The blood geysers, the viscera, the historicity… The Lone Wolf And Cub films have finally come to Criterion!
Among my very favorite franchises in cinematic history, the adventures of wandering assassin Ogami Itto and his young son Daigoro (6 films in all) add up to one of the silver screen’s grandest epic tales. Shot in quick succession in the early to mid-1970s, there’s certainly an element of stylistic storytelling that dates the films to this time period, but the stories are also famous for faithfully recreating the Tokugawa Era of Japan in which they are set. And for every slavishly accurate portrayal of life and class and social constructs from this time period to ground these films firmly in the reality of those times, there’s a truly exploitative volcanic blood eruption or split wig that’ll have your inner gore hound licking its chops. Equal parts historical epic and Roger Moore James Bond film, this tale is so engaging and entertaining it has lived on through the decades and been adapted and reimagined several times, while itself being a cinematic adaptation of a popular series of Manga novels created by Kazuo Koike, who himself wrote several of the screenplays for these films.
Ogami Itto and Daigoro are the heart and soul of the series and their quiet father-son rapport offers a depth of character worth hanging a series on. Betrayed by the Shadow Yagyu clan, Ogami’s wife is murdered and his title of head executioner for the Shogunate is stripped away. But rather than committing ritual seppuku, Ogami chooses to walk the path of vengeance, and gives his infant son the choice: join your mother, or walk the road of vengeance with me. The infant Daigoro “chooses” vengeance, and the greatest duo in the history of mass slaughter is born.
The films have two basic narratives. One is the ongoing battle between Ogami and the Yagyu Clan, the other are the various tasks Ogami and Daigoro take on as wandering assassins Lone Wolf And Cub. It’s through these adventures in assassination that Ogami gets to become a true stoic hero, taking on the causes of the downtrodden and weary in usually honorable tasks, endearing him to the audience. It doesn’t hurt that Daigoro is one of the cutest kids ever to grace the big screen and also displays street smarts well beyond his years (not to mention that he stone cold murders some of their attackers via his tricked out baby cart).
As each film installment progresses, the action is relentless and the stakes are increasingly dire. The duo bounce from Yagyu clash to local adventures, and throughout the code of the samurai and the societal norms of the Tokugawa period are explored thoroughly and are never less than fascinating. The films are relentlessly entertaining and action packed, featuring on screen violence and gratuitous nudity in a way never before seen upon their release. It becomes increasingly more over the top so as to become cartoonish, and the series simply owns this and has fun with it while never betraying the stoic characters at their core. Themes of justice and vengeance and the harsh realities of the code of the samurai are explored through strong screenplays and through the unflappable characters at the core. What I’m getting at is that these films have everything. Thrills, laughs, moments of profound loss and betrayal, heroism and societal commentary. From cartoonish blood geysers to unflinching observations on the human condition, the Lone Wolf And Cub saga contains multitudes.
Sword Of Vengeance [1972, Dir. Kenji Misumi, W. Kazuo Koike, Goseki Kojima]
This introductory film depicts the origin of wandering assassins Lone Wolf And Cub. But this is offered in flashback through the memories of Ogami Itto. The present-set storyline is largely inconsequential to the rest of the overarching story, and it is forgivable that most of it was stripped away in the American re-edit of the first two films which was dubbed into English and combined into one film called Shogun Assassin. That isn’t to say it’s not a great film, because the very origins of the duo are iconic and essential to the rest of the story. Even the present-set adventure, in which Itto travels to a hot spring which is overrun with bandits and forms a bizarre bond with a prostitute, does explore some of the unique and challenging social mores of that period of Japan that clash greatly with today’s sensibilities. Sword Of Vengeance offers a series of “firsts” that will become staples of the franchise, such as huge final battles in which Ogami is horribly outnumbered, as well as various trips to springs and inns, and most notably a whole bunch of confrontations over honor and codes which are actually quite foreign and fascinating to a modern Westerner.
Baby Cart At The River Styx [1972, Dir. Kenji Misumi, W. Kazuo Koike, Goseki Kojima]
A very clear inspiration for John Carpenter’s villainous 3 Storms in Big Trouble In Little China, the second Lone Wolf And Cub film ups the action factor. Itto and Daigoro take on a mission to execute a rogue purple dyer who is being protected by a trio of powerful warriors wearing distinct basket-style hats and each utilizing a special weapon. They’re iconic opponents for Ogami Itto and their role as protector/escorts also creates an element of honorable rivalry between them. Often Ogami Itto is squaring off against villainous bastards who deserve what’s coming to them. But seemingly just as often, excentricities in the code of honor create scenarios where honorable men must do horrible things, including Itto himself, and their combat is regularly seen as tragically unavoidable. The climactic battle in the desert with the trio of brothers is breathtaking.
Our heroes are simultaneously dodging a clan of female ninja recruited to destroy them by the Shadow Yagyu after the Yagyu suffered a public humiliation at the hands of Ogami in the last film and therefore the Yagyu can’t be seen to be directly attacking him for fear of their honor. This creates a dynamic where women throughout the film are attempting to assassinate Ogami and Daigoro in a variety of surprising ways, and also creates the first opportunity for little Daigoro to use the contraptions built into their baby cart to straight up murder someone. It can’t be denied that an element of the pure joy that comes from watching these films includes seeing a small child kill and be threatened and use cunning while still also simply being a child.
A final highly enjoyable element worth mentioning is the variety of settings on display. From forests to deserts to a long sequence on a boat, there’s a visually pleasing array of locations that not only makes for varied viewing experiences but also a wonderful display of what Japan has to offer ecologically, which is nothing to be ignored… just ask New Zealand’s tourism industry post-Lord Of the Rings.
Baby Cart To Hades [1972, Dir. Kenji Misumi, W. Kazuo Koike, Goseki Kojima]
Easily the best of the first three films, Hades climaxes with the first all out war between Ogami Itto and legions of soldiers far outnumbering him. Sure, Itto has defied the odds up until this point in his quest for vengeance, but this is where the film series embraces its exploitative side and allows Itto victory over some hundred men via hidden baby cart guns. It is placed in such a location in the series as to allow the films to continue growing in their spectacle and stakes even beyond this third film and preparing the audience for even more ridiculously outnumbered battles to come.
Largely eschewing the machinations of the Yagyu clan in this installment, Ogami Itto truly grapples with the darkest elements of his societal code in this installment. Opening with a horrendous and tragic sequence of violence, a samurai named Kanbei executes the innocent victims of a crime due to his obligation to save face for his lord. But when confronted by Itto, the samurai is allowed to live, having honored the code of the samurai. It’s deeply disturbing.
Immediately after this we see Ogami put himself through torture and back in order to save a young girl from prostitution. He’s tortured within an inch of his life and in the process never utters a single cry. His heroism is potent and personal here, altering the fate of one girl’s life through the rigid observation of the very same code that ended the lives of innocents earlier in the film.
Kanbei’s return toward the end of the film and after the all out warfare described above again explores a fascinating scenario in which Kanbei recounts the loss of his honor through a technicality in the honor code, a legalistic observation turned his heroism in saving his lord’s life into a banishable offense. His interactions with Ogami Itto to close out the film offers two of the most noble characters in the series discussing the complexities of the code under which they live in a fascinating way, especially in light of the current political system I myself live under, in which principles and progress are bought and sold and the average citizen seems to be destined to lose.
It’s a powerful entry in the series, further elevating Ogami’s mythical status, more deeply endearing him to the audience, and challenging the honor codes through equal parts potent and exploitative storytelling.
Baby Cart In Peril [1972, Dir. Buichi Saito, W. Kazuo Koike, Goseki Kojima]
Another top notch entry with equally exciting action and plotting, this installment balances the ongoing Yagyu vengeance saga with the travelling adventures of our favorite assassins Lone Wolf and Cub. Again providing as much titillation as it does cultural and historical insight, this entry literally opens on a close up of a bare breast. It’s soon revealed to be the breast of a tattooed woman, who proceeds to kill a group of flabbergasted men, blood splattering across her chest. It’s a shocking scene unlike anything I’ve seen before, and Yuki’s story becomes a tragic and potent element of Baby Cart In Peril. Ogami is hired to assassinate Yuki for her murders, but along the way he learns of her story and the tragedy that caused her to tattoo herself and walk the path the vengeance Ogami himself is on. As he learns about her, he also learns about the despised wandering performer class of which Yuki was a part. Her own father is the leader of this ragtag class, and in yet another compelling exploration of honor and code, Yuki’s own father bonds with Ogami even as he sets out to claim her life.
Peril also provides little Daigoro with his most in depth character exploration to date as he becomes separated from Ogami and happens across a mysterious samurai who immediately recognizes something different in Daigoro’s eyes. He follows Daigoro as he becomes trapped in a brush fire, but refuses to help in order to observe Daigoro’s profound behavior. Surviving the fire, the samurai continues to follow Daigoro until he crosses paths with Ogami and it’s revealed that this samurai is Gunbei, the Yagyu clan member who once competed with Ogami for the position of head executioner and lost. Gunbei loses an arm in the duel, but will continue to pursue Ogami.
The conclusion of the Yuki thread is fascinating and tragic, as Yuki is able to track down the wicked clansman who had wronged her and destroy him, regaining her honor… only to be killed by Ogami in the most perplexing event of the whole series. Ogami and Yuki’s own father seem to be compelled that her life must end, but are both simultaneously moved by her plight and humbled at her ability to regain her honor in the end. It doesn’t jibe with today’s societal codes, but it makes for highly compelling drama.
Culminating in yet another gigantic battle, this time Ogami fights the lord who brought dishonor to the ragtag street performer clan in murdering Yuki’s father, and then our duo must face off against another wave of Yagyu soldiers. Ogami has a full on battle with Lord Retsudo himself, taking one of Retsudo’s eyes, but walking into the sunset severely injured and limping to close things out.
It’s perhaps the most salacious of the films thus far, but also among the better entries; thrilling and tragic and serving to add dimensionality and depth to our main characters on their road to vengeance.
Baby Cart In The Land Of Demons [1973, Dir. Kenji Misumi, W. Kazuo Koike, Tsutomu Nakamura]
A step down from the last two films, Land Of Demons features a bizarre and lenthy opening sequence in which various men from a clan looking to hire Ogami for an assassination challenge him to duels. They’re spread out across the countryside and tasked with testing Ogami, then revealing pieces of his mission to him if they lose the duel. So in vignette after vignette, Ogami bests men who reveal bits and pieces of a mission to him. It’s somewhat repetitive, but nothing impresses Ogami like noble death, and he’s compelled to take on the assignment through the sacrifice of these men’s lives.
Also separated once again, there’s another compelling thread following Daigoro as he gets wrapped up into the political machinations of a petty thief known as O-Yo, a female pickpocket who trusts Daigoro with her treasure while she’s on the run from the law. Daigoro then refuses to name O-Yo in public even when she confesses to the crimes. He’s publicly flogged but remains tight lipped. Daigoro ain’t no snitch.
Once Ogami takes on the assignment revealed by the various now-dead clansmen, he’s wrapped up in all kinds of double crosses with a wicked holy man aligned with the Yagyu clan, and the necessary recovery of a document which proves a lord has forsaken his son and elevated the young daughter of a concubine to be his heir. There’s underwater fights with Ogami in a loin cloth, there’s double and triple crosses, and the usual quests for honor and vengeance mixing together into one.
White Heaven In Hell [1974, Dir. Yoshiyuki Kuroda, W. Tsutomu Nakamura]
Shedding off any fetters which might have been holding this franchise back from total, absolute exploitation cinema… White Heaven In Hell boasts perhaps the most iconic and trippy visuals of the entire Lone Wolf And Cub saga. The bulk of the story is focused on wrapping up the rivalry between Ogami Itto and the Yagyu clan. And the slightly unresolved nature of the ending is one of the only things holding this entry back from being the very best of the series. If not the best, it’s at the very least the most bizarre.
Down to only a couple of his own children left to destroy Itto, Lord Retsudo sicks his daughter on our duo with her deceptive knife throwing techniques. Needless to say, this technique is no match for Lone Wolf and Cub… and Retsudo must resort to calling on a bastard son to destroy Itto. Sheltered in the mountains, Hyoei of the Spider Demon Clan vows to destroy Itto not in honor of his father, but rather to embarrass the Yagyu clan and restore his honor from being outcast. The Spider Demons introduce a whole lot of magic and mysticism into the series, which has been fanciful and lowbrow often, but which had never veered into the supernatural as fully as it does here. With assassins striking from below the earth, utilizing worm-like digging powers, Ogami is forced to outsmart the supernatural. It plays silly, and that’s maybe the best place for the series to go by the sixth entry.
As many of the past films have done, this last film also beautifully showcases the geographic diversity of Japan via the climactic and titular battle on snow covered mountain slopes. The biggest battle in all six of the films caps off the entire series with skiing swordfights, a babycart transformed into a snowsled of death, and a defeated Lord Retsudo escaping into the mountains. It’s a phenomenal battle full of singular visuals that would’ve been wonderfully capped off by a definitive ending which sadly never came to pass. The Yagyu clan is shattered and shamed, Ogami Itto and Daigoro appear triumphant, but Retsudo lives on and there’s seemingly no end to the road Lone Wolf and Cub have chosen to walk.
The Package
Loaded with bonus content and beautiful packaging, the Criterion Lone Wolf And Cub Blu-ray set is by far the most exciting release of 2016 for my money. On top of the incredible packaging and art work (complete with hidden plans for the infamous babycart stored in the spine of the box!), the most exciting addition to this release is a new subtitle track with a far superior English translation to any of the previous American releases of these films through AnimEigo. These films rocketed into the position of one of my all time favorite franchises even before this game changing new translation. But watching the films on the Criterion release felt like seeing a whole new series, with clearer dialog and less muddled motivations. For a series that hinges so much on an honor code that is foreign to modern Westerners, it’s a true gift to have such a more clear and clean translation on this new set. It enhances the experience of watching the entire trilogy!
Aside from the translation, the most important “bonus feature” on this release is the inclusion of Shogun Assassin, the film released in America many years after these original films which dubbed the dialog, added a synth score, and edited the first two films together into one. It is perhaps a slight on that film to only include it as a bonus feature… but the important thing is that it is included.
With brand new 2K digital scans of all the films, new bonus features with talent involved in the series, new subtitles, and Shogun Assassin… this box set is unquestionably the definitive home video version of this series and easily tops the list for home video releases of 2016.
And I’m Out.
The Lone Wolf And Cub series is now available on Blu-ray from The Criterion Collection.
