Most of Ishii Teruo’s “ero guro” films for Toei tried to instruct the audience on the more outré manifestations of Edo-era culture, from exotic tortures to unorthodox sexual practice. Porno Period Drama: Bohachi Bushido also has this “educational” aspect, but Ishii keeps the focus more on character and action than various sorts of strangeness.
In this he is aided by Tamba Tetsuro, playing a nihilistic warrior who sells his services wherever and however he can. Wearing a scraggly-haired wig and stone face, Tamba gives a performance could have easily veered into camp, but remains solidly grounded in his star presence and martial arts skills. An actor who can convincingly portray both virtue and vice, Tanba mixes both sides of his on-screen persona in Porno Period Drama: Bohachi Bushido to create a character who may be inscrutable, but is never anything less than cool.
He is Shino Asu, a feared swordsman who, as the story begins, is fleeing from the authorities. He takes refuge in the Yoshiwara pleasure quarter with the Bohachi, a clan of outcasts who have “abandoned the eight virtues” - thus their name - while servicing the appetites of the quarterer’s patrons. His guide to this underworld is the saturnine Hakushu (Ibuki Goro), but the Bohachi boss is Daimon (Endo Tatsuo), an elderly sybarite who has all of Yoshiwara under his fleshy thumb.
Business is flourishing, with the whores offering unusual services that draw hordes of Edo townsmen. But when private brothels begin to threaten Yoshiwara’s monopoly, Daimon sends Asu out to attack them with a special sword - the “devill’s knife.” Daimon expects the Roju - the Shogun’s councilor in charge of policing the quarter - to strike against his new enforcer, but instead of making a frontal attack, the Roju hires a master ninja (Uchida Ryuhei) to kill Asu. Before the ninja can reach his target, however, he finds himself surrounded by female Bohachi, sent by Hakushu.
With this threat neutralized, Daimon escalates his battle with the brothels, until the Roju steps in to mediate a settlement, to Daimon’s benefit. His condition - hand over Asu. Will the wily Daimon sacrifice his best protector for his own self interest? The answer may seem obvious - but final outcome is not.
The film has several impressive fight scenes, but the most unusual is Asu’s battle with the Roju’s men after he has been doused with opium. Jackie Chan may be the Drunken Master, but Tamba proves himself the King of Hop.
Mark Schilling