Eijanaika

Jan 8, 1981

2h 31m

★ 6.1

Overview

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.

Genres

Drama

Production Companies

Imamura Productions

Shochiku

Eijanaika Trailers

Cast

Genji

Shigeru Izumiya

Ine

Kaori Momoi

Itoman

Masao Kusakari

Furukawa

Ken Ogata

Masuya

Norihei Miki

Toramatsu

Junzaburō Ban

Oko

Mitsuko Baisho

Kinzo

Shigeru Tsuyuguchi

Oyoshi

Ако

Magoshichi

Shōhei Hino

Yoshino

Shino Ikenami

Nui

Etsuko Ikuta

Takizawa Bakin, a popular Edo period author, begins to recount a story he is planning in front of his friend, the artist Katsushika Hokusai. The story is about eight warriors who, each carrying a jewel, gather together as if guided by fate and embark on a harsh journey to fight the curse of the Satomi family. Hokusai is drawn into the story that Bakin is telling, and visits Bakin on various occasions to hear the rest of the story, and a strange relationship between the two begins. The serialization becomes Bakin's life's work, with the idea of "rewarding good and punishing evil in a world where evil is rampant," but after 28 years, as the story finally approaches its climax, Bakin begins to lose his sight. With the completion of the story in doubt, he receives an unexpected proposal from his daughter-in-law. Will the story ever be completed?

6.9

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6.8

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8.0

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7.0

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7.7

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7.3

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6.0

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7.2

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6.2

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5.7

Hanzo the Razor: Who's Got the Gold?

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7.8

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6.6

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6.5

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8.2

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7.1

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7.4

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7.8

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7.5

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8.4

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