The Ambitious (1970)

Synopsis

The story of Ryoma Sakamoto, considered to be the architect behind the downfall of the Tokugawa shogunate. He was considered an outlaw by his own clan, hunted by his government, and was despised by supporters of the Shogun as well as the Loyalists for desiring the opening of Japan to the West in order to learn its technology, in the hopes of one day defeating the West with a modern army and navy.

Cast

• Kinnosuke Nakamura as Ryoma Sakamoto
• Toshirō Mifune as Shojiro Goto
• Keiju Kobayashi as Yoshinosuke Saigo
• Tatsuya Nakadai as Shintaro Nakaoka
• Sayuri Yoshinaga as Oryo
• Katsuo Nakamura as Chojiro Kondo
• Noboru Nakaya as Hanheita Takeichi
• Eitarō Matsuyama as Umanosuke Shinmiya
• Shigeru Kōyama as Kaishu Katsu
• Shinsuke Mikimoto as Kogoro Katsura

If you liked The Ambitious, try

• Kill Bill: Vol. 1
• Lost in Translation
• Seven Samurai
• 47 Ronin
• 13 Assassins
• Rurouni Kenshin: The Final
• Rurouni Kenshin Part I: Origins
• Nobody Knows