Tange Sazen: Hien iaigiri

Disfigured swordsman Tange Sazen was a very popular cinematic character in Japan during the 1930s. "The Secret of the Urn" (a remake of a 1935 film called "The Million Ryo Pot") appears to have been an attempt to revive the series, jazzing up the violence in direct competition with more recently successful characters like Zatoichi and Kyoshiro Nemuri. There's no immediately apparent reason why a new Tange Sazen series didn't pan out; Kinnosuke Nakamura's performance lacks the subtlety of a Shintaro Katsu or Raizo Ichikawa (who played Zatoichi and Kyoshiro Nemuri, respectively), but he was a good screen fighter and might have grown into the Sazen role in time. Perhaps the film's ultimate problem is that it's *so* much like the average Zatoichi or Nemuri picture as to be indistinguishable. All the formulaic clichés are here: dangerous, brooding swordsman haunted by his painful past actually has a heart of gold and works to bring down a petty official who abuses his power, etc., etc. Audiences had seen this story unfold many times already, and maybe they just weren't interested in watching a revamped Tange Sazen go through such familiar motions.

Top-notch sets, costumes and production values, and some exciting swordfights as well. (Tetsuro Tamba is relegated to a minor nonfighting role, for whatever reason.) For Hideo Gosha completists and hardcore fans of the Zatoichi and Kyoshiro Nemuri series, who have seen all of those films and crave something similar.