The Temple of Wild Geese

The Temple of Wild Geese

98 mins | Drama | Jan. 21, 1962

Satoko is a mistress by trade, or fate: when her master, the silkscreen artist of the Kohoan Temple in Kyoto, dies, she is given to the temple's lascivious head priest Kikuchi. She is drawn to a melancholy young acolyte, Jinen, who has observed the profligacy of his cruel master and Satoko's utter dependence on the man. Jinen is both fascinated and disturbed by Satoko's interest in him; he is similarly caught between loathing of Kikuchi and of the dark circumstances of his birth and his own moral weakness. The story unfolds in a dreamlike manner, a flashback inspired by a now-infamous image on a silkscreen in the souvenir shop at the so-called Temple of the Wild Geese.

The Temple of Wild Geese

98 mins | Drama | Jan. 21, 1962

The Temple of Wild Geese
Satoko is a mistress by trade, or fate: when her master, the silkscreen artist of the Kohoan Temple in Kyoto, dies, she is given to the temple's lascivious head priest Kikuchi. She is drawn to a melancholy young acolyte, Jinen, who has observed the profligacy of his cruel master and Satoko's utter dependence on the man. Jinen is both fascinated and disturbed by Satoko's interest in him; he is similarly caught between loathing of Kikuchi and of the dark circumstances of his birth and his own moral weakness. The story unfolds in a dreamlike manner, a flashback inspired by a now-infamous image on a silkscreen in the souvenir shop at the so-called Temple of the Wild Geese.
IMDb rating 7.2
Producers Daiei Motion Picture Co., Ltd.
Original title 雁の寺
Directors Eiji Nishizawa, Yūzō Kawashima, Noriaki Yuasa
Writers Kazuo Funahashi, Tsutomu Minakami, Yūzō Kawashima

Cast

Ayako Wakao

as Satoko Kirihara

Masao Mishima

as Jikai Kitami

Isao Kimura

as Atsumichi Uda

Kuniichi Takami

as Jinen Horinouchi / Sutekichi

Ganjirô Nakamura II

as Nangaku Kishimoto

Mineko Yorozuyo

as Tatsu Kirihara

Yoshiko Kamo

as Masumi Fujimoto

Shoichi Ozawa

as Kuniitsu Takami

Kō Nishimura

as Mokudô Kida

Shinobu Araki

as Dokuseki Sugimoto

Kōichi Katsuragi

as Takemine Matsuyama

Ryônosuke Azuma

as Shôan Kawaguchi

Yûsaku Terashima

as Izaburô Asano

Kin Sugai

as Kan Horinouchi

Shōzō Nanbu

as Kaio Takeda

Seishirō Hara

as Mori (as Seijiro Haro)

Ichirô Amano

as Sukezô Hisama

Saburo Date

as Heikichi Hisama

Reiko Kongō

as Hideko Kishimoto

Sumao Ishihara

as Kishichi Sengoku

Jun Fujikawa

as Heizaburô Hisama

Kiyoshi Kasuga

as Kinnosuke Ishida

Tokio Oki

as Jirô Ebisugawa

Sôji Shibata

as Shôji Yasui

Gen Kimura

as Nanzô Sasai

Hajime Koshikawa

as Kôta Nishikawa

Tetsu Mikami

as Kumatarô Tamura

Takuya Kitano

as Tokuzen Mikuma

Keiko Koyanagi

as Shizuko Hisama

Kyū Sazanka

as Sesshû Fujimoto