Gojoe
Images are © Suncent Cinema Works WOWOW
Release Date: 07/10/2000
Released by:Suncent Cinema Works WOWOW
Directed by:Sogo Ishii
Plot Summary: (from astyle.com) The setting is 12th-century Japan, a time of social disintegration as the Genji and Heike clans engage in a brutal civil war. Gojoe is the name of a bridge near Kyoto, the Imperial capital. Nearby, a Heike sentry is decapitated by an invisible Demon. Two comets speed through the sky. An ancient Oracle predicts great turbulence between the forces of darkness and light.
Meanwhile, Benkei, a seasoned warrior who long ago gave up violence for religion, shows the White Monk a Sanskrit inscription which miraculously appeared on his chest, indicating that he will battle the dark forces of chaos.
The Heike clan sends a large force to capture the Demon, but they are slaughtered at Gojoe Bridge by three master swordsmen, each hidden behind a gruesome mask. Benkei happens upon the fracas, whereupon he and the Master Demon are transfixed by each other`s formidable spiritual energy. We learn that the Master Demon is in fact the Prince of the Genji clan, in spiritual isolation after the boyhood massacre of his family. Benkei enlists the help of a vagabond sword scavenger and they begin to stalk the Prince in his lair beyond Gojoe Bridge.
The legend associated with Gojoe is a familiar one in Japan, except Ishii`s film kills off many of its important figures, and tantalizingly ends where the legend begins. Cast: ASANO Tadanobu
RYU Daisuke
NAGASE Masatoshi
FUNAKI Masakatsu
KISHIBE Ittoku
KUNIMURA Jun
TESHIGAWARA Saburo
AWATA Urara
HOSOYAMADA Takahito
NARITA Kairi
CHONG Wi Shing
MITSUISHI Ken
