Ichi

Ichi is supposed to be a remake of Zatoichi but for some reason I feel that its more like the 1st Crimson Bat movie.

I think a lot of the negative reviews is because of its inevitable (since it claims to be a zatoichi remake) comparison to Zatoichi. The characters are of course blind but while the zatoichi characters have mannerism such as the way he acted, the facial expressions and the way he talked. This Ichi is totally devoid of all personality. Ichi's features range from wooden stoic to wooden sadness to wooden expressionless. Her speech is in monotone and her action/motion are no different from people with vision, except for the cane.

However if you compare it to Crimson Bat it becomes better. The plot and character becomes almost similar, abandoned by parent and took up Goze as a living. Travelling in search of the parent. The unseeing open eyes and expressionless face (although Crimson Bat still shows more personality). Even the gambling sequence where she wins by listening to the dice.

The actions scenes with Ichi are not bad, nice quick and slow motioned sequence. One cut type kills. But the action sequence are far in between. But the part where she fights the main baddie is weak.

A well shot movie thats worth a watch. Just don't compare it to Zatoichi.

Ichi is one of those films that make you remember that cinema is actually art and not just a tool for Western propaganda. It is very beautifully done, elegant and subtle. Especially if you like anime and manga you will enjoy this piece of art.

ICHI is a Japanese samurai movie with a twist: the blind warrior of the title is a woman in this one. Heavily based on the popular and long-running ZATOICHI series of films, the story sees Ichi ending up in a small town that's been overrun by bandits. The plot is complicated when another swordsman, traumatised by the events of his past, falls in love with her, is mistaken for an expert swordsman, and becomes the town's protector.

There are shades of YOJIMBO in the look, style, and feel of this production, but it manages to be a successful film in its own right. It also reminded me a little of AZUMI, although ICHI is more drama than action focused. And it's in the characters and the human drama where this film excels: there's emotion to spare in this story, along with characters you learn and care about throughout, and the acting as a whole is superior for the production.

ICHI is hardly an action packed movie but there are some key moments that impress, alongside an extended climax that makes up for some of the slower points in the story. The swordplay is over with pretty quickly, as is the norm for samurai cinema, and CGI blood is overused, but it's not much of a detraction. As a whole this is a mature, intelligent, and enjoyable piece of historical film-making.

Beset by tragic circumstances, often instigated due to her unfathomable beauty, the cruel fates bestowed upon her poignantly explored over the course of the feature, Ichi (the enthralling Haruka Aysae), a goze (a blind performer, who serenades people with her vocal talents and shamisen playing capabilities), with uniquely outstanding sword fighting skills, provided by a master she longs to discover, is forced to wander alone, after been accused of nefarious activity that was not of her own doing.

Set during an unidentified ancient period in Japanese history, the self-titled Ichi combines exceptional cinematography that wondrously captures the environments, while at the same time, the lavishly rich musical score heightens the beauty of the environments, and the poignancy of the horrible occurrences the leads are forced to endure. The bloody violence that accompanies the fight scenes is neither over the top, nor too little, and much like the rest of the feature, efficaciously encapsulates what can only be perceived as an accurately brutal portrayal of how cruel and barbaric, yet at the same time, vivid, life in this particular period could have been.

Touma (Takao Osawa) is a swordsman on a pilgrimage, and though he is capable of pretentiously boasting about his capabilities, he finds himself unable to draw his sword, for reasons that are conveyed over the course of the plot. The decision to not automatically reveal the back-story of the two leads brilliantly makes both characters mysterious and enchanting, as we hang on their journeys, in the hopes of discovering more about them, the depth provided to their characters been exceptionally orchestrated. Upon venturing into Ichi's life, she is forced to defend him against members of the villainous Ban-ki gang, their deaths spurring a vendetta, cast by their fellow members.

Led by the antagonistic Banki (Shido Nakamura), a once revered Samurai, past events left his face hideously scarred, though these afflictions are not nearly as grotesque as his mind, this man being turned into a lunatic warrior with a thirst for bloodshed, his violent origins having a direct link to Ichi, which is again further developed as the plot progresses. Accompanying Banki are a collection of equally violent men, one of whom being Izo (Riki Takeuchi), a fighter who proves to be almost as equally terrifying as his leader.

On their journey, Ichi and Touma come upon a town run by the Shirikawa's, a family consisting of Chobee (Akira Emoto) and his son, Toraji (Yosuke Kubozzuka), both of whom are members of the Yakuza, their township been plagued by continuous raids from the wretched Ban-ki gang, the local governmental personnel been unwilling to provide support. With the help of Kotaro (Ryosuke Shima), a young boy, Ichi is able to explore the town, during which she punishes members of the Ban-ki gang, Touma taking the credit for this particular brand of justice, which causes the town to hire him as their protector, unknowing that he is in fact incapable of providing the assistance they require, as the advances by the enemy continue to rapidly escalate.

As Ichi and Touma begin to spend more time together, a unanimous form of understanding and respect begins to grow between them, as the two traveling individuals discover they need each other for separate reasons. It ought to be noted, some of the sexual content in the film evolves around rape, and though I personally loathe films that use rape, or the threat of rape, as a form of entertainment, in the case of Ichi, this hideous act is used to not only realistically depict the horrors of the climate, but strengthens the sympathy we feel towards specific characters.

Although I have not previously witnessed the Zatoichi films this particular feature carries on from, so am unable to offer a comparative analysis, Ichi is a moving film with an equal amount of heart, brutality, character, depth and action, which elegantly and continuously captures the attention of its audience with the use of adventurous direction and poetic beauty.

Imagine if Zatoichi the Blind Swordsman had an adopted daughter that was also blind and that he taught his sword skills. Also imagine that he left her at goze house as he went out on his travels, and she grew up to be a skilled musician. That's basically Ichi, a satisfying spin on the long-running saga of the blind swordsman.

The plot centers on Ichi's search for Zatoichi (who has been missing for quite some time), her tragic back-story, a feud between two yakuza gangs in an inn town, and a traveling warrior that eventually befriends Ichi. Haruka Ayase makes for a good (and absolutely gorgeous) Ichi, and plays her as soft-spoken, reserved and stoic while letting her determination, dangerousness, and lighter side break through when appropriate. Ayase is also great in the action scenes, which are pretty well done and bloody without crossing the line into gory. 

I liked Ichi. There's nothing groundbreaking about it, but I enjoyed the characters (even though the antagonists are unfortunately two dimensional) and the balance between fighting and character development/story is excellent. This isn't a pure action film by any means, it's fairly leisurely-paced outside of action scenes (Ichi doesn't play around with her enemies). There's more than enough here to make the story of the blind swordsman(woman) worth visiting again.