| Samurai Spy | |
|---|---|
| Directed by | Masahiro Shinoda |
| Written by | Yoshiyuki Fukuda |
| Starring | Kōji Takahashi Mutsuhiro Toura Tetsuro Tamba Jitsuko Yoshimura Eiji Okada Yasunori Irikawa Seiji Miyaguchi Shintaro Ishihara |
| Music by | Toru Takemitsu |
| Cinematography | Masao Kosugi |
| Distributed by | Shochiku Co., Ltd. |
| Release date(s) | 1965 (Japanese release) |
| Running time | 100 min. |
| Language | Japanese |
Samurai Spy (異聞猿飛佐助 Ibun Sarutobi Sasuke) is a 1965 film directed by Masahiro Shinoda, based on a novel by Koji Nakada. Made during the height of the cold war, the film follows the lives of 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 Sarutobi Sasuke (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), who tells Sasuke that Tatewaki means to betray Tokugawa and join the Toyotomi. Sasuke, believing that this intrigue will start another war, tells Mitsuaki that he wants no part in it, but he begs Sasuke to help him since the cruel local magistrate Genba Kuni (Minoru Hodaka) is on the lookout for him.
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