Zatoichi

Takeshi Kitano's offbeat samurai drama marks a personal triumph for the man himself and a notable entry for the genre. Kitano directs and stars as the blind samurai of Japanese pulp fiction; Zatôichi. He puts in a grand performance and really brings the character to life. His direction is superb also, and he succeeds in creating a foreboding and tension filled atmosphere that also captures the familiar Kurosawa-esque feel of the classic samurai movies. The story follows the fate of blind samurai master: Zatôichi. This master doesn't let a small thing like losing his sight get in the way, and in spite of being blind, the master is still the fastest man with a sword; as he proves on a number of occasions. The first thing you will notice about the fight scenes in this movie is that they are bloodthirsty! That's no bad thing, of course, especially since the second thing you will notice is that there's lots of them. The fight sequences are definitely the highlight of the movie, and they include some highlights in themselves; as we watch in delight as limbs fly and people get sliced and diced! The fights in this film make the likes of Kill Bill look even more ridiculous than it does already.

Takeshi Kitano creates his own world for the characters in the movie to inhabit, and he also seems keen to incorporate as many elements as possible into the plot, which is good in one way as it ensures that the movie is always intriguing and interesting, but it does get a little convoluted and, at times, makes you think "what's that there for?!". Still, the film does offer lots of interesting little tidbits, and it never gets so convoluted that it becomes boring. Well, it can't do; there's always another fight scene round the corner! The film is artistically played throughout, and you get the impression that Kitano has an obvious respect for the art of cinema, which is certainly no bad thing at all. Even though the plot is very familiar, and anyone that's seen more than a couple of samurai movies will have seen one with a plot like this one has; it's inventive enough to carve out a niche of it's own, and it draws it's originality from that fact. On the whole, this isn't a great samurai movie like the ones of yore; but it's encouraging that films like this are still being made, and it's easily one of the best movies of 2003. Recommended viewing!

Zatoichi is definitely one of my favourite films and I consider it one of Kitano's best if not his best in terms of his acting and directing. I have the majority of Kitano's films and I was over joyed to hear that he was starring and directing Zatoichi and I was not disappointed when i saw it. Everything about the film is exceptional although a big disappointment for me was the fact that CGI blood was used which does look a bit fake in some scenes. That is the only criticism I can think of. The film is very violent but like Kill Bill it is comic violence. I was also pleased to see Tadanobu Asano(Kakihara from Ichi the Killer)who was very good and he also plays a reasonably similar role in Gohatto(also starring Kitano). Fans of Kitano and Japanese cinema should watch this as well as fans of the Zatoichi franchise.

Near flawless film!!

9.5/10

Another retelling of one of Japan's longest running fictional characters. For what I understand, there is over 25 films and tv series based on this character. Even a Hollywood made a version of this in 1990 as 'Blind Fury', starring the late Rutger Hauer.

I quite liked this version, directed and starring Takeshi Kitano (aka Beat Takeshi). His productions and acting are usually quite poised and composed, which may not appeal to some. Some of the production values are probably not up to scratch by today's standards, but this is forgivable nonetheless.

I rate this 7.5/10, but as I can't do half scores here. So I'm rounding up.

Zatoichi is the updated version of cult Japanese show some decades back.Here a blind swordsman goes to a small town controlled by a ruthless gang and abuses the people there. There he meets many characters like the siblings on a mission, a samurai who is hired by the gang, as well as an unlucky gambler who befriends the blind swordsman.

This is the first ever Takeshi Kitano film I have ever seen and I got to say it turned out to be a rather pleasant surprise. Prior to this I have heard so much about Kitano's work and was really expecting to see a really good film. Add to that every samurai film I see normally gets compared to Kurosawa's works like Rashomon, and Ran which of course are tough acts to follow. I thought the film was well made in many aspects. The cinematography was really beautiful and well made. The costumes like most period films were finely crafted and were beautiful. The scoring was also very good.

I always find it rather hard to laugh in a film that is non-English. I guess I always believed that humour doesn't always transcend different cultures. What may be funny for one may seem rather dull in another. This film however debunks that thought. I found myself laughing over a lot of scenes in the film. Even in scenes where you do not think there could be a funny moment Kitano is able to deliver one just to break the tension a little.

The fight scenes in this film were also well planned and I though it was done realistically but not necessarily done to shock the audiences with bucket loads of blood and mangled body parts. It was effective but not too disturbing.

I also thought that the overall story of the film was good. I was particularly interested with the story of the siblings and it's eventual resolution at the end of the movie.

Takeshi Kitano's Zatoichi is a great film which now ranks as one of my and hopefully it will be to other people. I'm already anticipating the next film from this great film and will also look for some of his earlier works.

It's a kind of "what the hell" type of movie, as in "what the hell, let's throw in a dance scene," as in "what the hell, let's play with 50 years of mythology' as in 'what the hell is an action movie really?" I liked it. It had a desert dry humor about it, the action scenes were amazing (yes, the blood is supposed to look fake!) and I just liked the shear audacity of it all. Kitano made a crowd pleasing action film with out sacrificing his art. It isn't the plot that makes this one go, it's Kitano's refusal to play to anyones expectations. It's not a perfect movie, but it's amazing to watch a film maker at the top of his game just showing off for his own selfish pleasure.