Onmitsu Doshin: Edo Secret
Police
Director: Akinori Matsuo
Year: 1979
Rating: 7.0
The Japanese TV
series Ōedo Sōsamō ran from 1970 to 1992 with around 715 episodes. That is
a hell of a lot of episodes. The gist of the TV show as best as I can make
out is that there is a secret group of undercover police/samurai/ninja who
combat corruption and evil-doers in the Edo period - my guess is sometime
in the late 1600's. There was a special TV movie made in 1979 and that is
what this is. It runs almost 90 minutes. And though it definitely has that
TV look to it, this was darn enjoyable. Good enough to make me wish I could
get hold of some of the TV episodes. Not all 715 of them but maybe one season.
I quite enjoy these Japanese period Jidaigeki shows like the Zatoichi TV
show, the Lone Wolf show, Baian and Shadow Warriors. Lots of action in these.
And excellent production standards.
In this one there are five members of the
Onmitsu Doshin, one who is an elderly supervisor and four who do the killing.
Two men and two women, One is a fish monger, another a Geisha. Then they
get the signal and off they go. They are all masters of various implements
of death. A group of Samurai have come to a High Court official played by
the great Toshirô Mifune. His role is small but important. These samurai
have proof that a young man is the child of the Shogun and a mistress. He
would be the oldest child and the likely heir if proven true. The problem
for Mifune is that if he introduces the young man to the Shogun and then
it turns out to be a hoax he will have to commit seppuku. So he gives the
Onmitsu Doshin six days to find the truth.
It turns into a much trickier preposition
than expected as they are attacked constantly by ninjas and swordsmen. Someone
is trying to stop them from investigating and an entire village is massacred
to keep a secret. There is a ton of action and killing. And some quite bloody.
When the villagers are killed heads and hands get cut off followed by a fountain
of blood. Try that on American TV in 1979. There are as many people killed
in the finale as a couple Zatoichi films put together though not with the
same impact. A nice find. It is directed by Akinori Matsuo who directed a
few films for the Shaw Brothers (Asia-Pol, The Lady Professional) and many
films in Japan going back to 1959.
