Samurai Spy

Infobox_Film
name = Samurai Spy


imdb_id = 0059303
director = Masahiro Shinoda
writer = Yoshiyuki Fukuda
based on a novel by
Koji Nakada
starring = Kōji Takahashi
Mutsuhiro Toura
Tetsuro Tanba
Jitsuko Yoshimura
producer =
music = Toru Takemitsu
cinematography = Masao Kosugi
distributor = Shochiku Co., Ltd.
released = 1965 (Japanese release)
runtime = 100 min.
language = Japanese

nihongo|"Samurai Spy"|異聞猿飛佐助|Ibun Sarutobi Sasuke is a 1965 film directed by Masahiro Shinoda. Made during the height of the cold war, the film follows the lives of samurai spies caught up in the power struggles of their times.

It is set in the period between the Battle of Sekigahara in 1600 and the Siege of Osaka in 1614. It follows Sasuke Sarutobi (Kōji Takahashi) a spy for the Sanada Clan. Sasuke is caught between two rival groups of spies, those working for the Tokugawa Shogunate and those supporting the Toyotomi Clan. Tokugawa Ieyasu's clan was in the strategically superior position after having won the Battle of Sekigahara but had engendered much hatred among samurai who had become ronin after the Battle.

The Tokugawa spies are led by Sakon Takatani (Tetsuro Tanba) and Tatewaki Koriyama (Eiji Okada) and the Toyotomi by Shigeyuki Koremura (Eitaro Ozawa) and his lieutenant Takanosuke Nojiri (Kei Sato). The story begins when Sasuke is approached by another Toyotomi spy Mitsuaki Inamura (Mutsuhiro Toura).

Mitsuaki tells Sasuke that Tatewaki means to betray Tokugawa and join the Toyotomi. Mitsuaki is helping Tatewaki for a reward from Koremura. Sasuke, believing that this intrigue will start another war, tells Mitsuaki that he wants no part in it. Mitsuaki begs Sasuke to help him since the cruel local magistrate Genba Kuni (Minoru Hodaka) is on the lookout for him. Mitsuaki then creates a distraction by alerting the authorities to the location of a local Christian samurai (Christianity being outlawed at the time), Yashiro Kobayashi (Yasunori Irikawa). This allows Mitsuaki and a reluctant Sasuke to travel through the area to Suwa to meet Mitsuaki's contact.

Sasuke again tells Mitsuaki that he is uninterested in the plot even when Mitsuaki offers him a portion of the reward. While on the road, Mitsuaki is attacked by a mysterious samurai in white who is later revealed to be Takatani, hunting Mitsuaki to discover the whereabouts of Tatewaki to kill him before he can betray the Tokugawa. Mitsuaki, with the aid of Sasuke, survives the attack but Takatani escapes.

Later, in Suwa, Sasuke returns to an inn to find Mitsuaki dead with a knife through the head. Sasuke suspects a dancer he has seen in the area recently and follows her to a festival. He pulls her aside and talks to her. Okiwa (Misako Watanabe) denies killing Mitsuaki and the two return to an inn. After a night together, Sasuke realizes that although Okiwa didn't kill Mitsuaki, she is involved in the situation in some way.

Later as Sasuke returns to the inn, he finds Takatani again dress in white. Takatani demands the location of Tatewaki but Sasuke denies knowledge of the plot and Takatani escapes. Sasuke returns to his room to find Okiwa dead with a knife wound in her throat. As Sasuke flees the inn, he is penned in by magistrate Genba's men and knocked out and captured by Koremura's lieutenant Nojiri. When he comes to, he is taken before Koremura who also demands the whereabouts of Takewaki. Since both sides erroneously believe Sasuke to have this knowledge, they both want him alive. Nojiri reveals a letter from Takewaki to Sasuke that he claims was in Sasuke's sleave when he was captured. Although the Toyotomi believe Sasuke knows where Takewaki is, they release him since the Sanada Clan is essentially neutral.

In the house of Koremura, Sasuke also meets the beautiful orphan Omiyo (Jitsuko Yoshimura) whose mother and father died during Tokugawa's assent to power. Sasuke is out walking with Omiyo when Genba again catches up with him and captures Omiyo. Sasuke escapes when Takatani intercedes again demanding information on Takewaki. Sasuke gives Takatani the letter that Nojiri claimed was his and in return Takatani gives Sasuke two men to assist in rescuing Omiyo.

As Sasuke and the two ninja rescue Omiyo from Genbo's base, they also discover the Christian samurai tied up in an attic. They escape from the compound with the aid of masked men who reveal themselves to be retainers of Jinnai, also known as, Kazutaka Horikawa (Seiji Miyaguchi) head of the Suwa Clan and the Christian samurai's grandfather. Jinnai also reveals that his son and Yashiro Kobayashi's father is none other than Tatewaki Koriyama. Jinnai wants to find Tatewaki so that the three can live in peace away from war and intrigue.

Sasuke realizes that in the midst of this murder and chaos, the Suwa clan has pure and simple motives and decides to help them. He returns to the Toyotomi and requests Koremura and Nojiri's help in finding Tatewaki at a festival that night. That night at the festival Sasuke gets separated from the Toyotomi and manages to find Tatewaki. He helps Tatewaki escape with the aid of Jinnai's men but Takatani and Toyotomi are close on Tatewaki's heals. Takatani manages to kill numerous retainers of Jinnai as well as Koremura.

Sasuke finally catches up with Takatani and overcomes him. He finds Jinnai, Tatewaki, and Yashiro with Omiyo and leads them towards the border with the next province where his ally Saizo Kirigakure (Shintaro Ishihara) waits for him. The injured Yashiro is slowing their progress and Genba's men are catching up so Sasuke and Omiyo ride ahead to fetch Kirigakure. As Sasuke rides on, someone kills the entire Suwa clan with throwing knives.

In a fog swept field, as Omiyo and Sasuke stop to catch their breath, Nojiri appears. Sasuke is not surprised having realized that Nojiri must be responsible for the deaths of his friend Mitsuaki and the dancer Okiwa. He also realizes that Nojiri must have planted the letter from Tatewaki after having taken it from Mitsuaki's corpse. In the climactic battle, Nojiri and Sasuke circle each other, each trying to get the upper hand. Nojiri manages to get a garotte around Sasuke's throat and is slowly strangling him when a knife pierces the side of his head. As Sasuke looks up, his kinsman Kirigakure approaches smiling. Omiyo and Sasuke limp towards the border and safety.

External links

*imdb title|id=0059303|title=Samurai Spy
* [http://www.criterion.com/asp/release.asp?id=312&eid=439&section=essay Criterion Collection essay by Alain Silver]
* [http://www.criterion.com/asp/release.asp?id=312&eid=448&section=essay Criterion Collection essay by Chris D.]
*