Shogun Assassin (1980)

“He whips out his sword and relieves his victims of their heads!” [1]. This declaration may actually piss some people off, but this is a totally must see bad ass blood splattering samurai action masterpiece. So for the uninformed viewers, why would this statement piss people off? Well this movie is actually the first two films of the Lone Wolf and Cub film series; it was condensed, re-edited, dubbed into English, and re-scored for American release. So there are some purists that really dislike this version and feel that it bastardizes the series. The fact remains that this version was most Americans first introduction into this series and the world of crazy samurai spraying blood movies.

The rights to the original Lone Wolf movies were purchased by David Weisman from Toho Studios for $50,000 and then it was released in America by Roger Corman’s studio New World Pictures.  The pictures were based on a comic book called Lone Wolf and Cub written by Kazuo Koike, who also created Lady Snowblood, Crying Freeman, and one based on Hanzo the Razor. This movie is about a rouge samurai that wanders around Japan with his son in a baby cart, looking for work and defending himself from his many enemies. The main character is played by Tomisaburo Wakayama, a veteran actor to the samurai film genre and brother to producer Shintaro Katsu. Katsu is best known for playing Zatoichi, the blind swordsman, in 26 movies and a television series.

This is simply a totally bad ass movie. The American edit is super fast paced and filled with a ton of bloody action, featuring eleven fight scenes, tons of spraying blood, and splitting heads. All of the fight scenes are memorable and Lone Wolf always has some type of tricks available on his baby cart. The narration by the child and the new score are perfect for a dubbed film and are a good fit for the time period in which it was released, the synthesized score is very reminiscent of the sound from John Carpenter films and the Phantasm horror series.

The movie was highly influential on many filmmakers, most notably Quentin Tarantino and John Carpenter. Tarantino has incorporated the super violent spraying blood into the Kill Bill films and many of his other ones. This motion picture is the one that the bride’s daughter watches when she goes to bed in the second Kill Bill film. Carpenter used some similar imagery from this film in Big Trouble in Little China, mainly the three guys wearing the straw hats. If you like action and violence, then this is essential viewing. There are also six films from the original Lone Wolf and Cub series, along with a television series and the comic that they were based upon. All of them are worth checking out.

Works Cited

[1]	"IMDB," IMDB, 17 3 2016. [Online]. Available: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0081506/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1. [Accessed 17 3 2016].

 

 

 

The Whale God AKA Kujira gami (1962) featuring Shintaro Katsu

Another somewhat forgotten gem from Japanese production company Daiei Studios is the 1962 release of The Whale God AKA Kujira gami, which was based upon a 1961 award winning novel with the same title by Uno Koichiro. Bearing similarities to Herman Melville’s Moby Dick, it is the story of a small whaling village that has devoted many generations of men in order to kill a giant whale that they refer to as The Whale God. It has been many years and the townspeople are obsessed with destroying the monster. The wealthiest man in the town has offered up his lands, title, and daughter to the man that kills the whale. The main local resident Shaki (Kojiro Hongo) is looking to avenge the deaths of his father and grandfather. A stranger from out of town, Kishu (Shintaro Katsu), is solely interested in the potential inheritance. This is an excellent film that features a strong story, powerful themes, and a wonderfully dark performance from Katsu.

The screenplay was written by Kaneto Shindo, who was also a talented director as well. He ended up with 177 writing credits and 41 directing credits, which includes the highly acclaimed Children of Hiroshima (1952) and Onibaba (1964), among many others. It’s a complex story that deals with obsessions, family, love, rape, and the whaling culture. It was directed by Tokuzo Tanaka, who has 51 directing credits including The Snow Woman (1968), The Haunted Castle (1969), three Zatoichi pictures, and Sleepy Eyes of Death: The Chinese Jade (1963). It was shot in a very dark black and white film, which ends up producing some stunning shadows and helps the whale look more realistic. The camera work is superb in this, with some nice long tracking shots and good camera movement during certain important scenes. There are many sequences in which the camera stays on the action or a character for a lengthy time, such as the whalers departing into the ocean and a special ritual. This helps balance the battle sequences with the whale that are highly edited, which has a justifiable reason behind it.

It should be noted that the whale is not real and the effects are something similar to a kaiju movie. They use a combination of techniques in order to bring the creature to life and make him look genuine. All of the sequences involving the whale where filmed inside of a studio with some type of tank set up and the walls painted to resemble the skyline. It appears that there were two versions of the whale, a smaller version that was used with miniatures and a larger version that the actors could climb onto in the finale. Edited into that footage are real scenes where the men are in the ocean on the boats, combining it all together in order to create the illusion of it all being real. This combination works tremendously and the frantic editing during the whale battle scenes creates an extra element of tension. The creature effects look fantastic and could be viewed as an early influence to Godzilla and other kaiju in cinema. It is also shockingly violent for the era, featuring a great deal of spraying blood not typically scene during this era of filmmaking.

The acting from the entire cast is great. Hongo plays the main character, who is the sort of Ahab of the story. He’s admirable and moral, yet has a deep seeded obsession with killing the whale in which he is willing to sacrifice his life for. He gives a good performance, but it is vastly overshadowed by Katsu who dominates during his on screen time. His character is the polar opposite of Zatoichi and is quite possibly the most evil person that he has ever portrayed. He did play Hanzo the Razor who interrogated women by having sex with them, however it turned into a moment of ecstasy for the women and the situations are more outlandish to really take seriously. This is a really bad man, who cares for nothing but whatever pleases himself.

Bottom line, if you’re a Katsu fan, then this one is an absolute must see.

Score 8/10

 

 

The Homeless (1974) Review

The Homeless 1974

This is another film that has surprisingly never seen a proper Western release, a blockbuster starring Shintaro Katsu (Zatoichi), Ken Takakura (many popular yakuza films), and Meiko Kaji (Lady Snowblood), directed by veteran Buichi Saito (The Rambling Guitarist), produced by Katsu Productions, and distributed by Toho Co., Ltd. It is a remake of the 1967 French drama Les Aventuriers starring Alain Delon, which was based upon a novel by Jose Giovanni. Even with this amazing star ensemble, it was a failure at the box office and somewhat marked the end of the Japanese mega productions in favor of television. Audiences were choosing to stay at home more in favor of watching their stars on the television set instead of making a trip to the cinema. Hence the move for Katsu and his Zatoichi character over to the small screen for a series that ran from 1974 through 1979 and produced 98 episodes.

Despite its failures theatrically, this deserves some examination for its stunning cinematography and brilliant character performances from the three leads. The story involves two prisoners who get released on the same day, both with their own personal obsessions they seek to achieve. One (Katsu) is hunting for a sunken treaser and the other (Takakura) is seeking vengeance for the death of his sister. They both help a prostitute (Kaji) escape from her Yakuza bosses and the trio’s paths continue to cross during their personal journeys. In the end, all three need each other and the narrative feels as much a vehicle to explore these characters and their relationships than anything else.

The direction and cinematography are striking. Saito displays his abilities to expertly to place and guide the camera, providing some great angles and beautiful scenic shots. He makes excellent use of the environments and traditional Japanese settings and period costumes. It should be noted that this does take place in the early 1900’s, so there are some additional modern elements in it as well. There are superb close up shots of all of the main actors, providing wonderful expressive moments for all three. It contains several memorable scenes, most notably a fantastically filmed duel. It has a nice score that features the same theme song changed up throughout the picture, using a variety of orchestral, electric organ, horns, acoustic guitar, and other instruments.

The performances from the three co-stars are marvelous. Katsu stands out and is absolutely infectious in his portrayal of this jokester conman obsessed with finding treasure, sporting a modern white suit and white straw pork pie hat. He falls somewhere along the lines of his Zatoichi character and a lighthearted version of Eli Wallach’s Tuco, displaying a unique brand of physicality and facial gestures.  His ability to create a persona using every part of his body demonstrates the type of master that he was at his craft, delivering an unforgettable performance. Takakura is good and pretty much plays the straight man or tough guy, similar to his prior yakuza characters. He is more than one dimensional though, developing a friendship and bond with Katsu. Kaji is the most unrecognizable out of the trio, stepping away from her tough girl persona and moving into one that is a prostitute seeking a new life. She is a victim and weak, a polar opposite from her previous roles.

It’s fairly obvious why this didn’t succeed. It lacked the action and exploitative elements that were common threads of most of these stars well known roles. While there is a minimal amount of action and yakuza elements, at the heart of it all this is a period drama. It is missing the wild sword fights, grand gun battles, and the large amount of violence and nudity that the audiences had come to expect. Regardless, it is a picture that ought to be seen by the fans of these actors.

Score 7/10