Machibuse (also known as Incident at Blood Pass in English) is a 1970 jidaigeki movie directed by Hiroshi Inagaki. It features Toshiro Mifune, Ruriko Asaoka, Shintaro Katsu, Yujiro Ishihara, and Kinnosuke Nakamura as part of of an all-star ensemble. In addition, this is the second movie in 1970 where Toshiro Mifune and Shintaro Katsu co-star together as earlier in the year, they both appeared in Zatoichi Meets Yojimbo.
The story starts off simple. A nameless ronin, who only goes by the name Yojimbo, receives a strange mission: go to the Sanshuu mountain pass and wait for something to happen. Given the harsh cold of the mountains, Yojimbo decides to take shelter at a nearby inn owned by a young lady and her grandpa. As he kills time, more and more eccentric characters show up at the inn with tension building as conflicts break out amongst the innkeepers and the patrons.
This film provides examples of:
- Big Bad: At first, the main villain seems to be Gentetsu, but it turns out to be Crow, the man who gave Yojimbo the mission in the first place. Crow had informed Gentetsu the place where the shogunate's gold will be, so that he can have Yojimbo assassinate Gentetsu at the right time.
- Bittersweet Ending: All of the protagonists survive while all of the antagonists die, but Oyuki's inn is wrecked, putting her and her grandfather out of business for some time. Additionally, Yojimbo is unable to admit his true feelings for Okuni, leaving the latter heartbroken.
- Call-Forward: There are a few to Yojimbo, which chronologically takes place after this movie.
- When Okuni asks Yojimbo for his name, the ronin refuses, instead asking Okuni why she wants to know the name of a stranger. A similar scene occurs in Yojimbo when Seibei requests Yojimbo's name, only this time Yojimbo quickly comes up with a Line-of-Sight Name. When Seibei questions Yojimbo's nonsensical alias, Yojimbo responds that he is a stranger anyways, so his name doesn't matter.
- Before Gentetsu commits suicide, he tells Yojimbo "See You in Hell". Unosuke says the same thing to Yojimbo before dying.
- Chekhov's Skill: Throughout the story, Gentetsu acts as The Medic and helps dress the other characters' wounds although he is reluctant to show everyone his medical skills. Later, Gentetsu discloses to Yojimbo that he used to work as a medic for the shogunate until an important officer named Mizuno Echizennokami made Gentetsu a scapegoat for his own affair with a noblewoman. Because of Mizuno's influence, Gentetsu cannot travel the public roads without risking punishment, which is why he hides his true identity at all times.
- Double-Meaning Title: The title translate to "ambush" in English. It refers to Gentetsu's planned attack on the shogunate's entourage to steal their gold, but it later refers to Yojimbo's own ambush on Crow and his guards.
- Grand Finale: This is the final appearance of Toshiro Mifune's Yojimbo character. He will play similar nameless Rōnin in future works, but none of them are advertised as the Yojimbo.
- The Mole: Gentetsu, the doctor residing at the inn, is actually a robber waiting for his gang to arrive.
- One-Word Title: Machibuse
- Stealth Sequel: To Zatoichi Meets Yojimbo which was released three months before this movie's premiere. In both movies, Toshiro Mifune's character is called Yojimbo and wears a kimono bearing the same family kamonnote . Moreover, Zatoichi Meets Yojimbo is itself a Stealth Prequel to Yojimbo as it shows how Yojimbo became a ronin in the first place, which means Machibuse is yet another prequel as Mifune's ronin still has the daishÅ sword pairing that he loses in the aforementioned movie Yojimbo.
