Tokkan (1975)

Tokkan: Directed by Kihachi Okamoto. With Yûsuke Okada, Hiroko Isayama, Kyû Sakamoto, Tatsuya Nakadai. During the military phase of the Meiji Restoration of 1868, Sentaro joins a local militia loyal to the Tokugawa Shogunate in order to fight Imperial troops. But Sentaro’s friendship with a pickpocket, who switches sides whenever it suits his needs, leads to complications that could cost Sentaro his life as they infiltrate enemy lines.

“Tokkan is one of the oddest Japanese films Iu0026#39;ve seen in awhile. Not odd cinematically but an odd mishmash of genres with drama versus u0026#39;comedyu0026#39; mixing things up. The best comparison I could give is that itu0026#39;s part 47 Ronin and part Kellyu0026#39;s Heroes – with a chunk of Porkyu0026#39;s thrown in for good measure. There is dead serious samurai action mixed with the struggles of a farmer out looking for adventure with a zeal the size of his…well, his ambition. Our country bumpkin dashes into the battles of the Meiji period in the 1860s as the Empire seeks to usurp the local daimyo and he keeps meeting up with a petty crook out to profit from the troubles.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eItu0026#39;s always a pleasure to see Nakadai Tatsuya even if heu0026#39;s pretty much just cashing the check on this one. Director Okamoto Kihachi is competent enough, the whole production feels like one of the US made for TV films from the same era, although the money that was spent is all on the screen. Unfortunately there are a series of casually portrayed rapes that lead me to believe this was some sort of u0026#39;thingu0026#39; in films of this era and type but that notion didnu0026#39;t make them any more palatable, so thereu0026#39;s that, be aware. Itu0026#39;s not a terrible film but there are probably better ways to spend an hour and a half.”