Village of the 8 Tombs

Yatsuhaka-mura

Japan

1996

126 Min

Color

2.35:1

Japanese

Currently 4.3/5 Stars.
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SCR Kon Ichikawa, Ikuko Oyabu, Seishi Yokomizo

CAST Etsushi Toyokawa, Yūko Asano, Yu Ji Chin Ye, Hisashi Igawa, Renji Ishibashi, Takeshi Katô, Saburô Ishikura, Ittoku Kishibe, Kyôko Kishida, Mai Kitajima, Akiji Kobayashi, Shigeru Kôyama, Hisako Manda, Kayoko Shiraishi, Kazuya Takahashi, Shin Takuma, Tsuyoshi Ujiki, Hideko Yoshida, Ma Sun Yu

SOUND Tetsuya Ohashi, Teiichi Saitô

Synopsis

400 hundred years ago the inhabitants of the village of Yatsuhaka murdered 8 samurai rebels, whom they were actually helping to hide away, afraid of what the Shogunate would do to them. Before dying one the samurai puts a curse on the village. Strange things start to happen so the villagers decided to erect 8 graves for the murdered samurai to appease their anger. Then four hundred years later the head of Tajimi family and head of the village goes mad and starts killing almost everyone in the village. —IMDb

Director

Kon Ichikawa

Born on November 20, 1915, in Ujiyamada, Mie Prefecture, Ichikawa first gained western recognition during the 1950s and 60s with several bleak films, particularly two acclaimed antiwar films, The Burmese Harp and Fires on the Plain.

Ichikawa began his career as a cartoonist, and collaborated with his wife, screenwriter Natto WADA, until 1965. His films are generally regarded as dark and bleak, interspersed with sparks of humanity, and he often intertwines comedy and tragedy within the same story. He also has a flair for technical expertise, irony, detachment, and a drive for realism across all genres. After Akira KUROSAWA’s departure, no other Japanese director has come close to Ichikawa’s level of recognition, the power of his films, and commercial success.

Ichikawa passed away on February 13, 2008. At age 91 (2006), he was still active as a director, completing a feature-length film, The Inugamis, and directing one segment of the Japanese fantasy, Ten Nights of Dream… read more