The Fall of Ako Castle (AKA Swords of Vengeance) is the late director Kinji Fukasaku‘s take on the real historical event known as the Forty-seven Ronin, which took place in early 18th Century Japan. The tale of revenge focuses on a group of samurai who were left leaderless after their feudal lord is forced to commit ritual suicide (seppuku) after assaulting a court official. The ronin spend two years planning their revenge attack and once it is complete are forced to also commit seppuku for the act of murder. The story was popularised in Japanese culture as emblematic of the loyalty, sacrifice, persistence, and honor that all good people should preserve in their daily lives.
The story has been brought to the cinema screen at least six times, with perhaps the most famous version being Chushingura: Hana no Maki, Yuki no Maki (1962), featuring Toshirō Mifune as one of the ronin, who would also go on to feature in Fukasaku’s version. Next year Keanu Reeves is set to star in 47 Ronin, a Hollywood version of the tale that sees him play a half Japanese half British character who joins the samurai in their quest for revenge.
Superstar actor and martial artist Sonny Chiba headlined Fukasaku’s version and is perhaps best known in the West for his role in 1974’s The Street Fighter, which firmly established him as a martial arts legend. Fukasaku had earlier directed several successful samurai period and yakuza films such as Battles Without Honor and Humanity (1973) and the Japanese portion of 1970s Tora! Tora! Tora! His final film, Battle Royale (2000), is perhaps the one he is best known outside of Japan.
The film’s original trailer is on YouTube.
Roger Kastel artwork on this poster for the 1978 heist-caper starring Donald Sutherland and Sean Connery and directed by the late Michael Crichton. The film is based on his book of the same name, which is itself loosely based on an actual heist known as the Great Gold Robbery of 1855 in which a large quantity of gold was stolen from a train by a master thief and his accomplices. Pierce (Connery) works with Agar (Sutherland) to acquire the four keys that are required to break into the storage compartment on the moving train and must then attempt to escape with the loot.
The film is notable for the stunt-work, including walking on the roof of a moving train, that was apparently done by Connery himself. It’s also worth noting that the film was renamed to The First Great Train Robbery in the UK so it wouldn’t get confused with an infamous British train robbery in 1963 in which £2.6 million was stolen from a train in Buckinghamshire. The crime was dubbed The Great Train Robbery by the British press.
Roger Kastel’s website can be viewed here and it features plenty of great images of his brilliant work, including the iconic image that he originally drew for the paperback cover of Jaws, which was later used on movie posters for the film all over the world.. He’s also responsible for the excellent ‘Gone with the Wind’ style one sheet for The Empire Strikes Back.
The original trailer for the film is on YouTube.
