This remarkable murder mystery was conceived by its studio, Shochiku, as a blockbuster to mark the New Year, when studios often aimed to release their most prestigious productions. An all-star cast is led by Tsumasaburo Bando, reunited with Ito after Osho. The cast also included Ryunosuke Tsukigata (1902-1970), who had starred in a number of Ito’s silent films, including Zanjin zanbaken, and up-and-coming Shochiku star Keiji Sada (1926-1964), familiar from a number of Ozu’s late films. Two great actresses, Kinuyo Tanaka (1909-1977) and Isuzu Yamada (1917-2012), appear in the leading female roles. Oborokago was one of several films that Ito adapted from the novels of Jiro Osaragi (1897-1973), an author who achieved success in both literary and popular fiction. His most famous creation was the samurai-detective Kurama Tengu, about whom he wrote nearly 50 novels, novellas and short stories, which in turn provided source material for more than 50 films. Ito himself had filmed a version of Kurama Tengu in 1942. However, when Ito began work on Oborokago, Osaragi’s story had not yet completed its serialisation in the “Mainichi Shinbun”. Osaragi explained the outline of the as yet unfinished chapters to Ito, while also giving the filmmaker his blessing to craft his own take on the material – “a reflection,” as Kaoru Mizoguchi comments, “of Osaragi’s esteem for and understanding of Ito’s creative and directorial gifts.” As Masatoshi Oba writes, “his technique of drawing the audience bodily into the film from the very opening shot through sustained tracking camera work is nothing short of masterful. Events unfold in rapid succession, controlled with a pace that never bores.”

Alexander Jacoby e Johan Nordström