Having come up through the ranks at Fuji TV as both a producer and a director, Hideo Gosha still faced a huge divide between those that worked in the honoured tradition of cinema and those working in that new upstart fad called Television. In fact, this well regarded director would not get his chance until the powers that be at Shochiku would offer him the opportunity to tell the origin story to his hit 1963 TV series Three Outlaw Samurai, after being impressed by the way in which the director had handled the Chanbara show. So it came to be that Hideo Gosha’s first feature film would become one of the all time greats of Japanese cinema, let alone the Chanbara/Jidaigeki genre.
Having now planted his flag firmly in the ground of Japanese movies, and following it up with another classic of Chanbara cinema with Sword of the Beast (1965), Hideo Gosha would still face the stigma of not only being seen as a TV director by those that worked in the film industry, but now he would get it from both sides as those in the TV world saw his cinematic adventures as him turning his back on what had given him his start. This would often lead to conflicts with overbearing producers and studio heads on many of his feature films, so to avoid their meddling he would often take on projects with lower budgets and lesser known stars, and whilst he would go onto make what are arguably the best Chanbara films ever made before the decade was out in Goyokin (1968) and Hitokiri (1969) before turning his attention to Yakuza tales in the 1970s, he would turn in a slew of experimental films (but still within the confines of entertainment) that would show a director honing his craft despite already being seen by many as a man at the top of his game. In this category we find ourselves at Samurai Wolf and Samurai Wolf II.
Both starring the charismatic Isao Natsuyagi as the titular Samurai Wolf, Kiba (channelling his best Toshiro Mifune in Rashomon), this honourable Ronin turned hero of those that find themselves on the wrong side of justice, would cut and slash his way through countless villains on his way towards the reward of doing the right thing by those that need it most. It’s with his performance that the whole thing revolves around, because when Isao Natsuyagi isn’t on the screen, both films suffer. This isn’t to say that these films are a one man shows, far from it, each story presents a worthwhile adventure for our hero to navigate, but with a performance so large his presence is a hard gap to fill, but fill it they do with intrigue and double crossing murder.
Each film runs for a little over 70 minutes (74 and 71) so there is not time to waste on padded , these are lean and mean films that says what it has to say and gets out with the audience (in this case, me) wanting more. That is probably the biggest shame of Samurai Wolf and Samurai Wolf II, is that this is all there was. It could have easily been a series in the vein of Zatoichi or Lone Wolf and Cub, with Kiba wandering Japan and bringing justice to those that needed it. Would it have had legs like the aforementioned classics? Who knows, but it would have been fun to see.
Even with just the two films, the Samurai Wolf collection is a true joy, and with this presentation from Eureka Entertainment being filled with extras, including commentaries and interviews, these are more than just fillers for completionists of Hideo Gosha fans, these are great films in their own right and well worth the investment.
Samurai Wolf I + II is out now on Eureka Blu-Ray
