Yoshitsune Minamoto, disguised with his retinue as monks, must make do with a comical porter as their guide through hostile territory en route to safety.
Akira Kurosawa's slimmest feature, running only an hour, is also one of the best of his early period.
– Jonathan Rosenbaum,
Chicago Reader,
1 Jan 2000
rotten:
Even for its brevity, the import remains a long, tedious conversation piece, interspersed with reedy songs and a few interesting, mobile faces. Most of the time the members of the all-male cast sit around on their haunches.