Ibun Sarutobi Sasuke (1965)

Director:

Masahiro Shinoda

Writers:

Yoshiyuki Fukuda (writer)
Koji Nakada (novel)

Genre:

Action | Drama

Plot:

The legendary samurai Sasuke Sarutobi tracks a the spy Nojiri, while a mysterious figure named Sakon...

Plot Keywords:

Martyrdom | Persecution Of Christians | Ronin | Duel | Clan

Cast

Jun Hamamura	...	Joshin temple priest
Yasunori Irikawa	...	Yashiro Kobayashi
Shintarô Ishihara	...	Saizo Kirigakure
Takeshi Kusaka	...	Narrator
Seiji Miyaguchi	...	Jinnai-Kazutaka Horikawa
Eiji Okada	...	Tatewaki Koriyama
Eitarô Ozawa	...	Shigeyuki Koremura
Kei Sato	...	Takanosuke Nojiri
Koji Takahashi	...	Sarutobi Sasuke
Tetsuro Tamba	...	Sakon Takatani
Rokko Toura	...	Mitsuaki Inamura
Misako Watanabe	...	Okiwa
Jitsuko Yoshimura	...	Omiyo

Also Known As:

Samurai Spy

Runtime:

102 min | USA:99 min

Country:

Japan

Language:

Japanese

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Company:

Shochiku Kinema Kenkyû-jo

One of the best of it's time.

This movie is vary unlike most reviews you'd read on here on IMDb. It is a classic in it's self. Most reviews would tell you this movie is ridiculous, silly, cheesy, corny and has a stupid ending. NONE OF THESE THINGS ARE TRUE!!! The way the movie is laid out and filmed is worth the watching in itself. There's a lot of twists and turns so if your into that sort of thing this one is perfect for you (I am thats why I like this movie so much , but I just hope your good at reading subtitles because if you can't, this one will be REALLY hard to follow.) The acting is pretty good, not excellent but decent. The storyline is genius if you can follow it through till the end and get the meaning of the whole thing. There isn't that much sword fighting in this movie, but more ninja type fighting (shurikan, darts, ball & sickle type thing.) The soundtrack and cinematography compliment the twisting storyline excellently as well. Often, during some events we'll hear sort of a sobbing violin riff that is a nice compliment to the event being portrayed, a thing that is exclusive to this film at the time it was released. Character development for the main character isn't vary strong but we still bond with him, and by the end of the film I found myself cheering him on even though I don't have much background on him as a person. The villain is a cool ninja clad in all white (the guy on the cover of the criterion DVD) while the rest of the villains are some that one would never expect, something that makes this film great, is you never know who is who until the final moments of this film. With this being said, if your a fan of ninja films this is an essential! If your a fan of mind bobbling story lines with twists and turns and mysterious characters, this is an essential. If your a samurai fan, I would At least rent it, if not buy it. So thats about it, great film, 10/10, Masterpiece in its own regard, definitely recommend it!