Director Tadashi Sawashima
(a.k.a. Tadashi Sawajima, b. 1926)
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Detective Hibari: Case of the Gold Hairpins (1958)
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Magistrate Toyama 4: Edo Official and Apprentice (1959)
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Travels of Hibari & Chiemi: The Lovebird's 1000 Ryo Umbrella (1963)
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Actress vs. the Greedy Sharks (1966)
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Shinsengumi: Assassins of Honor (1969)
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Details on Tadashi Sawashima are really tough to come by, and I would say he's among the most underappreciated of the great jidai-geki directors. Everyone from the scholarly authors to the film-nerd bloggers seems to overlook Sawashima. About all I kind find written about him is that he was known for his musical chambara with Hibari Misora, and at least he does have one film in widespread English-subtitled DVD release, his Shinsengumi: Assassins of Honor starring Toshiro Mifune.
But beyond that, I've discovered a very recognizable style and sensibility running through his entertaining works from the 1960s. Sawashima had a masterful touch for comedy applied with sly undertones of social commentary. In particular, he seemed to love the theme of people in disguise and socially transposed, like samurai pretending to be commoners, cowards pretending to be heroes, and peasants pretending to be nobility. His masterpiece in these terms is Good Rascals, one of the funniest movies I've ever seen.
The Filmmakers
