Lone Wolf and Cub: Baby Cart in the Land of Demons (子連れ狼 冥府魔道, Kozure Ōkami: Meifu Madō, "Wolf with Child in Tow: Crossroads to Hell") is the fifth in a series of six Japanese martial arts films based on the long-running Lone Wolf and Cub manga series about Ogami Ittō, a wandering assassin for hire who is accompanied by his young son, Daigoro.[3]
| Lone Wolf and Cub: Baby Cart in the Land of Demons | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Directed by | Kenji Misumi[1] |
| Screenplay by | |
| Based on | the manga by Kazuo Koike and Goseki Kojima |
| Produced by | |
| Starring | |
| Cinematography | Fujio Morita[2] |
| Edited by | Toshio Taniguchi[2] |
| Music by | Eiken Sakurai[2] |
Production company | Katsu[2] |
| Distributed by | Toho |
Release date |
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Running time | 89 minutes[2] |
| Country | Japan |
Plot
editOn his travels on "the Demon Path in Hell", Ogami Itto is confronted by a series of five messengers who represent a clan wanting his services. Each assassin in turn administers a specific test of his abilities, and when bested gives Ogami partial payment for the job and, as per his usual stipulation, discloses some of the "secrets and reasons" for the killing. By the time Ogami has defeated all the messengers, he has been informed of a conspiracy to disguise a daimyō's illegitimate female offspring as a prince and heir to the clan, while the official offspring, a son, is kept imprisoned and concealed. A letter detailing the plot is being delivered by a high priest, who in reality is a "grass" or secret ninja agent, to the shōgun, which would mean the dissolution of the clan, leaving retainers, samurai, and vassals without support—a disastrous end. Ogami is to intercept the priest carrying the letter, kill him and retrieve the letter; the priest will be traveling under the protection of his arch-enemy, Yagyū Retsudō, further complicating the mission.
On a stopover at a town festival, Itto's three-year-old son, Ogami Daigoro, is separated from his father and has his own personal adventure when he gets mixed up with a notorious female pickpocket, named Oyo, being chased by constables. She gives him a stolen wallet to hold for her and asks him to promise not to tell anyone. Daigoro is arrested as her accomplice, but refuses to talk. The law officers publicly flog him in front of the townspeople, but Daigoro keeps his promise even after the pickpocket reveals herself and confesses. Finally the constables release him, impressed by his stoic courage and honor.
En route to intercept the priest, Ogami is contracted by a young woman, named Shiranui, to kill the retired lord, his concubine and the young daughter. Ogami, then in a skilled move, swims underwater to a boat containing the high priest and steals the letter. After securing the letter, he confronts the daimyo and after a brutal battle with the daimyo Seven Bodyguards, kills him, his concubine and the young girl, fulfilling his contracts. In the final scene, as Ogami takes Daigoro with him on a boat to sail away, Shiranui appears and before committing harakiri, that the official story will be that the retired lord committed seppuku, thus preserving the clan and order and allowing the concealed heir to assume his rightful place.
Cast
edit- Tomisaburo Wakayama as Ogami Ittō
- Akihiro Tomikawa as Daigoro
- Akira Yamauchi as Ayabe Ukon, Messenger 1
- Hideji Otaki as Mogami Shusuke, Messenger 2
- Taketoshi Naitô as Mawatara Hachiro, Messenger 3
- Fujio Suga as Kikuchi Yamon, Messenger 4
- Rokko Toura as Sazare Kanbei, Messenger 5
- Shingo Yamashiro as Lord Kuroda Naritaka
- Tomomi Sato as "Quick Change" Oyô
- Michiyo Ōkusu as Shiranui
- Koji Fujiyama as Tomekichi the Mole
- Sumida Kazuyo as Hamachiyo
- Bin Amatsu as Inspector Senzo
- Taizen Shishido as Izumi Kazuna
- Eiji Okada as Wakita
- Minoru Ōki as Yagyu Retsudo
Release
editLone Wolf and Cub: Baby Cart in the Land of Demons was released theatrically in Japan on 11 August 1973 where it was distributed by Toho.[2] The film was released on home video by Samurai Cinema, a division of AnimEigo with English subtitles on 20 July 1997.[2]
Footnotes
edit- ^ "Eiga Kantoku Misumi Kenji | Kokuritsu Eiga Ākaibu" 映画監督 三隅研次 | 国立映画アーカイブ [Film Director Kenji Misumi | National Film Archive]. National Film Archive of Japan (in Japanese). Retrieved 4 February 2022.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i Galbraith IV 2008, p. 291.
- ^ "Kozure Ōkami Meifu Madō - Sakuhin Jōhō/Eiga Rebyū -KINENOTE (KINENŌTO)" 子連れ狼 冥府魔道 - 作品情報・映画レビュー -KINENOTE（キネノート） [Kozure Ōkami Meifu Madō - Work Information/Film Review -KINENOTE (Kinenote)]. Kinenote (in Japanese). Kinema Junposha Co., Ltd. Retrieved 4 February 2022.
Sources
edit- Galbraith IV, Stuart (2008). The Toho Studios Story: A History and Complete Filmography. Scarecrow Press. ISBN 978-1461673743.