Samurai Spy (Ibun Sarutobi Sasuke)
Directed by Masahiro Shinoda
Written by Yoshiyuki Fukuda from a novel by Koji Nakada
1965/Japan
Shochiku Eiga
First viewing/Netflix rental
[box] “Ninjas don’t wish upon a star, they throw them.” ― Jarius Raphel[/box]
Beautiful imagery and ninja action keep totally befuddling plot interesting.
The setting is early 17th Century Japan. Fourteen years previous, there was a war between two rival clans, with lesser clans forced to choose sides. Now an uneasy peace prevails with spies from all sides scouring the countryside for information. Our hero Sarutobi Sasuke is a member of a neutral clan. He abhors war. Nonetheless, he is constantly drawn into violence to protect himself or his friends.
The characters in this film fight more with knives and death stars than they do with swords. There’s also a fair amount of wire work. Shinoda is a master at composition and lighting and the film is beautiful to look at. Just don’t ask me who was on whose side or what in the hell these people were ultimately fighting about. Narrator does an information dump at the beginning of the movie and there were just too many names and complications for my poor brain to absorb
