The Men Who Tread on the Tiger's Tail (Japanese: 虎の尾を踏む男達, Hepburn: Tora no O o Fumu Otokotachi, alternatively They Who Step on the Tiger's Tail) is a 1945 Japanese period drama film written and directed by Akira Kurosawa, based on the kabuki play Kanjinchō, which is in turn based on the Noh play Ataka.

This article needs additional citations for verification. (April 2022)

The Men Who Tread on the Tiger's Tail
Original title	Tora no O o Fumu Otokotachi
Japanese	虎の尾を踏む男達
Directed by	Akira Kurosawa
Screenplay by	Akira Kurosawa
Based on	Kanjinchō by Namiki Gohei III Ataka by Kanze Kojiro Nobumitsu
Produced by	Motohiko Itō
Starring	Denjirō Ōkōchi Tadayoshi Nishina Susumu Fujita Masayuki Mori Takashi Shimura Ken'ichi Enomoto Akitake Kōno Yoshio Kosugi Dekao Yokoo
Cinematography	Takeo Itô
Music by	Tadashi Hattori
Production company	Toho Studios
Distributed by	Toho Company Ltd.
Release date	April 24, 1952 (1952-04-24)
Running time	59 minutes
Country	Japan
Language	Japanese

It was initially banned by the occupying Supreme Commander of the Allied Powers (SCAP), likely due to its portrayal of feudal values. Kurosawa blamed bureaucratic sabotage by the wartime Japanese censors, who also disapproved. The film was later released following the signing of the Treaty of San Francisco in 1952.[1]

Plot

In 1185, the Heike family fights against the Minamoto family. After a bloody naval battle in the Seto Inland Sea, Yoshitsune Minamoto defeats the enemy and the survivors commit suicide. When the triumphant Yoshitsune arrives in Kyoto, his brother, the Shogun Yoritomo, is uneasy and orders his men to arrest Yoshitsune. However, Yoshitsune escapes with six loyal samurai led by Benkei and they head to the country of his only friend Hidehira Fujiwara. Near the border, after crossing the forest disguised as monks, their porter discovers that they are Yoshitsune and the six samurais and advises that the fearful Kajiwara and his soldiers are waiting for them at the border to arrest them. Yoshitsune disguises as a porter and at the barrier, Benkei has to convince Kajiwara that they are six monks traveling to collect donations to repair the Todai temple in Nara.

Analysis

Critic David Conrad has said that the character of the porter, who does not exist in the original Noh or kabuki plays, prefigures Kurosawa's later commoner characters like the woodcutter in Rashomon and the villagers in Seven Samurai. "The presence of a low-class character among the high and mighty helps anchor the story in familiar ground, and the porter is free to express thoughts that proper samurai leave unsaid... Each of Kurosawa’s later jidaigeki, and many of his gendaigeki as well, would use characters of different castes and classes to achieve something similar to this dynamic. His stories play out in three-dimensional social worlds, allowing him to explore events and themes from multiple perspectives."[2]

Cast

• Denjirō Ōkōchi as Benkei
• Tadayoshi Nishina (Iwai Hanshirō X) as Yoshitsune
• Susumu Fujita as Togashi
• Masayuki Mori as Kamei
• Takashi Shimura as Kataoka
• Ken'ichi Enomoto as porter
• Akitake Kōno as Ise
• Yoshio Kosugi as Suruga
• Dekao Yokoo as Hitachibō
• Yasuo Hisamatsu as Kajiwara's messenger
• Shōji Kiyokawa as Togashi's messenger

References

Sources

• Conrad, David A. (2022). Akira Kurosawa and Modern Japan. McFarland & Co. ISBN 978-1-4766-8674-5.
• Kurosawa, Akira (1983). Something Like an Autobiography. Translated by Audie E. Bock. Vintage Books. ISBN 978-0-394-71439-4.

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to The Men Who Tread on the Tiger's Tail.

• The Men Who Tread on the Tiger's Tail at IMDb
• The Men Who Tread on the Tiger's Tail at AllMovie
• The Men Who Tread on the Tiger's Tail (in Japanese) at the Japanese Movie Database

На других языках

[ru] Идущие по хвосту тигра