Ninja, A Band of Assassins

Japan in the sixteenth century. Oda Nobunaga is trying to bring the country under one hand. The ninja clans in Iga are making calculations of their own. Young Goemon is a ninja trained by his master, and he is sent out to assassinate Nobunaga. But who is using whom is never clear. Satsuo Yamamoto's film took the ninja out of the magical, showy shape he had had until then and presented him as a labourer: dirty, expendable, under orders. Raizō Ichikawa takes the lead. The film was an unexpected success in Japan and the series ran to eight films. It is counted among the sources of the ninja craze around the world.