Zatôichi

Zatoichi is a very strong film from the man himself, Shintaro Katsu. I won't say too much in this review, but this is a very strong entry to the Zatoichi series. It has its faults, but most of the time it is a beautifully shot piece that connects extremely will to the viewer.

The fights are great, and really make me kind of sad that Takeshi Kitano decided to go the CGI route in his version of Zatoichi. Here, the arterial sprays are real. And it is one amazingly blood-stained opus. Evidently, Shintaro's sun (the main villain) actually killed an extra during shooting! A crime or total dedication to one's character, you be the one to decide.

Some of the film's major problems: That wretched 80s English song. It's horrible. Whenever it plays, you drop out of Katsu's world. Why it is in there, I'll never understand. It's possible that the song alone (played twice) keeps this film from being great. Another problem: Zooms. I have no problem with snap zooms or very deliberate zooming shots, they can be great especially in older films, but here, the zooming is sloppy. It's as if the DP doesn't know what shot he wants, so he messes around with it as he goes. This problem only occurs maybe three times, but when it does, it stood out to me.

Otherwise, a great film. The faults I find with it are relatively minor quibbles.

Kitano's 2003 update is a better film, but this is arguably more fun and more fulfilling to Zatoichi fans.

The Media Blasters DVD is great! Surprisingly nice anamorphic transfer, good original Japanese audio with very legible English subtitles. Not much as far as special features go, but the film alone is enough to make this a worthy purchase.

The best of the Zatoichi series, with Shintaro Katsu appearing very spry for someone who was almost sixty at the time. If you watch expecting non-stop swordfight pyrotechnics, you're going to be disappointed -- although there are several spectacularly choreographed swordfights, especially the massacre at the climax as well as some surprisingly bloody gore (it should be remembered Katsu produced the Lone Wolf and Cub movies starring his real-life brother, Tomisaburo Wakayama). This is very much a saga type picture, with blind masseur Ichi approaching elderly status but still wandering the backroads of 1860's Japan, gambling and being pursued by bounty hunting yakuza and lone wolf killers. One of the rewarding things about the film is that Katsu encounters old friends like beachcomber Norihei Miki. He also befriends a destitute artist samurai (Ken Ogata) who is conflicted by the bounty on Ichi's head but dismayed because fatalistic, wisecracking, warmhearted Ichi is the only person he can relate to! There are many other great character actors here such as pockmarked Yuya Uchida as one of the craven yakuza bosses. Katsu's real-life son, Takanori Jinnai appears as the scarfaced young upstart rival boss out to take control of the whole territory. A beautiful film that is very poetic and poignant as well as being exciting. Very evocative of the period, unlike many other samurai films made since the mid-80s, and, in my opinion, far superior to Akira Kurosawa's final samurai pictures, KAGEMUSHA and RAN. Contrary to one of the other reviews here, this is anything but a mishmash of elements from earlier entries.

The following review is an extract from the book "Shintaro Katsu´s Zatoichi: Complete guide to all movies", which is now available on Amazon. Highly recommended for all Zatoichi fans!

"After "Zatoichi in desperation", Shintaro Katsu got "behind and in front" of the cameras again at the same time for this last film in the saga about the adventures of the swordsman and blind masseur. Katsu directs and stars in this 1989 "Zatoichi", as well as having written the script, and financed it as a co-producer. His son Ryutaro Gan impersonates the young oyabun Goemon.

Apart from seeing a very mature Ichi, around sixty years old and in the twilight of his days, the plot brings practically nothing new to what has already been seen in the 25 previous films. The same schemes are repeated, old details and stories are recycled, we see the same strategy of Ichi in the dice game, and the blind masseur continues to fully retain his faculties with the sword. In this, years have not passed for him.

(...)

The film lasts two hours, much longer than the most of the other movies (Only "Zatoichi meets Yojimbo" has that extension as well).

Although this last film may disappoint some, one thing is for sure: Zatoichi is Shintaro Katsu and Shintaro Katsu is Zatoichi. Later attempts to bring the blind hero back to the big screen with other actors may be respectable (as is the case with Takeshi Kitano's "Zatoichi" in 2003), but they don't reach the quality of Katsu's 60's and 70's Zatoichi films (directed by Kenji Misumi, Kimiyoshi Yasuda or Kazuo Ikehiro among others).

Good soundtrack with ambient touches by Takayuki Watanabe, except for one song in English, which is quite out of place in that context.

There was a tragic accident during the shooting of this film: Actor Ryutaro Gan (son of Shintaro Katsu), who plays Goemon, killed an extra with a katana while filming a combat scene."

Zatôichi returns, older but with his samurai attributes better than ever.

This, incidentally, is one of the most criticizable aspects of this film: never has Zatôichi killed so many enemies at the same time as in old age. And by the way, never has so much blood been spilled in a Zatôichi film as in this last one, with Shintarô Katsu, who also writes, produces and directs it. No one expects realism in a martial arts film, but Tarantino was not to be anticipated either.

On another level, it also seemed inappropriate to use a song in English, in a style very from the 80s (slap bass and electronic drums) in the soundtrack of a film set in feudal Japan.

Nevertheless, it is a good film in the series, with a solid, interesting and action-packed plot. And Shintarô Katsu showed himself at an excellent level this last time he dressed the skin of the character he played for 27 years.

Looked forward to seeing this last version by the original actor. But, aside from the color photography, violent swordsmanship, and invocations of past films, which deserve praise (if you recall the bloodless b&w films of the 60's), I really had trouble with the plot lines and trying to follow along the meandering trail of who was who, what was what, and why they were doing what they were doing.

There were a lot of characters featured here, and the connections among them were not very clear. A scar faced villain appears early on, and then shows up toward the end to complete the circle. A woman who seems to have unexplained authority seduces the hero and then drops completely from sight. A minor character shows off his remarkable skill in effecting a kill and then dies rather unexpectedly and without fanfare at the end.

The sword fighting in this movie explodes with unexpected suddenness, after long scene setting or mood setting intervals, in various parts of the film. The depiction of violence is pretty good, but some scenes are absurd, such as the one in which a leader who has donned a make shift suit of armor made up of metal coins (ryo pieces)is stabbed repeatedly and spurts blood all over, like that braggadocio knight in the first MONTY PYTHON picture.

You have to suspend your disbelief that a blind man can survive against 30 or 40 or 50 to one odds, especially in one case where the bad guys have guns. Is the hero gifted like the Marvel Comics hero Daredevil with extraordinary hearing? And extra sensory perception? Well, that is the only explanation for his survival. Or the absolute incompetence of his enemies in being able to formulate a plan of attack against him.

So many plot lines, so many unresolved issues. Zatoichi is like a tornado who comes to a village, gambles a bit, massages a bit, plays with kids, makes friends here and there, and then sweeps away many lives, leaving death and destruction, and then goes his lonely way down a dirt road. Ordinary folks may come out and cheer (as at the end of this film) for the presumed end of some oppression, but you are left wondering where were these people throughout the movie. What happens after he leaves? Finally, there is so much ethnic tradition being depicted here that many people may have a hard time understanding what is happening. So, I can't recommend this film highly -- unless a film goer has a lot of familiarity with the previous films featuring Zatoichi and can tolerate some of the problems I referred to above. Maybe the color photography may make things bright. "Painting the Clouds with Sunshine," as that old song goes. Here, though, it's blood red.