Name: Before Dawn
Released: 1966
Duration: 2 min 22 s
Cast: Osamu Takizawa, Nobuko Otowa, Shin Date, Chikako Hosokawa, Fukuko Sayo

Cast & Crew

Film Details

Also Known As

Yoake mae

Release Date

Jan 1966

Premiere Information

Los Angeles opening: 4 Nov 1966

Production Company

Kindai Eiga Kyokai; Mingei Theatrical Troupe

Distribution Company

Toho Co.

Country

Japan

Screenplay Information

Based on the novel Yoake mae by Toson Shimazaki (Tokyo, 1935).

Technical Specs

Duration

2h 22m

Synopsis

In 19th-century Magome, Hanzo Aoyama is the proprietor of an inn frequented by wealthy lords who traverse the rugged Kiso Trail, connecting Kyoto and Edo. In return for status and privilege, his family remains loyal to the ruthless Tokugawa shogunate general, who has refused the poverty-stricken Magome villagers permission to log the surrounding cypress forests. As the struggle for imperial restoration continues in the 1860's, there is great social and political upheaval; famine, labor strikes, and many assassinations lead to the War of the Restoration. When the emperor is reinstated in 1867, Aoyama opens his heart to his fellow villagers and appeals on their behalf to the new regime. His cause denied by Emperor Meiji, the embittered Aoyama dies insane at the age of 56.