Sleepy Eyes Of Death 4: Sword of Seduction - Missionary Position

Jan

22

Sleepy Eyes Of Death 4: Sword of Seduction - Missionary Position

≡ Category: Action, Drama, Japan, Recommended, Swordplay |
≅ Written by: Michael Kydonieus

Country: Japan
Genre: Action/ Drama/ Swordplay
Director: Kazuo Ikehiro
Year: 1964

Rating:

TRASH CINEMA RECOMMENDED MOVIE

With Sword of Seduction, the Sleepy Eyes Of Death series continues to be a delight.

The inner circle of the court is run by Princess Kiku (Michiko Ai), the former shogun’s daughter. No men are allowed in the inner circle, which leads to boredom and frustration. This gives the merchant Bizunya (Yoshio Inaba) an opportunity to smuggles in opium and other luxuries, in order to alleviate ennui. To help bribe the officials and keep his smuggling business going, Bizunya tips off the officials as to the whereabouts of Christians, who are being persecuted by the Japanese government for their faith.

As our story opens, Torizo (Katsuhiko Kobayashi), an underground Christian, comes to famed swordsman Nemuri Kyoshiro (Raizô Ichikawa) and begs him to protect the “Virgin Shima.” The government plans to capture and publicly torture and put her to death, in order to demoralize the Christian underground. Kyoshiro’s response to Torizo’s fervent plea is priceless.

Anyway, as usual, Nemuri Kyoshiro eventually relents, out of curiosity, so he thinks, but there’s a kernel of idealism buried so deep inside, even he doesn’t know it’s there.

Sword of Seduction has all the usual virtues of the series; beautiful photography, elegant set and costume design, great acting, and best of all, resonant and timeless themes, beautifully scripted.

Oh, and there’s one additional inducement. This time around, we get to hear about the circumstances of Nemuri Kyoshiro’s birth. You won’t be disappointed.