Sleepy Eyes of Death: The Chinese Jade (1963)
"Nemuri Kyoshiro 1: Sappocho" (original title)

Nemuri Kyoshiro, a youthful and cynical ronin with unparalleled skill, is approached by both sides in a game of corruption, ambition, and double crosses. The leader of the Kaga clan, who ... See full summary »

Director:

Tokuzô Tanaka

Writers:

Seiji Hoshikawa, Renzaburô Shibata (novel)

Stars:

Raizô Ichikawa, Tamao Nakamura, Shinobu Araki

Cast

Credited cast:
Raizô Ichikawa	...	Nemuri Kyoshiro
Tamao Nakamura	...	Chisa
Rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Shinobu Araki
Saburô Date
Jun Fujikawa
Gen Kimura
Katsuhiko Kobayashi
Hideo Kuroki
Chitose Maki
Kaoru Miyoshi
Shôzô Nanbu
Hiroyoshi Nishioka
Shinji Nunome
Keiko Ogimachi
Sonosuke Sawamura

Storyline

Nemuri Kyoshiro, a youthful and cynical ronin with unparalleled skill, is approached by both sides in a game of corruption, ambition, and double crosses. The leader of the Kaga clan, who thinks he has killed his smuggling partner, fears that the shogunate will discover his illegal activities. He learns of evidence that will prove his guilt. Meanwhile, his partner is not dead, and, assisted by a master of Shorenji boxing, is looking for revenge and for his loot. The Kaga leader sends the beautiful Chisa to enlist Nemuri's aid. The unexpected happens: the hard-bitten Nemuri falls in love. Can he protect her, topple the criminals, and avoid the boxer's deadly skill?

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Plot Keywords:

samurai | first of series | based on novel | character name in title

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Genres:

Drama

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Details

Country:

Japan

Language:

Japanese

Release Date:

2 November 1963 (Japan)

Also Known As:

Sleepy Eyes of Death: The Chinese Jade

Company Credits

Production Co:

Daiei Studios

Technical Specs

Runtime:

82 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Connections

Followed by Sleepy Eyes of Death: The Mask of the Princess (1966)

User Reviews

Rather slow and cliched

I found this movie to be rather slow going and quite cliched. The lead character was suppose to be a loose cannon ronin, but no explanation or development was given. Other characters seemed to come and go from the story as needed to fill in the gaps, with no closure with any except those who die. As for the fight scenes, which often make up for the cliches in the typical action-type movie... well they were sadly lacking in this. The typical fight was the ninjas charging with swords raised over head and then they get killed. No fencing, just slaughter of ninjas. Save your time and see a good samurai film.