Kenki

Raizô Ichikawa plays the reluctant warrior to perfection in Kenki, the final installment of Kenji Misumi's “Sword Trilogy” and, as adapted from a Renzaburô Shibata novel, a brazenly unique hybrid of the samurai, supernatural, and romance genres. Rumored to be the product of a union between a woman and a dog, humble gardener Hanpei (Ichikawa) serves as a low-ranking vassal in the castle of a clan lord (Rokkô Toura) slowly succumbing to insanity. While at first ridiculed for his strange origins and reserved nature, Hanpei eventually earns respect for his preternatural running abilities and the vicious iai sword-drawing technique he learns from a mysterious ronin (Asao Uchida). When the clan is thrown into intensifying disarray and dissension, Hanpei must sacrifice his gentle ways—and his love for the beautiful Saki (Michiko Sugata)—in order to fend for himself. Once more exploring the symbolic possibilities of the chanbara (sword-fighting film), Misumi plumbs the spiritual duality of the peaceful man forced into violence.