Dora-Heita (1999)
Director: Kon Ichikawa
Movie review
From Time Out Film Guide
Ichikawa's 74th film was planned 30 years earlier as a collective project for Yonki-no-Kai, the partnership of four veterans led by Kurosawa. But Dodes'kaden bankrupted the company and the script was forgotten until Ichikawa dusted it off as a vehicle for Yakusho. 'Dora-Heita' is the louche nickname of Koheita Mochizuki, a magistrate sent to clean up the small fief which contains the Horisoto enclave, a hotbed of prostitution, gambling and smuggling. He poses as dissolute to disarm the crimelords and their allies in local government, then pounces. But he still has a clinging geisha and a traitorous 'friend' to deal with. Less an exercise in nostalgia than a film with the authentic charm, humour and excitement of the likes of Yojimbo.Author: TR
Cast & crew
Director: Kon Ichikawa
Producer: Yoshinobu Nishioka
Cast: Koji Yakusho, Yuko Asano, Bunta Sugawara, Ryudo Uzaki, Tsurutaro Kataoka, Saburo Ishikura, Renji Ishibashi full cast
Duration: 110 mins
Most popular on this site
Features
To the letter
Forty years later, Costa-Gavras's Z still brims with fury.
Mind over matter
David Cronenberg reflects on a most bizarre body: his own corpus of work.
Fool's gold
Can an Oscar win lead to a cursed career? Here are five stories of postaward professional meltdowns.
We are the championed
Terrorists and teens abound in this year's "Film Comment Selects."
A history of violence
Matteo Garrone's kaleidoscopic Gomorrah wallops you with Italy's crime crisis.
True romantic
James Gray exchanges urban amorality for amour in Two Lovers.
Playing in the dark
MoMA salutes pianist Stuart Oderman's 50 years as the one-man sound of silents.
Junk bonds
Cast and crew recall the making of the classic NYC drug drama The Panic in Needle Park.



What do you think?
Post your review now