A ground-breaking historical epic from Golden Bear-winning director Tadashi Imai

Eureka Entertainment is set to release CRUEL TALE OF BUSHIDO, the ambitious, multi-generational epic from Golden Bear-winning director Tadashi Imai. Presented from a breathtaking 4K restoration by Toei, the film makes its Blu-ray debut as part of the Masters of Cinema Series, arriving in the UK on 23 March 2026 and in North America on 24 March 2026. This strictly limited edition of 2,000 copies per territory is housed in an O-card slipcase and includes a collector’s booklet.

Best known for dramas such as Until We Meet Again and An Inlet of Muddy Water, the Japanese filmmaker Tadashi Imai was also the director of Revenge, a highly accomplished and brutal jidaigeki picture. These two sensibilities come together in the film that might just stand as Imai’s masterpiece: Cruel Tale of Bushido.

Kinnosuke Nakamura (Miyamoto Musashi) stars in multiple roles, playing seven generations of men belonging to the same family. In the modern day, salaryman Iikura is devastated by his wife’s attempted suicide. To distract himself, he begins working through his recently discovered family records. As he traces his personal history across 350 years, he discovers tale after tale of men who have suffered, debased themselves and made untold sacrifices in the name of bushido, or the moral code of the samurai.

Featuring Eijiro Tono (Seven Samurai) and Masayuki Mori (Rashomon) in supporting roles and boasting a foreboding score by the celebrated composer Toshiro Mayuzumi, Cruel Tale of Bushido won the Golden Bear Award at the 1963 Berlin Film Festival for its uncompromising deconstruction of the all-too-often romanticised concept of bushido. The Masters of Cinema Series is honoured to present the film on Blu-ray for the first time in both the UK and North America.

Cruel Tale of Bushido | Masters of Cinema Trailer — New & Exclusive https://youtu.be/vQxp3wOVAA0