Lone Wolf and Cub: Sword of Vengeance is the big screen adaptation of one of the most popular and influential manga (Japanese comic book) sagas of all time. Created in 1970 by writer Kazuo Koike and artist Goseki Kojima, Lone Wolf and Cub tells the story of a ronin, a masterless samurai, who roams the countryside pushing a baby cart with his infant son. The series was serialized in Manga Action magazine and became a sensation in Japan. A screen version was inevitable, and Shintaro Katsu, who made his fame playing the blind swordsman Zatoichi in the long-running film series, picked up the rights. He wasn't interested in starring in the film, but he saw the potential as a project for his own company, Katsu Productions, which he formed in the late 1960s.
Actor Tomisaburô Wakayama loved the manga and was also interested in the project. He had starred in dozens of action films for the film studio Toei but was growing disillusioned with the projects being offered and was determined to star in the screen version. He sought out creator Kazuo Koike to make his case. Wakayama was stout and thick, unlike the sleek and fit figure from the comics, but he was a master martial artist both on and off screen, with a black belt in Judo and training in Kendo, Shorinji Kempo and other martial arts. In a 2005 interview, Koike recalled Wakayama showing up at his door proclaiming, "I'm going to play Lone Wolf," then launching into a midair somersault from a standing position and pulling out a wooden practice sword to prove his skills.
As it turned out, Wakayama was also the older brother of Katsu. So Wakayama, with the blessing of the author, signed to play the masterless samurai for his producer brother in what would be the first of six hit movies.
To direct the film, they turned to Kenji Misumi, a veteran filmmaker with a long history directing Japanese samurai action cinema, or chanbara pictures. Misumi had apprenticed under director Teinosuke Kinugasa, serving as assistant on the award-winning Gate of Hell (1953) and cutting together the director's trailers. According to Misumi biographer Kazuma Nozawa, editing the trailers helped hone Misumi's skills when he graduated to the director's chair at Daiei, where he helmed as many as four features a year, among them the original The Tale of Zatoichi (1962) and five sequels starring Shintaro Katsu. When Daiei went bankrupt in 1971, Katsu hired Misumi along with his regular cinematographer Chikashi Makiura, editor Toshio Taniguchi and other Daiei veterans.
With creator Koike on board to script the film, the manga made the transition from the black-and-white page to the big screen. Wakayama worked with fight choreographer Eiichi Kusumoto to create dynamic action scenes. Misumi preserved the graphic intensity and violence of the manga while adding distinctive cinematic elements and vibrant color. The film premiered in January 1972 and was a hit, spawning what would become a six-film series all starring Wakayama, who eventually took over as producer as well, and child actor Akihiro Tomikawa as Daigoro, the "cub" of the title.
With its flashing swords, sprays of blood and severed heads and torsos, Lone Wolf and Cub: Sword of Vengeance became a cult classic of chanbara, and not simply due to the action and exploitation elements. In addition to the swordplay, violence, nudity and earthy sexuality, the film also offers a tender, loving father under the gruff exterior of the pitiless warrior. While the film received a limited American release with subtitles in 1973, many Americans were first introduced to it in a much different form. Shogun Assassin (1980) was edited together from about 12 minutes of Sword of Vengeance and most of the sequel, Lone Wolf and Cub: Baby Cart at the River Styx (1972), dubbed into English with added narration from the samurai's infant son and released by Roger Corman's New World Pictures to the grindhouse circuit. Shogun Assassin has become a cult film in its own right.
Wakayama's career continued for decades after the final film in the series, on both the big screen and television. American audiences, however, might recognize him from one of his rare American movie appearances. He plays the yakuza boss in Ridley Scott's Black Rain (1989) opposite Michael Douglas, Andy Garcia and Ken Takakura, giving the speech (in English) that provides the film's title.
Sources:
L'ame d'un pére, l'âme d'un sabre, documentary directed by Robin Gatto (Wild Side Films, 2005)
"Samurai and Son: The Lone Wolf and Cub Saga," Patrick Macias (Criterion Collection, 2016)
"Kazuo Koike on Lone Wolf and Cub," video interview by Marc Walkow (Criterion Collection, 2015)
"Kazuma Nozawa on Long Wolf and Cub," video interview by Reiko Watanabe (Criterion Collection, 2016)
IMDb
By Sean Axmaker
