“To be born and die in obscurity, that's the destiny of a Ninja."
Ninja, A Band of Assassins is a 1962 Japanese martial arts film directed by Satsuo Yamamoto which follows a young ninja who becomes ensnared in a plot to assassinate a warlord.
Wanted to check out more Raizô Ichikawa and so put this one one — arguably, this is the most influential ninja movie ever made, with many of its aspects being repurposed later on.
Most notably, there’s a scene here which directly influenced You Only Live Twice, with Aki's death there being directly lifted from this.
The film itself is solid; a tad convoluted and slow moving but Ichikawa continues being a great lead and it is shot absolutely beautifully.
On the whole, this was a solid film, recommend.