The Blazing Sword (燃えよ剣)

SHOCHIKU FILMS

BLAZING SWORD Moe Yo Ken

Produced by OSUMI Tsuneo

Originai Story by SHIBA Ryotaro

Screenpiay by KATO Tai MORISAKI Azuma HASEBE Toshiro

Photography: SAKAI Tadashi Music: WATANABE Takeo

cast

KURIXUKA Asahi

WAZAKI Shunya ISHIKURA Hidehiko KOBAYASHI Tetsuko

Narrated by AKUTAGAWA Takayuki TAKAMIYA Keiji UESUGI Takaya TAKANO Shinji TOUE Jotaro AMATSU Bin

UCHIDA Ryohei

Directed by ICHIMURA Hirokazu

MAY, 4th YEAR OF ANSEI (1857)

MAY, 4th YEAR OF ANSEI (1857) It was May of the 4th year of Ansei, in Hinojuku.

It was May of the 4th year of Ansei, in Hinojuku.

A hot and humid night in eariy summer.

It happened on the festivai night at Rokusho Meijin in Fuchu...

Toshi, where are you going?

Are you heading for Myojin fair to iook for women?

It,s too eariy for that!

Why not come to my piace? I'ii keep the door open for you!

Idiot!

Don,t you know Toshi doesn,t go for farm giris?

His women have to have ciass!

Toshi, is that true?

Hurry up and run!

Don,t forget where we promised to meet!

We swore that if we die, we'ii die together! I'ii never ieave you behind!

Stop that woman!

Doesn,t iook iike much of a fight...

Are they serious?

Somebody heip us! He's going to be kiiied!

Toshi, heip them! Piease!

Not me!

I iike fighting, but I won't interrupt a revenge match.

Damn you!

If you're going to kiii me, go ahead kiii me!

Kiii me! - We're not through with you yet!

You'd better come back and get to work!

No!

If I have to go back there, I'd rather die!

Kiii me! Kiii me!

Let go of me! Let go!

Reiease that woman!

Mind your own business, or we'ii cut you down!

Stop it! Toshi!

Don't! Toshi, stop!

Sister, what are you doing here?

What's the matter with you? Why are you using your sword?

You didn,t kiii anyone, did you?

No, I didn't! I just tried to scare them.

My sweetheart...

My beioved!

Toshi, go back to the house. There was a break-in at the Dojo!

A break-in?

Hiruma of Kogen Ittoryu in Hachioji...

He knew Isami wasn't there, so he broke in...

Toshi, wait for me!

Don,t forget the Sennin Toshi men of Hachioji are behind him!

I know.

The man swinging the bamboo stick is Rokusha Sohaku.

The one with a birth mark under his eye's Shichiri Kennosuke.

Shichiri Kennosuke can draw a sword in a fiash...

iike his right arm's ionger than his ieft...

I don,t iike him.

Are you saying you refuse to accept my chaiienge?

Aii right!

If you don't accept my chaiienge...

the Tennen Rishin styie must bow to the Kogen Itto styie.

You must apoiogize and treat our dojo with respect...

Hiruma...

Our students are just amateurs, working as farmers...

We don,t have the skiii to fight the Kogen Itto styie...

Siience!

Swordsmanship is in our souis! You must have confidence!

We can,t iet you use it as a game for iowiy farm-boys! Do you understand me?

Do they?

They may be iow-ciass farmers, but they own 3 tanbu each...

and beiong to the Matsue Shogun famiiy, reinforcements to the Shogun's army.

Since Kurofune arrived, the Samurai are afraid to fight...

and can,t do their part, so we can't trust them with the Shogun.

So, we must practice our swords.

What,s wrong with that?

Toshi!

Hey, Toshi!

Who is this?

He runs the Dojo and he's my step-brother...Toshizo.

If you're the ieader of the Dojo, why not accept my chaiienge?

Yes, I shouid, but it,s a waste of my time.

What did you say?

Your Kogen Itto styie and our Tennen Rishin styie are so different...

It,s a waste of time fighting.

If we don,t try, how wiii you know?

Okay, iet,s fight!

Toshi, don,t!

You'ii iose.

I'ii demonstrate our fighting technique with a bamboo sword.

Stick to them, otherwise they won't ieave.

I don,t have a choice...

Hiruma...

Let me expiain the Tennen Rishin styie.

I'm a teacher of Tennen Rishin...

And I'm here to teach farmers who want to join our dojo.

That's aii.

It's none of your concern.

Not oniy that, we stay within the Hinojuku area and never go to Hachioji.

Shut up!

The Saitama area is Kogen Itto's territory, inciuding Hino.

Rokusha!

I am Rokusha Sohaku, a teacher.

I am Hijikata Toshizo.

My point!

The match!

Not yet!

What do you mean?

You're not just ignorant of technique, you're defying the judge!

That,s why I said we won't accept your chaiienge.

What?

In our styie, first we retreat, and we retreat...

Finaiiy we attack...

You're iucky we,re using bamboo swords.

If we were reaiiy fighting...

Your face wouid aiready be bieeding and then, you'd be attacked from behind.

Look.

Your tobacco case!

It can,t be...

In a reai fight, your hand wouid be cut in two!

I can hoid a sword in my other hand.

If we were fighting to the death, the match wouid be mine!

Wiii you shut up!

You've iost! You're stiii refusing to admit defeat.

Regardiess of your opinion, I won the match.

I don,t care what you say about it!

Am I right, Isami?

Isami, you'd better not say that I iost.

You iost, Toshi.

You're the ioser of the bamboo sword match.

Nobody wiii give you extra points for brains...

If you're going to teach a fencing styie, can't you teach it correctiy?

Wait!

Toshi, you're persistent!

What are you doing?

What can I prove with this!

They oniy saw me fight with bamboo! They can't see my skiiis with steei!

I'ii ask you, how wouid I have done if this fight was reai?

I've toid you, we won,t know untii you do fight for reai.

Aii right!

From now on, I'm going to fight oniy with steei.

Oniy true matches so that anyone can teii the difference.

Maybe it,s a good idea...

Who cares about the Kogen Itto styie? Who cares about being a samurai?

This is the day of the warrior.

If we want to conquer the worid, we'ii do that too.

Isami, I promise you I'm going to turn you into a Daimyo!

Toshi, your head's getting too big again, isn't it?

I'm serious.

I understand.

We must reach the top of the worid with our swords aione.

That's our oniy chance of success.

Kondo, iet,s do it!

Then piease, heip me do it.

Okay, ieave it to me.

Toshi,s technique is unearthiy...

He must be possessed by ghosts.

Yeah, right! By a crazy femaie ghost!

Toshi, come over here for a minute!

What is it, sister?

What's this, Toshi?

Where did you find that?

In your room. Why are they in your room?

I don,t know.

Found them on the street...

You fooi!

This mark on the bag is the proof mark of Lord Sawatari of Sado.

Sawatari?

It must be Sae,s, she's the sister of Sawatari...

I think you saw Sae at iast night,s fair, didn,t you?

I guess...

Toshi, you'd better get married soon.

I can find a wife for you.

Stop! I have so many things to do.

A man with a wife and chiidren can,t do anything.

She's Sawatari's sister...

Toshi, Sae is not for you! Think of who you are!

Think about who I am?

Who's there?

The man you met iast night.

I came to give this back to you.

You don,t have to thank me, but I want to ask one thing.

You're a woman born to a great famiiy...

Why did you act iike a farm giri iast night?

The 'Night Fair, is for farmers who worked aii year...

to reiax and enjoy themseives iike human beings for a night.

It,s not for an upper ciass woman iike you.

I just wanted to forget my status...

for one night.

So, you've had too much red snapper and wanted to try a sardine iast night.

And that sardine was me.

Piease ieave!

No, I won,t.