For those times when a sword just won't get the job done.
This poster was made for the classic Tomisaburô Wakayama gangster flick Kapone no shatei yamato damashi, known in English as A Boss with the Samurai Spirit. It's the third one we've found for the movie, and as you already know from our previous posts, these round promos are rare. They were made only by Toei Company, as far as we know, and only for a few years during the late 1960s and early ’70s. We have others we'll get to later. For now, see two more examples here and here, and a third in this group. Also, you can see the other two Kapone posters here and here.
Update: with these circular promos, lately we've been going back into old posts and uploading the art in two halves for anyone who wants a decent-sized version of their own. That's what we've done today (January 15, 2022). We're always tinkering with old posts. You never know what you'll find if you dig around.
Meet the new boss, nothing like the old boss.
Above, a poster for the Japanese actioner Kapone no shatei yamato damashi, aka A Boss with the Samurai Spirit, aka Capone's Younger Brother: Heart and Speculation, starring the prolific Tomisaburô Wakayama. The movie deals with a hired killer whose latest contract turns out to have wide-ranging consequences, making him turn against his employer. We shared the original poster for this as part of a group post back in 2013. This is a re-issue poster. We don't know exactly when it came out, but the film originally premiered in Japan today in 1971.
Hiroyuki Nakano’s sword opera Samurai Fiction challenges festival audience but ultimately leaves it satisfied.
San Sebastian in general and Cinema Caravan in particular are keeping us busy, but we have time for a quick post, so here we go. Last night we attended a screening of Hiroyuki Nakano’s 1998 adventure/comedy SF: Episode One, also known as Samurai Fiction. It’s a quirky movie, imaginatively shot mostly in black and white, and involves a young samurai on a mission to both avenge a friend’s death and retrieve a priceless sword. He encounters an ex-samurai who tries to teach him the wisdom of non-violence, with limited success. The movie is set in 1689 and looks a bit like Kurosawa’s great period pieces, but subverts that similarity with its humor and modern rock 'n’ roll soundtrack. Since it was in Japanese with English subtitles, the mostly Basque audience was perhaps a bit baffled, but even those with language difficulties could enjoy the film’s visual creativity, and ultimately everyone seemed to enjoy it.
Watching Samurai Fiction got us thinking about our many Japanese posters, and because we actually have access to that stuff wherever we go, we decided to share five of the nicer pieces in our collection. In terms of information on these, time is a little tight to research them carefully, but here’s what we know: poster one—nothing; poster two—Nawa Hada Jigoku: Rope Skin Hell, with Naomi Tani, 1979; poster three—we’re unsure on that one, but that’s definitely Kayoko Honoo in the art; poster four—Kapone no shatei, yamato damashi, aka A Boss with the Samurai Spirit, with Tomisaburô Wakayama, 1971; poster five—nothing. But we'll see if we can find something about that one. See ya soon.
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The headlines that mattered yesteryear.
1910—First Seaplane Takes Flight
Frenchman Henri Fabre, who had studied airplane and propeller designs and had also patented a system of flotation devices, accomplishes the first take-off from water at Martinque, France, in a plane he called Le Canard, or "the duck." 1953—Jim Thorpe Dies
American athlete Jim Thorpe, who was one of the most prolific sportsmen ever and won Olympic gold medals in the 1912 pentathlon and decathlon, played American football at the collegiate and professional levels, and also played professional baseball and basketball, dies of a heart attack. 1958—Khrushchev Becomes Premier
Nikita Khrushchev becomes premier of the Soviet Union. During his time in power he is responsible for the partial de-Stalinization of the Soviet Union, and presides over the rise of the early Soviet space program, but his many policy failures lead to him being deposed in October 1964. After his removal he is pensioned off and lives quietly the rest of his life, eventually dying of heart disease in 1971. 1997—Heaven's Gate Cult Members Found Dead
In San Diego, thirty-nine members of a cult called Heaven's Gate are found dead after committing suicide in the belief that a UFO hidden in tail of the Hale-Bopp comet was a signal that it was time to leave Earth for a higher plane of existence. The cult members killed themselves by ingesting pudding and applesauce laced with poison.
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