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In Japan, the term , also commonly spelled "''chambara''", meaning "sword fighting" movies,〔Hill (2002).〕 denotes the genre called samurai cinema in English, and is roughly equivalent to western cowboy and swashbuckler films. ''Chanbara'' is a sub-category of ''jidaigeki'', which equates to period drama. ''Jidaigeki'' may refer to a story set in an historical period, though not necessarily dealing with a samurai character or depicting swordplay. While earlier samurai period pieces were more dramatic rather than action-based, samurai movies post World War II have become more action-based, with darker and more violent characters. Post-war samurai epics tended to portray psychologically or physically scarred warriors.〔Silver (1977), p. 37.〕 Akira Kurosawa stylized and exaggerated death and violence in samurai epics. His samurai, and many others portrayed in film, were solitary figures, more often concerned with concealing their martial abilities, rather than showing them off.〔 Historically, the genre is usually set during the Tokugawa era (1600–1868). The samurai film hence often focuses on the end of an entire way of life for the samurai: many of the films deal with masterless ronin, or samurai dealing with changes to their status resulting from a changing society. Samurai films were constantly made into the early 1970s, but by then, overexposure on television, the aging of the big stars of the genre, and the continued decline of the mainstream Japanese film industry put a halt to most of the production of this genre.〔(''Japan: A New Wave'' ) (retrieved on 07/13/2008)〕 ==Samurai film directors== Daisuke Itō and Masahiro Makino were central to the development of samurai films in the silent and prewar eras. Akira Kurosawa is the best known to western audiences, and similarly has directed the samurai films best known in the West. He directed ''Seven Samurai'', ''Rashomon'', ''Throne of Blood'', ''Yojimbo'' and many others. He had a long association with Toshirō Mifune arguably Japan's most famous actor. Mifune himself had a production company that produced samurai epics, often with him starring. Two of Kurosawa's samurai movies were based on the works of William Shakespeare, ''Throne of Blood'' (''Macbeth'') and ''Ran'' (''King Lear''). A number of his films were remade in Italy and the United States as westerns, or as action films set in other contexts.〔Silver (1977), p. 44.〕 His film ''Seven Samurai'' is one of the most important touchstones of the genre and the most well-known outside of Japan. It also illustrates some of the conventions of samurai film in that the main characters are ronin, masterless unemployed samurai, free to act as their conscience dictates. Importantly, these men tend to deal with their problems with their swords and are very skilled at doing so. It also shows the helplessness of the peasantry and the distinction between the two classes. Masaki Kobayashi directed the films ''Harakiri'' and ''Samurai Rebellion'', both cynical films based on flawed loyalty to the clan. Kihachi Okamoto films focus on violence in a particular fashion. In particular in his films ''Samurai Assassin'', ''Kill!'' and ''Sword of Doom''. The latter is particularly violent, the main character engaging in combat for a lengthy 7 minutes of film at the end of the movie. His characters are often estranged from their environments, and their violence is a flawed reaction to this.〔 Hideo Gosha, and many of his films helped create the archetype of the samurai outlaw. Gosha's films are as important as Kurosawa's in terms of their influence, visual style and content, yet are not as well known in the West. Gosha's films often portrayed the struggle between traditional and modernist thought and were decidedly anti-feudal. An excellent example of the kind of immediacy and action evident in the best genre is seen Gosha's first film, the ''Three Outlaw Samurai'', based on a television series. Three farmers kidnap the daughter of the local magistrate in order to call attention to the starvation of local peasants, a ronin appears and decides to help them. In the process, two other ronin with shifting allegiances join the drama, the conflict widens, eventually leading to betrayal, assassination and battles between armies of mercenary ''ronin''.〔White, p. 1.〕 Recently, another director, Keishi Ōtomo, has directed a live action adaption of Nobuhiro Watsuki's manga series ''Rurouni Kenshin'', which tells the story of a former Ishin Shishi named Himura Kenshin (formerly known as "Hitokiri Battōsai" (人斬り抜刀斎?) who, after the end of the Bakumatsu, becomes a wanderer of the countryside of Japan offering protection and aid to those in need, as atonement for the murders he once committed as an assassin. The film was a huge success. Rurouni Kenshin was theatrically released on August 25, 2012 in Japan, grossing over $36 million in that country and over $60 million worldwide as of November 2012. It was released in DVD on December 26, 2012. The film has been licensed for distribution in over 60 countries in Europe, Latin America and Asia. The movie premiered in North America as an opening selection for the 2012 LA EigaFest in December 14, 2012. Two sequels titled ''Rurouni Kenshin: Kyoto Taika-hen'' and ''Rurouni Kenshin: Densetsu no Saigo-hen'' is set to be released on 2014. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Samurai cinema」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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