Film: Zatoichi
Release date: 26th July 2004
Certificate: 18
Running time: 111 mins
Director: Takeshi Kitano
Starring: Beat Takeshi, Tadanobu Asano, Gadarukanaru Taka
Genre: Action/Adventure/Comedy/Drama
Studio: Artificial Eye
Format: DVD
Country: Japan
Acclaimed actor and director, Takeshi Kitano (Beat Takeshi) proves he is a true master with this tongue-in-cheek entry in the Zatoichi series.
Wandering blind masseur Zatoichi makes his way to a village terrorised by gang boss Ginzo (and his suitably unnerving mob), who has hired ronin Shinkichi as his bodyguard in an effort to dispose of a rival gang-leader and assert total unruly control.
Zatoichi befriends one of the put-upon villagers, Aunt Oume (at the start of the film we see her being threatened by Ginzo’s gang members, who insist protection must be paid daily), her loser nephew (whom he impresses with his gambling skills), and two geishas (brother and sister), who are seeking to avenge the murder of their parents some ten years earlier.
As we learn, via a number of flashbacks, what has brought these characters to this time and place, Zatoichi soon becomes the only hope to save them from the merciless gang...
Takeshi clearly revels in the role of the infamous Zatoichi – a wonderfully charismatic actor who has the necessary presence, despite a very humble and understated performance, to allow suggestion very often to be more than enough (when he draws the blade concealed in his cane it says as much as decapitating an opponent – in fact, when he swiftly takes hold of his cane this makes enough of an impression before even revealing the deadly weapon inside).
Zatoichi is ruthless, and without weakness (even when he loses hold of his cane he can quickly outwit opponents to regain possession). At the start of the film, we see him dispose of wrong doers who had followed him on his travels without breaking a sweat, whilst his heightened senses as a blindman have made him a master gambler and intuitive of a person’s character (used to good effect when the geishas originally planned to murder/rob him and the nephew).
Though he shows no remorse in disposing of enemies in sometimes sadistic ways, the violence is delivered in such a blithe manner that it borders on comical – OTT squirts of blood and unrealistic penetration ensure this never weighs too heavily, and, more importantly, that the viewer’s warmth towards Zatoichi is never lost. He may be a lethal killer, but he’s also willing to help an old lady home with her groceries and chop wood for her.
It’s no surprise then that although there’s plenty of action and swordplay on offer, and some fairly heavy subject matter is tackled (the male geisha turning to prostitution as a child to support his sister), this is equal parts a comedy (highlighted by its jovial soundtrack), whether overtly via the useless nephew (from trying to improve his luck gambling by imitating the blind Zatoichi to dressing up as a lady “to be beautiful”), a number of neat touches (the sharecroppers who work to a tune), or in illustrating Zatoichi’s powers (when one gangster wants to try out his new sword on the “hopeless old blind man” passing by, he soon finds this prized possession has been cut in two), and asserting his better sense compared to his adversaries (in one early scene, when Zatoichi is under attack, an enemy draws his sword only to slice the arm of one of his accomplices). Takeshi looks to be having a blast throughout, and you may spot his difficulty in trying to hold a straight face on more than one occasion.
The intense Tadanobu Asano is perfectly cast as the merciless ronin, and although he is ultimately only taking work as a bodyguard out of necessity to pay for his ill partner’s medication, you never sympathise – he’s the perfect bad guy contrast (even if his showdown with Zatoichi, built up throughout via beautifully choreographed dispatches, could have been more spectacular).
You do wonder why there’s an idiotic neighbour running around screaming in some scenes (other than giving Zatoichi the chance to knock him over with a piece of bark), and it seems out of sync at times with otherwise beautifully shot images (the use of the elements in particular impresses), but this doesn’t slow the film’s momentum, building to a well executed conclusion that offers a few unexpected revelations.
Comedy, mystery, martial arts, adventure… A brisk and riotous reimagining of an age-old character that film fans of any idiom would lap up. DH
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