Mekura no Oichi Inochi moraimasu
Crimson Bat-Oichi: Wanted, Dead or Alive
- Release Date
- April, 8th, 1970
- Running Time
- 86 min
- Genre
- Feature
- Color
- -
- Screening Format
- -
[ Directed by ]
[ Cast ]
[ Staff ]
- TANASHITA Teruo ── Original Story
- TAKADA Koji ── Screenplay
- KOSUGI Masao ── Cinematography
[ Production Company ]
SHOCHIKU
[ Distributor (Japan) ]
SHOCHIKU
[ Story ]
Oichi (Yoko Matsuyama}, a blind swords-woman, is wanted by the authorities after killing government officials in order to save a girl. Many ronin pursue her for the reward. Among them, Jokai (Hitoshi Omae), a giant priest, Jinbei (Shinji Hotta), an exponent of sickle and chain, and Sankuro (Yuki Meguro), an ex-doctor, are the most persistent. They corner but during a sandstorm she escapes.
At a fishing village, being redeveloped the fishermen are ordered to leave their houses. Nadaman (Jun Tazaki), the boss of the area, sides with the local governor and forces the people to leave without compensation. Kamecho (Meicho Soganoya) is the leader of those fighting against removal.
Oichi sympathizes with the fishermen and decides to fight the boss. At a gambling session she catches the dealer cheating, surrounded by the gang is saved by Kamecho and Ohan (Reiko Oshida), his daughter. Nadaman decoys her into a field and sets fire to the grass but she escapes death. But at last she is captured by Sankuro.
Oichi is to be sent to the governor's office but Sankuro behaves kindly to her. The other two ronin fear his betrayal and attack him. Oichi and Sankuro kill them in turn. While fighting, she misses her footing on a cliff but is saved by a chain, but Sankuro is missing.
She returns to the village where she knows Kamecho is held by Nadaman. She rushes to save him but is attacked by a samurai, Hyoe (Tetsuro Tamba), hired by the boss to kill her. Hyoe takes her to his room, but then, Nadaman kills Kamecho with Oichi's cane-sword, and she is arrested. Then, just when she has lost hope, she hears a familiar voice from a distance....
【Quoted from Unijapan Film Quarterly 1970 13.3】
[ Contact (International) ]
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