Director: Hideo Gosha
Screenplay: Kei Tasaka (alone on part 1), Hideo Gosha (idea), Norifumi Suzuki, Kiyoko Ôno
Starring: Isao Natsuyagi, Ryôhei Uchida, Junko Miyazono, Tatsuo Endô, Ichirô Nakatani, Yûko Kusunoki, Chiyo Aoi, Rumiko Fuji
Country: Japan
Running Time: 73 min (part 1) 72 min (part 2)
Year: 1966 & 1967
BBFC Certificate: 15
After a brief stint working in radio, Hideo Gosha found success at a relatively young age directing for television. One of his biggest hits was the chanbara series Three Outlaw Samurai, which so impressed the heads of the Shochiku film studio that they offered him the chance to make a film version of the story in 1964.
The Three Outlaw Samurai film performed well, so this was followed up by another handful of successful chanbara movies. Gosha became a hot young name, so it’s surprising that his fifth and sixth films were a pair of B-movies, Samurai Wolf and Samurai Wolf II, which were shot back-to-back.
Toei meant the films as a launching ground for its star Isao Natsuyagi, so I guess they didn’t want to waste too much money on the gamble but wanted someone suitably talented to make it work.
Whilst the films weren’t particularly successful, most notably through the fact no further sequels were made, it did manage to get Natsuyagi’s career off the ground (he’d only had a single, uncredited role to his name before Samurai Wolf). He went on to amass 189 film and TV appearances (according to The IMDB), keeping busy right up until his death in 2013. In fact, in that final year, he appeared in Kore-eda Hirokazu’s excellent Like Father, Like Son.
Despite the fact the two Samurai Wolf films didn’t make much of an impact on release, Gosha’s stock is high enough these days to deem the titles worthy of re-assessment and Eureka are releasing them together in a handsome box set, as part of their Masters of Cinema series.
I got hold of a copy and my thoughts follow. I’ve grouped both films together in my review, as they were shot back to back with much of the same cast and crew, and share similar qualities.
I won’t go into the plots of the two films in detail but I will say that they follow fairly standard chanbara setups. Basically, our titular hero (a.k.a. Ôkaminosuke), a wandering ronin (masterless samurai), arrives in a different small town in each film and gets caught up in their troubles. Generally, these involve corrupt officials or greedy landowners vying for wealth or power, with strong women providing important central figures in both stories.
Despite being scruffy, good with a sword and sometimes boastful of these latter skills, Wolf is nonetheless a good-hearted man and tries his best to support those he feels are in the right, whilst trying to avoid getting killed in the process.
I enjoyed the Samurai Wolf films a great deal. Being B-movies, they’re both refreshingly short and trimmed of all flab. There’s little downtime and plenty of action, so genre fans will be thrilled.
On top of clearly being part of the chanbara genre, the films feel very spaghetti western-like, in some of their stylistic flourishes and plots. One must remember that it was a samurai movie that inspired the spaghetti western boom in the first place, but these Italian imports proved popular in Japan too, so the favour was returned on many occasions.
What most impressed me with the Samurai Wolf films was their style, both in terms of sound and vision. As mentioned, Gosha took some inspiration from directors like Sergio Leone in the look of the films, with nice use of depth, but his own fingerprints can be seen on them too. Slow motion and unusual angles are often utilised and there’s a great use of reflections in one sequence.
It’s the sound that’s most striking though. Gosha often cuts out elements of the audio, emphasising the slashes and screams. This minimalism is often contrasted by harsh sounds that bring you out of these sequences. The music complements this approach, blending Morricone-like instrumentation with some harshly percussive Japanese elements.
The swordplay is suitably thrilling too, being shot and edited with great energy, and often splashed with blood.
With quite a few characters making up the cast of both films and plenty of twists and turns in their stories, the films are also engaging beyond the style and action, even if the situations and themes are common to the genre.
So, overall, the Samurai Wolf films are short, sharp chanbara treats. Stylish, violent and to-the-point, fans of the genre will lap them up.
Films: 
Samurai Wolf I + II is out now on Blu-Ray in the UK, released by Eureka as part of their Eureka Masters of Cinema series. Both films look good, with a fairly crisp, detailed picture. I spotted a little dirt or damage in spots, but nothing distracting. I think I noticed one or two subtitle errors in the first film but nothing major and I may be mistaken. I had no issues with the audio.
LIMITED EDITION SPECIAL FEATURES
– Limited edition O-Card slipcase featuring new artwork by Tony Stella [2000 copies]
– Presented in 1080p HD from restorations of the original film elements by Toei
– Uncompressed original Japanese Mono audio
– Optional English subtitles
– Brand new audio commentary on Samurai Wolf II by Jasper Sharp
– Brand new interview with film critic Tony Rayns
– Audio commentary on Samurai Wolf by film historian and writer Chris Poggiali
– Outlaw Director – Hideo Gosha featurette with Tomoe Gosha
– Reversible sleeve featuring original poster artwork
– A collector’s booklet featuring new writing on the film by Japanese cinema expert Tom Mes
Chris Poggiali provides a commentary on the first film. This is well-researched, with plenty of background given about the team involved with making the film.
On the second film, Jasper Sharp provides a commentary. He offers a rich track that digs into how the film fits within the state of Japan and its cinematic landscape at the time. He also talks about the lives of some of the main players in front of and behind the camera.
Tony Rayns talks about the Samurai Wolf films too, discussing their place as B-movies in the Japanese film market. He also puts them in context within Gosha and Natsuyagi’s careers. It’s a valuable piece.
Tomoe Gosha talks about her father’s career, discussing how he was a rare Japanese film director to come from TV and continue to jump between mediums. This was frowned upon by much of the ‘old guard’ in the rather traditional industry. Tomoe goes on to specifically talk about the production of the Samurai Wolf films. It’s an illuminating and enjoyable interview.
I didn’t receive a copy of the booklet to comment on that, but Eureka’s booklets are usually worth a read and Tom Mes, who provides an essay, certainly knows his onions.
So, Eureka have put together a fabulous package. Chanbara fans should snap this up as soon as they can.
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