Pizza with arterial spray

[randy_byers]

holyoutlaw came over last night with the DVD of Lone Wolf and Cub: Sword of Vengeance, and we ordered a large Agog from Pagliacci and sat back to watch the carnage. I can see that the image of a samurai pushing a pram has a built in frisson. The bit where he has to have sex with the prostitute to save her life was a masterstroke of something or another. Not wish-fulfillment exactly -- or perhaps it is that exactly, but it's so odd and unexpected. I mean, did Clint Eastwood ever have to do that? The movie is full of odd little details like that, amidst the more formulaic business of vengeance and limb-lopping. I enjoyed it. And I immediately started thinking about which exploitation samurai film I should shower on Luke in return. I'm thinking Samurai Reincarnation, which features a Yagyu in a different role. (The Yagyu Clan are the bad guys in Lone Wolf and Cub.)

Comments

[randy-byers.livejournal.com]

No, you hadn't made it clear that you have all six films! Well, we can continue working our way through the series, then. Perhaps we can do a double feature at some point, although I can't remember how long Samurai Reincarnation is. It's a wonderful gothic fantasy samurai story, with an evil undead Christian bad guy (who has a right to be evil).

Could be you're right on the Yagyu reversal. Jubei Yagyu seems to be a major character in Japanese history and legend, and he's the hero of Samurai Reincarnation. I also have another film by Kenji Fukasaku called Yagyu Conspiracy or Intrigue of the Yagyu Clan that's more historical in tone and is about a succession struggle in the Tokugawa Shogunate in which Jubei and his father play a big role. They aren't necessarily good or evil in that, but just working toward a particular (cynical, or at least self-interested and deceptive) political end. That's more in line with their portrayal in Lone Wolf and Cub, I suppose.