Media Monday.

Today, I want to talk about one of my favorite series of samurai movies "Lone Wolf and Cub". The movie is based on a Manga written by Kazuo Koike and drawn by Goseki Kojima that was first published in 1970. It ran for 6 years and cover 28 volumes. I have yet to read the manga. My only exposure to the story and its characters come from 6 movies from the mid 70's.

Fire and water. The dichotomy of Itto's character in a picture.

The first movie in the series "Lone Wolf and Cub: Sword of Vengeance" was released in 1972. It stars Tomisaburo Wakayama as Ogami Itto and was directed by Kenji Misumi. It was quickly followed by a number of sequels. I plan on going over each one by itself. As such I am doing things a little differently today. This will be a slightly more in depth review/impression of the first movie. Bear with me.

The movie opens with our hero, Ogami Itto, executing a child. He is the Kogi Kaishakunin (executioner), to the shogun. It is his duty, he takes no pleasure in it. The execution is carried out as a honorable ritual. Of special note is the child actor. He, whether on purpose of not, plays his role perfectly. He is scared but trying to be brave. The look on his face gives the scene extra weight.

To show the depth of our lead, he is next seen helping a woman. The woman, who has lost her child, mistakes Daigoro (Akihiro Tomikawa) for him. Itto allows this woman to take his child out of his baby cart. At first this would seem to be an irresponsible act, but we will soon learn that father and son are not a normal pair. It is also during this scene that we get our first glimpse of one of the running themes of this movie. Breast feeding as a visual symbol of motherhood.

The following flashback contains another scene of breastfeeding. We are also introduced to Itto’s wife and Daigoro’s mother Asami (Reiko Kasahara). She speaks of nightmares and fears that she has had for their son.  Itto, in an attempt to calm these fears, takes Daigoro to pay respects to the people he has killed in his official duty.

Itto is set up and falls almost too easily. He is a very straight forward man. He knows who is plotting against him and why. Yet he is still unprepared. He has left himself unguarded from these political ploys.

Yagyu Retsduo as played by Tokio Oki.

We are also introduced to the villains of the series the Yagyu clan lead by Yagyu Retsudo (Tokio Oki). Retsudo is very much Itto’s opposite. Retsudo covets power and is willing to do anything to claim it. He is not the center piece of this movie, but the series is always driving towards their eventual confrontation.

During this flash back we also get our first taste of the action. It is quick, direct, and brutal.  This series in specific and the genre (at the time) in general has very stylized and exaggerated violence. The blood is so red and there is so much of it, that when compared to the rather drab earth tones of the majority of the film, it stands out dramatically. It can not be missed. Which I feel is the point.

As we return to the current story we learn that the driving plot of the film, like the series in general, is always linked to political intrigue and clan based power struggles. Itto is hired by a chamberlain to prevent the murder of his lord. This requires going to a hot-spring (Bath House) and killing a group of bandits and their leader. This leads into the second half of the movie.

On the way to the hot springs Itto has a flash back that leads to my favorite scene in the movie. Itto gives his son the choice of an easy death of a hard life. This is shown by Itto placing a ball on the floor to one side and his sword to the other. Part of me thinks this is Itto trying to shrug his responsibilities. Given the choice between his favorite toy and his father’s sword the child would obviously choose the ball. Of course Daigoro wouldn’t even know what was happening. He would just want his toy, but he surprises us and his father. Maybe it is a simple fluke, but the child chooses the sword. He chooses life. He chooses revenge. When you consider how important breast feeding, as a symbol of motherhood, is to this movie the choice becomes obvious. This child has had the most important person in his life taken from him. He has lost his mother.

Of course we are over looking one of the most important factors of this scene. Itto was fully prepared to kill his child for the sake of vengeance.

An earlier scene establishing the motif of water that runs through the film.

I love the second half of the movie. Starting at the bridge scene. Itto is presented with a number of bandits. You know that he could easily kill them all, but he has a job to do. He let’s them live and even take his sword. As far as he is concerned they are already dead and even without his sword he is anything but unarmed. The stupid bastards just don’t know it yet. With every insult, every misdeed, and every boast I become more and more excited. I know it is only a matter of time. Soon Itto will cut them down with brutal efficiency.
     
Another interesting aspect of the second half of the film is how perfectly it illustrates the dichotomy of Itto’s character. As he is being led to the bath house he is presented with the scene of a woman being raped. He could save her but he does not. As a result both the girl and her father die. Itto knows that saving the girl would jeopardize his mission. He chooses to simply prevent his son from seeing the rape. Even when being beaten and antagonized he still does not act.

Yet when the chance arises to save a woman, while keeping his cover, he does. He does what he can. He has sex with the woman who turns out to be a prostitute and thief. Even if it shames him. The woman would have bitten off her tongue and killed herself had he not stepped up. His honor was not as important as this woman's life.

During this part of the movie there is a very short scene in the hot springs. Itto and his son are bathing. The woman enters and explains that she knows who Itto is. The thing that strikes me is that before she enters Itto and his son are playfully splashing in the water. It is a very short scene but I feel it is very important.

"We are so Fucked!"

As the movie draws to a close the head of the bandits realizes just who Itto is. The look on his face is priceless. Shit is about to get real. Oh, and it does. We see just how far Itto has gone in weaponizing his son. Not only is he used as a  distraction, but his baby cart is a collection of weapons. Which is why he had no problem giving up his sword earlier. The ending is Itto killing every son of a bitch bandit he can find. It is glorious.

As the movie comes to an end we see the woman from before try to follow Itto. He threatens to cut the bridge ropes if she continues. This parallels an earlier scene where one of the bandits does the same to Itto. It shows the similarities between Itto and the bandits. It also shows that Itto will allow no one to interfere with his vengeance. Itto walks the road of revenge with only son at his side. He needs no one. Just his son.

As if to lighten the mood slightly the movie ends with the child smiling and laughing at some monkeys. For all that we have seen he is still a child and Itto is still his father.

This movie walks a very delicate line between action schlock and deep thematic importance. Dealing with weighty issues such as Duality, Sacrifice, Family, Childhood, Tradition, Motherhood, Vengeance, and and the price of Life. If you are in any way interested in Samurai movies you owe it to yourself to give it a look.

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