I guess Ninja hicho fukuro no shiro aka Castle of Owls is not a movie for everyone - there are some fine action scenes but the movie's plot is unfolding rather slowly. But if you like classic movies about classic Japanese culture and stories, and you do watch them not for the fights and battles only, you will like this one. The movie is almost like a meditation and will draw you into its cosmos.

I did not really have any expectations before watching this movie. I found the movie grabbing my attention from the start and kept it to the end. The story makes sense and the characters have some depth. I did also find the acting and the camera work rather good.

For the story the movie starts with attack and massacre on a village and a guy swearing to get vengeance. And then you follow his pursuit of vengeance and battle between ninja clans. There is even time for some romance in the story that even have some sort of purpose for the movies story.

This movie is recommended for people that do like Japanese cinema. Some parts can be slow I guess for people used to modern movies, but a good diversity to the usual samurai movies. If you are into older samurai and ninja movies you will not be disappointed with this movie.

If you like it and are into Black and white I can recommend Jûsan-nin no shikaku (1963) that is samurai that go crazy instead :-)

Based on a novel by Ryotaro Shiba, Castle of Owls is a story about Iga ninja Shigezo (Ryutaro Otomo) who had desire to avenge what lord Nobunaga did to the Iga clan, but lost his opportunity due to death of Nobunaga. But he finds new direction when his master Naejirozaemon (Kensaku Hara) asks him to assassinate Nobunaga's protégé, and current ruler of Japan Hideyoshi (Masao Oda).

Shigezo decides to perform his last mission, and heads out to Sakai (Osaka) where Hideyoshi resides. On his way to Sakai, he meets Kohagi (Hizuru Takachiho) who's ninja and falls in love. But Kohagi was a spy who was ordered to spy on Shigezo's moves. But Kohagi has a change of heart as she falls in love with Shigezo in earnest. Shigezo succeeds in sneaking into Hideyoshi's castle, but seeing how old and frail Hideyoshi is, he decides to spare his life, and at the same time sees how pitiful his own life has been. He escapes the castle, and asks Kohagi to marry him. They head out to the village where he has his small villa, and shows the villa to Kohagi. Kohagi says this is the most beautiful castle she's ever seen, as they make their way to their new and happy life.

This is one of the few ninja movies where the protagonist under dog makes it out with his life, and not only that, ends up with a happy life ever after. Such positive ending is rarely seen on a ninja themed movies even from Japan. The story is relatively simple, but the movie is entertaining. Even half a century after it's made, this is one of the best ninja movie ever to be produced.