The Blind Swordsman: Zatoichi

Kitano's remake of the popular 1960's "Zatoichi-the Blind Swordsman" series (there were probably over two dozen of the original series) takes big risks but largely succeeds. Kitano is a darker, more sinister Zatoichi, and the action is a lot more Tarantino-esque. The sword action is first class but extremely violent, unlike the original series which, like the vintage Westerns, were mostly bloodless affairs. Blood squirts everywhere on the scale of "Kill Bill."

This is not the 1960s Zatoichi, who was a more light-hearted character who often avoided conflict and was even prepared to play a buffoon to avoid violence. Not so here Kitano stalks his prey relentlessly, like the former Yakusa he was. There is a very adult story spliced in here about the two gisha runaways (one is not who s(he) appears to be) so forget about pre-teens watching this one. Unlike many Samurai period pieces, there is a plot here which is serious and sad.

The unexpected bonus to this movie is the excellent musical soundtrack consisting of Taiko drumming and dancing, well worth cranking up on a home theater system. Peasants threshing rice beat out a syncopated background to a scene, and there is a big Taiko musical send up (not too different from some of the 1960s Zatochi musical numbers) at the end.

OK, let me get this straight: the disc comes with a documentary where the director of photography EXPLICITLY details how and why the director agreed to go with a desaturated color palette for this film. Unfortunately for him, the American version of this disc simply chose to ignore their wishes, saturating the color to make the film look "normal" for American audiences (since we are a bunch of neophytes who could not understand that the color was desaturated on purpose). Joe six-pack apparently also wants films that have been oversharpened, distorting the original film look. This, and not providing us with a high quality version of the original Japanese soundtrack (naturally that is reserved for the dubbed English version, since, again, American audiences cannot bother to read subtitles or care about hearing the original language of the film) make this version of the film on Blu-Ray a slap to the face of any discerning film lover.

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Blending period drama, Shogun Assassin-style ultra-violence, comedy and Stomp-esque musical interludes, Takeshi Kitano's "Zatoichi" is probably the most audacious film to have come out of Japan so far this decade. Kitano a former comedian who divides his time between gameshow appearances and producing violent gangster flicks plays the eponymous hero, a blind but deadly samurai who gets off on gambling, chopping wood and putting wrongs to right. It's a masterful turn, and one that Kitano clearly relishes, twitching and chuckling to himself before dispatching enemies with a blink-and-you'll-miss-it flash of his blade.

The plot centres around Zatoichi's battle against the local yakuza and their formidable samurai-for-hire (Ichi the Killer's Tadonabu Asano). There are showdowns aplenty and, when they do come, they're nothing if not spectacular. Digitally-enhanced, cartoony and extremely violent (think: severed limbs and gallons of blood aplenty), the fights are likely to polarise audiences almost as much as the film's climactic, er, tapdance sequence.

In between, we get a revenge drama involving a cross-dressing geisha, a wannabe samurai who charges around wearing little but armour and what looks like a nappy, slapstick galore and numerous musical interludes. In a similar vein to Lars von Trier's Dancer in the Dark, Kitano draws his soundtrack from ambient noises as Zatoichi wanders, sightless, through the fields, the sounds of workers' hoes builds up into a natural rhythm. It's a cute effect, and one that's deftly employed here, compounding the sense that Zatoichi though blind is catching something that everyone around him misses.

What impresses most is how Kitano manages to draw such unlikely elements together and, moreover, make them work so well. I can think of few directors capable of flitting from slapstick to bloodbath, or domestic tragedy to musical setpiece, as convincingly or effortlessly. Even the aforementioned tapdance number, and a lengthy flashback/musical piece midway through, make a curious kind of sense on a second viewing.

Being a Japanese-language film, this one will inevitably get only a limited audience. Those who do make the effort, however, are in for a treat. It wouldn't be overstating the case to say that you've never seen anything quite like this before.

Read Best Reviews of The Blind Swordsman: Zatoichi Here

ok, to be honest, i have not yet watched Zatoichi. i'm not here to review that. judging by the reviews of the others on here, you can see that you either love it or hate it. i'm here to recommend SONATINE.

people seem to overlook Sonatine. to be honest, that was the reason i bought this DVD. Sonatine was previously not available on DVD, and you could only get it in a full screen VHS. now it's here in all it's glory. don't expect a crazy action movie like Zatoichi, Sonatine is more akin to Hana-Bi (aka Fireworks). very slow paced, but still very good. this double feature is worth it just for Sonatine.

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This is the type of Beat Takeshi film I have been yearning to see for a decade. It is a Japanese period film stylistically similiar to Kurosawa's Yojimbo and Sanjuro. Takeshi however has modernized the genre with the utmost taste and care. The music, the acting, the swordfights, the tap dances, the camerawork, the plot, the computerwork... all utterly amazing. Takeshi set out to make a "Big Screen" work to entertain the masses and he has far surpassed any expectations.

I cannot believe this hasn't exploded onto the big screen in America. This movie can be enjoyed on a number of different levels by an extremely wide audience.

If you haven't seen this movie go out and rent it, you will not be disappointed.

Godon Sensei would be Proud!