Legend of Turmoil / Shura no densetsu (1992)

Akira Kobayashi had been the king of Nikkatsu's “borderless action” movies in the sixties, but in the seventies had moved to Toei and taken up yakuza movies, often in supporting roles. His appearances faded in the eighties, even trying to revive Chiezo Kataoka's old Detective Bannai series. After a long gap he returned for his …

Zoku Shimizu minato (1940)

A man is pursued through the bamboo forest by attackers until he fights his way into a clearing by a house, where he is promised help by a friend. The friend then stabs him in the back, leading to a gory death, only to be interrupted by an off-screen voice yelling, “Stop.” We realize we …

Inugami Family / Inugami-ke no ichizoku (1976)

The Inugami Family is an incredibly complicated murder mystery with more than enough red herrings, false identities, and twists within twists to satisfy almost any mystery fan. We could stop there, but the movie was more significant than most mystery films for a number of reasons. It was immensely popular, which brought Kon Ichikawa back …

Memoirs of Japanese Assassins / Nihon ansatsu hiroku (1969)

Though claiming to be a study of the role of assassination in Japanese history, Nihon ansatsu hiroku is primarily a biographical film about Sho Onuma, detailing how he came to shoot Jinnosuke Inoue, a former director of the Bank of Japan, in 1932. A poor young man, Onuma finds work with a baker whom he …

Killer’s Mission / Shokin Kasegi (1969)

As I have noted elsewhere, Japan had some problems cashing in on the international spy craze following the arrival of the James Bond films. At least in theory having no international military presence and essentially dependent on the Americans, it was difficult for them to claim to be a part of the Great Game or …

Signal Fire of Restoration / Restoration Fire / Ishin no kagaribi (1961)

One of the pleasures of watching movies from foreign cultures, and especially from Japan, is that they do not always follow our expectations. Thus, it shouldn’t be a surprise that Ishin no kagaribi is such a surprise. Starring Chiezo Kataoka and set among the Shinsengumi, it suggests lots of swordplay and fight scenes. Instead, we …

Great Buddha Pass — a comparison

Within a decade, three major versions of the Daibosatsu toge story appeared: Sword in the Moonlight, in three parts, starring Chiezo Kataoka and directed by Tomu Uchida; Satan's Sword, also in three parts, starring Raizo Ichikawa, directed by Kenji Misumi and Kazuo Mori, and Sword of Doom, dealing only with the first part, starring Tatsuya …

Kojiro / Sasaki Kojiro (1967)

I don't think any major director filmed as many remakes of his own movies as did Inagaki. In addition to his remakes of Musashi Myamoto and Rickshaw Man,  Kojiro is basically a remake of Inagaki's 1950-51 trilogy on the life of Kojiro Sasaki, Japan's second-greatest swordsman. Given that we have only a single movie condensed …

Travels of Gonkuro (1961)

A man goes on a journey is one of the oldest stories in world history. No plot is required as long as he (or sometimes she) has adventures along the way and either reaches a particular goal or manages at last to return home. What really matters is who or what is met along the …

Blooded Spear / Chiyari muso (1958)

The Chusingura story has always been popular in Japan, though perhaps 1958-62 marked some kind of a peak with major wide-screen, color versions from almost all the studios.  The full story, however, was rarely enough to satisfy demand, and a number of movies also appeared in which the 47 Ronin lurked in the background of …