Lustful Shogun and His 21 Mistresses
From The Deuce
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Also Known As
- The Erotic Shogun and his Twenty-One Prostitutes
- Ero shogun to nijuichi nin no aisho
Main Details
- Released in 1972
- Colour
- 91 min
- 2.35:1
- Toei Studios
Cast and Crew
- Directed by Norifumi Suzuki
- Assistant Director: Toshiyuki Fujiwara
- Planning by Kanji Amao
- Written by Norifumi Suzuki and Masahiro Kakefuda
- Cinematography by Motoya Washyo
- Edited by Tadao Kanda
- Music by Harumi Ibe
- Starring Reiko Ike, Yoko Mihara, Emi Shiro, Miki Sugimoto, Yayoi Watanabe, Ema Ryoko
Film Review
Toei and Norifumi Suzuki know how to give pinku eiga an epic feel. Right from the beginning it’s clear that this is grand scale sexploitation. The budget may be small, but it doesn’t show. Loaded with some beautiful outdoor shots and typically impressive shogun’s inner palace footage Ero shogun to nijuichi nin no aisho is a good example an exploitation piece that could only have been born in Japan.
Ero shogun to nijuichi nin no aisho is not an action film. The main focus is on comedy and drama, spiced with soft core sex and occational brief swordfights. Some of the content is very silly, but sudden changes to more serious have never been a problem for Suzuki. The dialogue is plenty, but Suzuki’s direction is visually pleasing. The film is only hurt by the amount of flesh and carnal pleasures.
The cast is top notch. We’ve got Reiko Ike, who looks great with and without kimono, in a supporting role as a female ninja spy! The scene where she uses a sword hidden inside an umbrella to fight her enemies was later re-used by Teruo Ishii in the opening of Female Yakuza Tale. Also kudos to miss Ike’s hair stylish who has done excellent job in the movie. Reiko’s eternal rival Miki Sugimoto appears in the film, too, although her role is very brief. Other supporting roles feature Yoko Mihara, Emi Shiro and a quite few other pinky violence regulars.
Reviewed by Hung Fist - 1/1/08