The action in this third installment starts with the disgraced shōgun's executioner and his child traveling by river and being followed by members of the Yagyū clan. Ittō will encounter ninjas in a bamboo glade and also Magomura Kanbei (Gō Katō), a rōnin warrior whose three companions commit a horrific rape that leads to many deaths. Kanbei challenges Ittō to a duel that ends in a draw, allowing Lone Wolf and Daigorō to move onward and to an inn where they will encounter prostitutes, pimps, the local police and pistol-wielding yakuza. The altercations that unfold amidst this first wave of mayhem lead up to a string of other attacks that leave a growing pile of corpses in its wake. The final act culminates in a battle that puts Ittō and Daigorō (whose baby cart gets dressed up with an impressive arsenal of weapons) up against a small army led by a corrupt officer. Just when it seems like Ittō's odds for survival couldn't get any worse, Kanbei joins the battlefield anxious for another duel - this time to the death and with no possibility of a draw.
Director Kenji Misumi got his start working in the film business at Daiei Film Co., a Japanese film studio founded in 1942 that went bankrupt in 1971 (later revived with help from a publishing house). After that, he moved over to Toho Studios where he helmed the first Baby Cart movie, Lone Wolf and Cub: Sword of Vengeance, followed by the second entry, Lone Wolf and Cub: Baby Cart at the River Styx, as well as the third- all three in the same year. The first movie sets the stage, the second one is often lauded by fans as having the fastest pace, the most action and being the best in the series, but the third installment has many charms all of its own that help evoke the spirit of its manga roots.
Based on a mammoth 28 volume gekiga (dramatic comic book designed primarily for adults) penned by manga kings Kazuo Koike and Goseki Kojima, this series was developed for the screen by Shintaro Katsu (of Zatoichi fame) for his brother Tomisaburo Wakayama. The initial six episodes produced over a two-year period were met with lukewarm response from the box office and Toho cancelled the series in 1974. Interestingly, in the world market today, these six episodes are considered among the best Japanese films ever made - yet they remain mostly forgotten in their home country, as pointed out in Japanese Cinema: The Essential Handbook.
Thomas Weisser and Yuko Mihara, the authors of Japanese Cinema: The Essential Handbook ,go on to describe that one reason for this oversight is that in 1982 Nippon television revived the character of Ittō Agami with a different actor (Kinnosuke Yorozuya) in a popular TV show called Lone Wolf with Child that ran for four years. The authors note that "is similar to America's infatuation with Alan Alda and the M*A*S*H TV series, very few people remember the original Robert Altman motion picture." Be that as it may, fans of both manga graphic novels and wide-screen cinematic samurai films will find much to enjoy in Lone Wolf and Cub: Baby Cart to Hades, including a wide range of stylistic and violent flourishes, an unusual and surreal sound score and lyrical compositions that make full use of various stunning landscapes.
By Pablo Kjolseth
