi
Shino Ikenami
as Yoshino
Etsuko Ikuta
as Nui
Hiroshi Inuzuka
as Roku
Chōichirō Kawarasaki
as Nakazawa
Kazuo Kitamura
as Koide
Nenji Kobayashi
as Matakichi
Yasuaki Kurata
as Hanjiro
Shoichi Ozawa
as Sakunojo
Sanshō Shinsui
as Densuke
Kazuko Shirakawa
as Yamikumo-dayu
Yuko Tanaka
as Omatsu
Kibaji Tankobo
as Gon
Minori Terada
as Ijuin
Taiji Tonoyama
as Jyosyuya