Kiru

Don’t miss this rare chance to see Kenji Misumi’s Sword Trilogy on the big screen. Made in rapid succession between 1962 and 1965—and recently restored in 4K by the Kadokawa Corporation—Kiru (1962), Ken (1964), and Kenki (1965) brought a thrilling vitality to a familiar Japanese genre, and helped launch the career of Raizo Ichikawa, Japan’s answer to James Dean.  

Kiru is an epic chanbara (sword fighting film) depicting the life of Shingo Takakura (Raizô Ichikawa), a master samurai with a mysterious past and an unvanquishable combat technique. When his surrogate father (Shinjirô Asano) is killed by a jealous rival, Shingo learns of his true origin as the abandoned offspring of a female assassin (Shiho Fujimura) and her lover-turned-executioner (Shigeru Amachi). Shingo's journey through the 19th-century Japanese countryside as a twice-orphaned wanderer ultimately lands him in the employ of an honorable shogunate (Eijirô Yanagi) with powerful enemies during a period of political upheaval.  

Adapted from a Renzaburô Shibata novel by legendary screenwriter Kaneto Shindō, Kiru meditates on the profundity and fragility of father-son relationships, a theme of personal significance to director Kenji Misumi, whose relationship with his own father suffered from abandonment and rejection. Misumi’s subtle yet poignant touches result in a minor chanbara masterpiece in which a young man must find his calling, with and without the guidance of a sensei.