After Monkey, the story of Zatoichi is perhaps one of the most familiar and widely known of all Eastern folk tales. The blind masseur and master swordsman Zatoichi wanders from town to town defeating gangs of ne'er-do-wells using his finely honed senses and superior samurai skills. Based on a character created by novelist Kan Shimozawa, Zatoichi inspired a long running Japanese TV series and dozens of films. Western audiences will probably also remember the camped up 1989 Rutger Hauer flick Blind Fury, which was loosely based on Zatoichi.
Zatoichi – A Violent Bloodbath of a Film and an Influence on Kill Bill
Takeshi 'Beat' (Beat is his stage name) Kitano's film, made in 2003, is a big budget Zatoichi extravaganza. It's nearly 2 hours long, but packed with scenes of bloodthirsty action and gripping exposition. If that all sounds a bit much, never fear, there's also some spectacular tap dancing to balance things out. And although the film is very violent, it's not completely bereft of humour either.
Takeshi, previously well known for the violent Yakuza films Hana Bi, Boiling Point and Violent Cop, never shys away from dark humour or, indeed, innuendo when presented with the opportunity. Zatoichi has its fair share of lighter moments to counteract the violence. It also has graphic yet strangely incongruent depictions of artery spilling carnage, which somewhat blurs the realism. The violence in Zatoichi is horrifyingly convincing, but the highly stylised spurting of blood adds an incorporeal, almost comic book style contrast. It's very much like what happens in Kill Bill, but then again Tarantino is known to be a Beat Takeshi fan.
Tadanobu Asano Continues his Ascendancy as the 'Japanese Johnny Depp'
Zatoichi is Takeshi's first period drama, and although the film is gorgeously retro, it's punctuated by modern flourishes. The cinematography is beautiful, and the performances, particularly from Beat himself and his enemy, the ronin bodyguard (played by Tadanobu Asano from Ichi the Killer and Mongol), are solid and assured. Zatoichi himself is an itinerant, happy to take advantage of Aunt Oume's (Michigo Ookusu) hospitality whilst spending his days gambling with her nephew.
He never actually identifies himself as Zatoichi, but other people, astounded by his swordsmanship, comment that it must be him. After discovering the town is over-run by gangs, extorting every penny they can get, Zatoichi finds himself defending the townsfolk from the the enemies within. He also gets tangled up in the revenge plans of two geisha he meets in the town. This skeletal plot provides ample opportunity to embellish Zatoichi with some great fight scenes, whilst proffering up a definite nod of thanks to Akira Kurosawa's canon of samurai adventures, particularly The Seven Samurai and Yojimbo.
Modern Japanese Cinema
Zatoichi is a fantastic film which, despite its world cinema tag, has attracted a large Western audience. Many have arrived newly enamoured by the whole tradition of samurai films, and for this, if nothing else, Tarantino has to be commended. But Zatoichi, with the dancing and the dark humour, offers so much more. As an introduction to modern Japanese cinema Beat Takeshi's film stands alongside the success stories of J-Horror and anime, proving that some of the most challenging and interesting films of the moment are currently emerging from East Asia.
- Zatoichi
- Starring: Beat Takeshi, Tadanobu Asano, Michiyo Ookusu, Daigoro Tachibana, Yuuko Daike
- Written by Takeshi Kitano based on Kan Shimozawa's novels
- Directed by Takeshi Kitano
- Running Time: 116 minutes
- Year of Release (USA): 2004
 |
