Directed by Kenji Misumi • 1964 • Japan
Starring Raizo Ichikawa, Akio Hasegawa, Chikako Miyagi

The only film among Kenji Misumi’s seventy-plus titles to feature a contemporary setting, KEN explores the conflict between ancient traditions and modern values in a Japanese society torn from its roots. Kazuro Funabashi adapted the story from a work by the controversial Yukio Mishima, supreme chronicler of the agony and ecstasy of ascetic discipline, with Misumi employing tense, black-and-white widescreen compositions to render a dojo a veritable hothouse of rivalry and repression. Led by the impeccably moral, intimidatingly driven head apprentice Kokubu (Raizo Ichikawa), a training camp for young swordsmen is compromised by the jealousy of third-stringer Kagawa (Yusuke Kawazu), who plans to undermine Kokubu and his charges with sensual temptations. One of Misumi’s darkest efforts, KEN is a psychological examination of erotic sublimation and corruption in the guise of a martial-arts film.