In darkness there is movement. It's difficult to determine what
we're seeing until the object breaks in two. It's a door sliding apart. Behind
it, there is dazzling white light.
Surrounded
by the brilliance are a man and a child, nearly in silhouette. They enter,
coming closer on a silent walkway. Slowly, we begin to hear men weeping. They
kneel to the side of the walkway and bemoan the fate of the little boy, their
Daimyo (Lord). How could the Shogun be so cruel as to sentence a boy to death?
Such is the way
of the world in Japan at this time.
Yet, our
concern is not to befall upon this man and child but another man and another
child.
The diminutive
Daimyo is taken into the execution chamber and instructed on how to signal that
he is ready to enter the next world. Another door opens. Out of blackness steps
the Kogi Kaishakunin, the official decapitator of the Shogun who aids the small
samurai in his seppuku (seppuku is the posh word for hara - kiri by the way). He is expressionless: neither cruel nor caring. He does
his job and he does it well.
He is Ogami
Itto.
(sword fight by river)
(Itto leaves the ninja woman alive)
(the Masters of Death - three of Ittos adversaries) 
(Daigoro) 
(itto sticks his sword in someone)
His post is
well respected in the hierarchy of his time. So much that men would kill for
it. And they do.
When he returns
from his day at work, he is welcomed by his bride, Azami, and baby boy,
Daigoro. While he prays in his temple for the souls of those he's helped
execute on behalf of the Shogun, ninjas enter his household. They slaughter his
wife and plant "evidence" to support a conjectured plot that Ogami
Itto means to kill the Shogun; a plot conceived by Lord Yagyu Retsudo, head of
the Ura Yagyu clan, the sinister denizens of the Grey mountains. The power of
the Shogun is tied to the Yagyu clan who acts as official spies and assassins
and who wish to control Ogami Itto's post as well.Once confronted by the
mechanisms of his undoing, Ogami Itto is quick to realize that he's being set
up as a patsy. Soon he will be donning white death robes to plunge his short
sword into his belly while Yagyu Retsudo stands behind him, waiting to help put
the Ogami clan into the grave. Ogami Itto is no dummy and he is not a man to be
fucked with.
"I'll make
you pay with rivers of blood. I will dedicate my life to wreak vengeance. From
now on, my path will be littered with bodies soaked in blood. I will be
ruthless," he swears to Lord Retsudo after dispatching one of Retsudo's
sons, Bizen, with Itto's renowned Suio Ryu Zambatto (Seagull Style-Horse
Killing Slash).
Itto gives the infant
Daigoro a choice between joining his father (as a merciless demon) or his
mother (in the afterworld). His father places a ball and sword before him and,
after much childish deliberation, the Daigoro places his chubby fingers on his
father's weapon. Thus, they become Kozure Okami: (Lone Wolf and Cub), assassins
for hire, living free outside of Edo (Tokyo) after a duel with Kurando, another
of Retsudo's sons. They walk (well, Ogami Itto walks, Daigoro rides) Meifumado,
the path between heaven and hell, always prepared to die.
Of course,
Yagyu Retsudo has no intention of keeping his word and constantly plots to see
the defiant Itto killed while he wanders Japan, pushing Daigoro in a large,
wooden, souped-up, weapon-laden baby cart (see diagram) as a formidable killer.
All of the
above occurs within the first forty minutes of Kenji Misumi's LONE WOLF &
CUB: SWORD OF VENGEANCE (Original title: KOZURE OKAMI: KOWOKASHI UDEKASHI TSUKAMATSURU
literally translated as LONE WOLF AND CUB: CHILD AND EXPERTISE FOR RENT), the
first of a series of six films shot between 1972 and 1974 starring Wakayama
Tomisaburo as Ogami Itto and Tomikawa Akihiro as Daigoro. The story's roots are
in manga (comic books written by Kazuo Koike who penned the scripts for the
first five LONE WOLF & CUB films) and spawned not only these films but also
a 1993 remake, a made-for-Japanese-TV-movie and television series.
If the story
sounds familiar, you might be recalling the culpable SHOGUN ASSASSIN,
the Roger
Corman-produced splicing of LONE WOLF & CUB #1 with the second film of the
series, BABY CART AT THE RIVER STYX. Even the bad dubbing, poor picture
quality, and confused storyline are not enough to rob the films completely of
their art, but they don't begin to represent the beauty of Kenji Misumi's work.
Even when delving into incredible scenes of violence which border on Monty
Pythonesque excess (Itto's vengeance does flow with, if not rivers, at least
geysers of blood), the films are breathtakingly beautiful. Unfortunately, Kenji
Misumi did not direct all six of the early theatrically released Kozure Okami
films. His presence is missed in the fourth and sixth entries in the series.
Every shot is
wonderfully composed and skillfully executed. Witness the death of Retsudo's
son, Bizen, in which we see the skill of Ogami Itto as a swordsman and Kenji
Misumi as a director. Standing in a river, his sword lowered beneath the
surface, Itto's weapon emerges from the water; the action repeated via editing
(similar to what would be done decades later in John Woo's THE KILLER). Silence
emphasizes the gravity of the moment. The lack of the roar of the water seems
to tell us that this story is far greater than Nature itself. Or, perhaps,
Nature knows the importance of Itto's fate and silences itself in anticipation.
Finally, the quiet is broken with the rough slash of Itto's sword as it cuts
through Bizen.
Despite the
ever-present Yagyu threats and assassination contracts, no formulaic
"typical Kozure Okami film" ever develops in the series. One never
knows what one might get when viewing these films, except for the sleepy-eyed,
low voiced Ogami Itto, the cute-as-a-button Daigoro, and some unbelievable
action scenes.
The necessity
for backstory makes the first film the slowest paced with the film's narrative
thrust falling by the wayside in comparison to the flashbacks to Ogami Itto's
past wherein we witness the events that set him on the path of Meifumado.
In the second
film, LONE WOLF & CUB: BABY CART AT THE RIVER STYX (KOZURE OKAMI: SANZU NO
KAWA UBAGURUMA translated as PREAMBULATOR OF THE RIVER OF SANZU), the Yagyu
clan is hot on Ogami Itto's trail, sending Sayaka of the Ashaki Yagyu and her
band of female assassins to kill him. The scene in which we first see Ozuno,
leader of the Kurokawa clan, contact Sayaka is classic. He expresses doubt in
her Kunoichi warriors. To this challenge, she asks for his best warrior to
simply attempt to leave the room.
"With my
ninja skill it's a simple task," the warrior blithely replies. Don't count
on it, brother.
One has to give
the guy credit, though, for even as a limbless stump, he's still trying to
crawl outside before the Kunoichi deliver their death blow(s).When he's not dealing
with Sayaka and her Kunoichi (who like to implement razor-sharp hats and deadly
daikon radishes as weapons), Ogami is attempting to track down Makuya, the Awa
clan's Headmaster of the blue-dyeing process who threatens to reveal his clan's
indigo secret to the Shogun, thus ruining his clan's economy. In order to
assure his arrival, the Shogun has put Makayu under the protection of the
Hidari brothers, Ben, Ten and Rai, fearsome foes who fight with clawed hands,
spiked gloves, and an iron bat. The desert showdown between the Brothers Hidari
and Ogami Itto is truly breathtaking.
Whenever I try
to turn someone on to the Kozure Okami films, it's always the second film that
I show first, simply providing a sketchy outline of Ogami's past. The frenetic
pace of the film along with the intricate, ambitious plot and gory,
well-choreographed action scenes make this my favorite of the series.
Invariably it draws viewers in and leaves them hungry for more of Ogami Itto's
adventures.
The third film,
LONE WOLF & CUB: BABY CART TO HADES (KOZURE OKAMI: SHINIKAZENI MUKAU
UBAGURUMA translated as PERAMBULATOR AGAINST THE WINDS OF DEATH) was dubbed and
released as LIGHTNING SWORDS OF DEATH and can be found on video with the
redundant title LUPINE WOLF. More than previous entries, this film deals with
human relationships.
Ogami Itto
saves the life of a young girl who has been sold by the House of Koshio, a
yakuza group. The girl bites off her betrothed's tongue as he wantonly molests
her. Apparently, this surprises the lecherous fellow so much that he dies from
his wound. In order to save the girl's life and her virtue, Ogami Itto strikes
a bargain with the yakuza gang's boss, the lovely Torizo. He strikes a deal
where he'll be tortured instead of the girl as well as will perform an
assassination for Torizo.
The man to be
killed is an underhanded governor, Sawatari Gemba. Scared stiff of the dreadful
Ogami Itto, he calls for back-up. Roughly, three hundred men come to his aid
and Ogami Itto has to fight every last one of them. This is where those special
modifications to Daigoro's baby cart really come in handy.
One of my
favorite aspects of the this, the third Lone Wolf & Cub film, is the
subplot involving Magomura Kanbei, the former Chief Palanquin Guard for the
Maruoka Clan, who has been reduced to being a ronin due to a heroic action that
was against the word (but not necessarily the spirit) of Bushido (the Way of
the Samurai). Kanbei risked his life and saved his liege when his palanquin was
attacked by marauders.
After a strange
turn of events, Bushido dictates that Ogami Itto and Magomura Kanbei must duel.
With swords raised, Itto cancels the match in order to let a bushi (true)
samurai live. You have to love how cocky Ogami Itto can be! Often, he's
confident enough to put his sword away before the fools who have challenged him
fall dead to the ground. That is, when his sword isn't embedded in the skull of
his last victim—as has been known to happen.
Kanbei meets up
with Itto again on the battlefield as one of Gemba's army. Their final
confrontation is astounding. The sequence ranks among the best in the series
and shows Kenji Misumi as a master of his craft.
On a sour note,
LONE WOLF & CUB #3, is one of the first of the films to contain a musical
number. Luckily, the melodramatic medley is thrown in right before the end
title card and is blissfully short.
Until the
fourth installment of the Kozure Okami films, subplots of Yagyu aggression,
flashbacks of past treachery, and the main narrative thrust have been intricately
intertwined. However, director Saito Buichi's LONE WOLF & CUB: BABY CART IN
PERIL (KOZURE OKAMI: OYA NO KOKORO KO NO KOKORO) feels episodic in its
construction.
In this film,
Ogami Itto almost plays the role of a private detective. He is hired, for
reasons not explained until later, to kill Oyuki, an expert swordswoman with a
torso riddled with tattoos: on her back, a sea hag and on her front, an imp
that grasps her breast.
Daigoro plays a
major role in the beginning of the film. He becomes separated from his father
and wanders alone, searching for him at temples across Japan, accompanied by a
maudlin tune with a refrain of "it freezes the poor child's heart, as he
seeks, day after day, trying to find his father, the man people call assassin."
Eventually Daigoro finds someone in the temples he frequents – none other than
Yagyu Gunbei, son of Lord Retsudo Yagyu who (as we learn in a flashback) has
been outcast from his clan and forced to live as a dead man.
It's here, in
the fourth entry in the series, that we learn more of the origins of Lord
Retsudo's plot against Ogami Itto. In a duel for the post of Kogi Kaishakunin,
Gunbei faced off against Itto and quickly disarmed him! However, Ogami Itto was
saved (and rewarded) for his knowledge of Bushido, for he quickly positioned
himself, unarmed, between Gunbei's naked blade and the Shogun, as if to act as
he were protecting the Shogun with his life.
After losing
the match, Lord Retsudo (played by a different actor than the previous films
and doesn't quite have the gravelly delivery down) determines that Gunbei must
commit hara-kiri in order to prevent a loss of face for the clan. Instead of
allowing his son to kill himself, Retsudo banishes his son and kills the clan's
make-up artist instead. By allowing his son to live and delivering the make-up
artist's head to the Shogun, Retsudo shows his blatant disregard for Bushido.
Presently, the
wandering Yagyu Gunbei takes stock of the strange child. He sees that Daigoro
has the eyes of one who has killed hundreds of men. Just as Gunbei begins to
test Daigoro's mettle, we hear the now-familiar horn section of composer
Sakurai Hieoki, signaling Ogami Itto's triumphant return. Instead of taking
care of unfinished business, Ogami determines that one can not kill the dead
for a second time and merely liberates Gunbei of his sword arm; an appropriate
wound, considering Ogami's plight during their initial encounter.
Oddly enough,
we are never to see the one-armed Gunbei again. He is never to make good on his
promise; "I will kill you. Not any other Yagyu or Kurokawa." This is
one of the unresolved items in LONE WOLF & CUB #4 that leaves one
scratching one's head.
Eyes and fire
are two of the major motifs of KOZURE OKAMI #4. Oyuki uses her tattoos to
distract the eyes of her opponents, Gunbei comments that Daigoro has the eyes
of a master swordsman, and Goomune Jindayo (Oyuki's father) is without use of
his eyes. His daughter's downfall (and subsequent need for revenge) comes from
her being hypnotized by her former Daimyo's top man, Kozuka Enki. As Oykuki and
Enki duel in a flashback, (this film is rife with them), Enki commands her to
look into his eyes. This is to distract her from the fire the surrounds his
sword.
Flames are
visible throughout the film. During Daigoro's little adventure, he is trapped
in a field of fire. When the tattoo artist describes the process of marking
Oyuki (where she wore a mask that only revealed her eyes), a candle appears on
the left side of the screen. Later, when Oyuki has her flashback, another
candle appears on the right side of the screen, burning brightly initially and
shown smoldering after she has been beguiled by Enki's "flaming
sword" (in more ways than one—as with a few of the other Kozure Okami
films, there is a rape motivating the action)
Lord Retsudo's
presence is strong in this entry in the series. Instead of working behind the
scenes, he personally makes moves against Ogami Itto, enlisting the help of the
Owari clan in order to throw another army at Ogami Itto. This time around, the
former Kogi Kaishakunin doesn't come away as unscathed – in fact, he looks a
bit worse for wear at the end of the film – but does manage to give Lord
Retsudo a wound he won't soon forget. Instead of liberating Retsudo of an arm
as he did Gunbei, the Yagyu lord is minus an eye after savagely battling Ogami
Itto—punctuating the film's eye motif.
LONE WOLF &
CUB: BABY CART IN THE LAND OF DEMONS (KOZURE OKAMI: MEIFUMADO translated as
CROSSROADS TO HELL) saw the return of Kenji Misumi to the director's chair. It
was to be his last Kozure Okami film and the second to last film he directed
before his death.
The film begins
with an interesting conceit of Ogami Itto (alive and well, despite his
condition after fighting Retsudo's army in the previous film) being tested by
five men in his journeys. Each gives him 100 Ryo and part of the reason for
their need of him.
Despite its
strong beginning, lack of a musical number, brilliant set pieces, and copious
bloodshed, Kenji Misumi's final effort in the Kozure Okami series, while still
a good film, doesn't begin to compare to his previous entries.
The need for a
seventh Kozure Okami film is obvious after watching the sixth, Kuroda
Yoshiyuki's LONE WOLF & CUB: WHITE HEAVEN IN HELL (KOZURE OKAMI: JIGOKU E
IKUZO! DAIGORO also known as GO TO HELL, DAIGORO!), the final theatrically
released Kozure Okami film with Wakayama Tomisaburo as Ogami Itto.
The film
centers around the fact that by this point in Lord Yagyu Retsudo's life, he is
low on heirs to kill Ogami Itto and carry on the Yagyu name. Retsudo finds
himself in dire need to be rid of Ogami Itto whose presence (after so many plots
to eliminate him) has become a subject of ridicule among other Daimyo who
demand an Omote (overt) attack by Shogunate troops; such a move would mean a
loss of face for the Yagyu clan. Retsudo makes reference to Ogami Itto being
responsible for the deaths of his three sons. The audience has seen two young
Yagyu's, Kurando and Bizen, perish by Ogami Itto's Suio Ryu Zambatto and Gunbei
lose an arm. However, as I mentioned previously, apart from the loss of Lord
Yagyu's eye, not much of the fourth Kozure Okami film carries through to
subsequent entries—Gunbei, for example, is now listed among the dead. Retsudo
is thus forced to employ the skills of his daughter, the cute but creepy Kaori,
whose "finishing move" is the planting of a short sword deep in her
opponent's skull.
The pacing of
the film is quite odd. Though we see Ogami Itto and Daigoro during the credit
sequence, the beginning of the movie is primarily concerned with Retsudo and
his daughter. The credits are odd—not just for the wah-wah music of Murai
Kunkonko which owes more to Curtis Mayfield, Modest Mussorgsky, and John Barry
(complete with a 007 refrain) than Sakurai Hieoki, but also for the fact that
they are not integrated with the film.
The film
meanders. Characters appear and are quickly eliminated. After quickly killing
Kurando, Retsudo rushes to the mountains to beg for help from Hyoé, his bastard
son who was abandoned at five and lives as a sorcerer in the Tsujigumo clan.
Having no allegiance to the Yagyu clan and knowing of his father's precarious
position, Hyoé decides that the Tsujigumo clan will gain glory by disposing of
Ogami Itto. He goes about this with a unique tact by resurrecting Mujo, Mugo
and Mumon, three of the Tsujigumo's best warriors who have been dead some
forty-two years (but have the funked out hairdos that go well with the film's
score).
Will zombies be
able to stop the man and child on the path of Meifumado? Will the threats of
the undead to kill any innocents that Ogami Itto encounters slow our heroes'
trip to Edo? Will the burrowing bugaboos bother the former official decapitator
with their touting of the Tsujigumo 5 Wheel sword style?
Don't count on
it.
"The
Tsujigumo style is pitiful," says Ogami Itto.
The wintry
wonderland of the opening credits and film's conclusion provides Ogami Itto
with an effective defense against Mujo, Mugo, and Mumon. Moreover, it feels
like a poor counterpoint to the desert setting (and face-off against three
killers) in the second film and a good excuse to have an Omote attack take
place on skis and toboggans. Yet, after having seen Ogami Itto take care of two
armies of warriors, a third feels tiresome.
After slicing,
chopping, and hacking his way through Retsudo's forces, Ogami Itto, and the
audience are robbed of a final duel. Instead, Lord Yagyu sleds away, muttering
"I will kill you someday." Huh? When?
It was years
before Wakayama Tomisaburo returned to act in a Kozure Okami film. In the
meantime, Japanese audiences were treated to seventy-eight episodes of the
television series—two of which were cut together in order to produce FUGITIVE
SAMURAI (available at select video stores )Instead of being an
incoherent hack job like SHOGUN ASSASSIN, FUGITIVE SAMURAI is definitely worth
a watch. While not peppering speech with real terms as much as the subtitles of
Jacques Klein in the Kozure Okami films, the explanative voice-over of FUGITIVE
SAMURAI shows real reverence to its source material.
The backstory
of Gunbei and Itto's initial fateful duel for the post of Kogi Kaishakunin from
the fourth Kozure Okami film provides the jumping off plot point of FUGITIVE
SAMURAI. This time around, the post of Kogi Kaishakunin is called "High
Constable" and after Gunbei's seppuku is staged, Yagyu Retsudo calls for a
rematch in order to prove whose school of swordplay is superior.
The Lord
Retsudo of FUGITIVE SAMURAI is much spryer than any of the actors who have
portrayed him before. This Lord Yagyu is also more cunning. During his match
with Ogami Itto (Yorozuya Kinnosuke), Retsudo loses, but not before his blade
"accidentally" takes out a member of the Shogunate aware of the Yagyu
plot to control all messages passing between clans and, with this information,
create a shadow government greater than the Shogunate (this idea shows up in a
different form in LONE WOLF & CUB #7).
After Ogami is
rewarded the post of High Constable, the film continues linearly (while within
a lengthy flashback), showing the destruction of the Ogami household. While the
direction of FUGITIVE SAMURAI does not begin to compare with the panache of
Kenji Misumi's interpretation, the events are filmed with enough difference in
order to avoid being merely a rehash of the first Kozure Okami film.
Yorozuya
Kinnosuke makes a good Ogami Itto but lacks the heavy-lidded, wild-haired looks
and deep, menacing voice of Wakayama Tomisaburo.
Nishikawa
Kazutaka plays an older, chubbier, and far less cute Daigoro than Tomikawa
Akihiro. One very interesting casting choice is Lord Yagyu, played by a very
eurasian actor. It seems that something not explored in the Kozure Okami films
is that Lord Yagyu is a "half-breed."
The Kozure
Okami television series lasted three seasons. Later, Wakayama Tomisaburo
returned to "finish" the Kozure Okami film series in a made-for-TV
production, LONE WOLF & CUB: BABY CART IN PURGATORY. This time around,
however, he donned a long beard and thick mane of white hair to portray the
evil Lord Retsudo Yagyu. Though his face is relatively discreet and his eyes
are aflame with the mad thirst for power, it is rather disconcerting to see
Tomisaburo playing the enemy of the character he made famous on the silver
screen. He adopts the gravelly delivery of the first Retsudo from the early
Kozure Okami films, but his voice is unmistakable when he says Daigoro's name.
BABY CART IN
PURGATORY includes some familiar characters and situations, often putting a new
spin on them. The action is neatly broken down into segments of length to not
be harshly interrupted by commercial breaks. The lighting is often flat and the
direction leaves much to be desired. BABY CART IN PURGATORY is often painful to
watch when seeing shaky camera pans or faltering zooms.
The film begins
with the tests of five warriors from LONE WOLF & CUB #5. However, when
Ogami Itto arrives (sans Daigoro) to dispose of his prey, he finds Gunbei and
Bizen Yagyu waiting for him.
Itto escapes
the trap and wanders, wounded, through the wilderness where he recalls how the
Yagyu clan has wronged him. In the tradition of the Kozure Okami films (except
for the fifth and sixth), we're witness to a flashback. Herein, we see the
events that put Ogami Itto on the road to Meifumado. Oddly, the Daigoro of this
version of the Kozure Okami tale can walk to his father's sword when given his
life-or-death choice, lessening the need for a baby cart.Back in the present,
Daigoro waits for his father "knowing he would survive any battle."
He wanders from temple to temple, seeking his father. Along his travels he
meets with a pretty orphan girl, Osato, who takes a shine to the boy.
He follows the
servant girl like a lost puppy and is caught sneaking into her Lord and Lady's
home. Thinking him a thief, he is captured and tortured. His eyes and lack of
fear reveal him to be the son of the Lone Wolf and, thus, a valuable prize to
be turned over to the Yagyu clan.
It's with great
luck that as Daigoro escapes; Ogami Itto happens to be walking by the compound.
Seeing men chasing after his boy with swords drawn, Ogami states, "I don't
know the situation but there seems to be no need for words" before
proceeding to wipe them out. Ogami saves Osato (whom Daigoro has come to call
"Sis") and sends her back to her village.
Eventually, the
movie finds a central idea to wind the rest of the plot around. The Yagyu clan
has perfected a secret code that allows them to pass innocuous-looking messages
to one another across great distances. These missives are carried by shichiri
(seven league) messengers from Daimyos to the shogunate. The shichiri had
license to kill anyone who stood in their path—the mail must go through, as it
were. Thus, people went to great lengths to avoid being anywhere near a
shichiri as they hauled ass through town.
Leaving Ogami
Itto at the side of the road for a while, the film concentrates on Otoshi, ex-wife
of Jinza, a shichiri messenger to Kishuu. Otoshi lives now as a prostitute as
Jinza divorced her after her baby died. Now she carries a blank memorial
tablet, trying to get Jinza to give her baby a name so that it can rest in
peace. After relating her sad tale to Ogami Itto, trying to get him to kill
Jinza, the shichiri is ironically attacked at that moment by Yagyu agents
attempting to steal away his message box. Realizing the importance that the
missive must have to the Yagyu clan, Ogami takes it from them and begins his
quest to crack the code. Upon news of Ogami Itto's possession of the Yagyu
message, Kurokuwa agents are sent to find him.
At this point,
Osato re-enters the film now playing the role of the young girl who bit off her
husband's tongue in the third Kozure Okami film. The two films run parallel for
a while, introducing us to a less pretty and more catatonic Torizo. Ogami Itto
undergoes buri buri cane torture and wins freedom for Osato.Taking leave of
Torizo and Osato, Ogami is waylaid by Kurokuwa Sayomaru, a cross-dressing
assassin who, with his dying words, gives a clue to deciphering the Yagyu code,
"Go to the silk province." Here Ogami discovers that the message he
intercepted has been treated with mulberry juice, a delicious treat for
silkworms that eat the message out of the paper, allowing Ogami Itto to see the
Yagyu secret.
Ogami Itto's
path to Edo (Tokyo) is littered with bodies. Word has gone out and he is a
wanted man. After several Daimyos have failed, the Yagyus finally take matters
into their own hands, attacking Ogami Itto with a small army including Gunbei
and Retsudo Yagyu (who gets a short sword in the eye).In this movie, not only
does Ogami Itto reach Edo but also is given a chance to duel Retsudo Yagyu.
However, they pause in their fighting after Daigoro passes out from being in
the sun. On his way to see if his son is alright, a shot rings out and Ogami
falls wounded into a nearby river and floats away. Yagyu Bizen makes his way
out of nearby undergrowth and excitedly runs to his father, overjoyed with his
luck.
"Bizen, as
of this moment you are disinherited," proclaims Retsudo. "Our duel
just now was not out of personal hate. It was a duel between two samurai
warriors."
Knowing his
duty, Retsudo brings Daigoro to his home and takes care of him. Waking in
Retsudo's home, Daigoro sees his old pal Osato and learns that she is none
other than the granddaughter of Yagyu Retsudo. The old tyrant acts as a kindly
grandfather to Daigoro, even when telling him that if his father dies that he
will die too.
When Ogami Itto
and Retsudo Yagyu meet again, the former Kogi Kaishakunin tears up the secret
Yagyu message and the two men agree that they are not fighting for personal
reasons any longer but to preserve Bushido. Their fight lasts for hours,
perhaps days. As they duel on the beach, word reaches the Shogun who, along
with vassals and Daimyo, visits the battle sight to witness the historic fight.
They watch solemnly while the two men fight like elemental beasts, not mortals.
Though the
filmmaking was wanting, the acting of Takashi Hideki and Wakayama Tomisaburo is
superb and the ending is highly satisfying. This conclusion is echoed in the
1993 theatrical revision of the Kozure Okami tale, KOZURE OKAMI: SONO CHISAKI TE
NI (A Child's Hand Reaches Up). Unsubtitled, I'll refer to this as LW&C93
for the sake of brevity.
LW&C93 is a
beautiful film. Each shot is wonderfully framed and if the camera moves at all
the beginning, middle and end of each move reveals a beautifully composed mise
en scene. Strangely, even Ogami Itto himself is handsome. The actor portraying
the man who comes to walk the road of Meifumado, Tamura Masakuza, has rich,
soulful eyes with a deep furrow between them. Unfortunately, his comeliness is
unbefitting his demonic character.
The film begins
with Ogami and Azami living their idyllic life with their new son, Daigoro
while Retsudo Yagyu plots to take the post of Kogi Kaishakunin.
The Yagyu
conspiracy in this film does not include the assassination of Ogami Itto's wife
and servants but merely the placement of the Shogun's crest in his temple.
LW&C93 is the first film where Azami has been given any significant screen
time and where the audience is witness to her death. She is butchered by a Yagyu
warrior as she tries to defend her husband's honor, giving Ogami even more
impetus to hate the Yagyu clan. After spending a few quiet moments with his
wife's body, Ogami proceeds to dispatch the clansmen who would dare accuse him
of treason.
This Ogami Itto
doesn't give Daigoro a chance to choose his path. Instead, he is unable to kill
his young son. Ogami also doesn't provide his infant with a baby cart as they
make their way out into the world as Kozure Okami.
Ogami Itto's
nemesis is a much younger Retsudo Yagyu than we've seen before—with no beard he
appears to be more of a brother to Gunbei, Kurando, and Bizen than a wizened
patriarch. With his dark features he would have made a better choice to play
Ogami Itto.
After Ogami
Itto bests Yagyu Kurando in a duel, he and Daigoro spend years outside of Edo.
When we next see them, Daigoro is walking and talking. They appear to be living
a life of tranquil contemplation briefly broken when news of Yagyu activity
wakes Ogami Itto from his somnambulistic existence.
As the film
progresses, I often lose track of the action with all of the normal Kozure
Okami intrigue. Familiar terms like "Kogi Kaishakunin" "Ogami
Itto" "Suio Ryu" and "Kozure Okami" stick out among
the Japanese but, otherwise, I try to rely on the other films for cues.
However, this is made difficult by the fact that this nice-looking Ogami Itto
doesn't push a baby cart, can be found riding on horseback at times, and lives
among friends.
While Ogami
Itto goes off to find his nemesis, Daigoro runs away from his new home and is
found by none other than Retsudo Yagyu! Of course, their paths finally cross.
It's here where Ogami Itto appears to kill Retsudo's wife. The two part and
after some more wandering by Ogami Itto, they meet again on a beach.
Each man thinks
back on their individual losses as the waves crash around them. They privately
duel on the secluded stretch of beach. However, despite the similar settings,
the outcome is vastly different in this version's battle.
Despite the
beauty of Kenji Misumi's direction, Inoue Akira's LW&C93 can be considered
much more an "art film" than any interpretations that have come
before it. While aesthetically pleasing, it satisfies neither my thirst for
blood nor vengeance. Ogami Itto's struggle is shown to be infinitesimal, like a
grain on sand upon the beach where he stands instead acting as one of nature's
elements – like blazing Fire surrounded by Air, Water, and Earth.
The original
six KOZURE OKAMI films are cinematic gems. Exploring universal themes of filial
responsibility, honor, and duty; they translate well to the American screen
while giving audiences a fascinating look at the cinema of the samurai. The
on-screen carnage in the films is at once both audacious and aesthetic,
presenting violence with a beauty that is unrivaled by filmmakers in the West.
I can not praise enough Kenji Misumi's ability to paint such beautiful scenes,
dappling his canvas with unnaturally bright red blood.
Of all the
actors to play Ogami Itto, only Takahashi Hideki comes close to capturing the
imposing form and dark features that Wakayama Tomisaburo made necessary for the
character. Wakayama's performance and swordsmanship is superb. If Wakayama
Tomisaburo looks familiar, it could be that he's the brother of Katsu Shintaro,
one of the most popular stars of the cinema in Japan (and producer of the LONE
WOLF & CUB film series), having played Zatoichi, the blind masseur in over
twenty films and on television. Or, it could be that you're recalling him as
Coach Shimizu from THE BAD NEWS BEARS GO TO JAPAN or Sugai in Ridley Scott's
BLACK RAIN. - MW
What is seppuku, please note THIS IS NOT FOR THE SQEAMISH
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