Zatoichi – the Blind Swordsman
Nothing has impressed me more about Japanese art then the samurai film. Maybe this says more about me then anyone else, but the dichotomies of violence and moral fortitude intermingling is closer to reality then 1000 “reality shows” on US television (or the European counterparts that the US TV companies stole from).
My favorite example is Zatoichi, the blind swordsman. His name is actually Ichi; “Zato” is ranking in the masseur business of Edo era Japan. He is also blind and has been since birth. What is amazing is the cohesion and continuity of the story lines woven through the 26 movies and 97 television episodes (with one exception noted here). He also is an impeccable swordsman with a very unique style; he can strike in huge arcs cutting down anything in his path (Wiki claims the style is called Iaidō).
What makes Zatoichi the best is the pathos of the stories. Zatoichi is a humble reject from the yakuza who cannot stand anyone who does evil things. He never draws his sword unless someone draws first. And do they always draw first. It is their last act upon the Earth.
One of my favorite story lines is when Zatoichi, while messaging an older woman who reminds him of his mother, finds out that her and her son are being strong armed by yakuza to get their territory that has been in their family’s hands for a generation. The yakuza hire some ronin to kill the mother and have the son sign over the territory. They burst in unexpectedly while Zatoichi is there. He is not quick enough to save the woman but quickly dispatches the ronin to heaven.
Later, by chance, he meets a woman who is waiting for her father. He finds out that her father was one of the ronin he had killed earlier. Wracked with guilt, he kneels with his back to the woman to allow her to strike him down. She stabs him but only in the arm. Later, a ronin who was sent to kill the mother but spared by Zatoichi tells her that Zaotichi killed her father because he was sent to kill the mother. He tells her that the son also lost a family member at that time. The son, wracked with guilt on being too weak to save his dead mother, vows revenge. He goes to the yakuza’s house to kill them all. But, Zatoichi steps in and does the job for him knowing that if the son tried, he would be dead in moments. He sends the son off with the daughter of his mother’s assassins to try to live a life freed from violence. That is Zatoichi’s lot: to fight so the innocent can stay pure. Did I mention he likes to gamble as well?
It does not get any better then that.
For a suggestion on where to go for the best of all the Zatoichi films, I suggest the following ones:
Fight, Zatoichi, Fight (Zatōichi kesshō-tabi)
Zatoichi and the Fugitives( Zatōichi hatashijō)
Zatoichi’s Cane Sword (Zatōichi tekka-tabi)
Zatoichi (2003 “Beat” Takeshi’s plays Zatoichi instead of Katsu Shintaro, who played in all the others)
Also, I would suggest the TV series as well. Each episode is 45 minutes of Zatoichi at his best.
Poor Mari….she’s my favorite. If I ever become a j-pop singer and part of the...
nice review. i’ve only seen the very first film in the series as well as takeshi’s version. i agree that there is something satisfying about how they unfold.
December 21st, 2006 at 4:10 pmvery minor point i realise, but i cracked up when i read: “One of my favorite story lines is when Zatoichi, while messaging an older woman who reminds him of his mother…”. i formed a mental image of a blind guy trying to msn an older woman with whom he is involved.
I simply adore Zatoichi. For all you fans out there, you haven’t seen anything until you’ve seen Zatoichi Versus Yojimbo… Toshiro Mifune versus the Katsu Shintaro… Its absolutly fantastic!
December 21st, 2006 at 6:44 pmRyo, I see the minor point. I was only thinking about the masseur connection and not the involvement angle. Although it is interesting you bring it up: as he is messaging her shoulders, he mentions that her smell reminds him of someone. The women asks if she liked the person it reminded him of and he tells her that it is his mother. She laughs uneasily at her mistaking his relationship to the women he was reminded of. Anyway, thanks for the feedback!
Alex, I too want to see that one. I can only get the ones that have either been released in the US on DVD or played on IFC’s Samurai Saturdays; for some ungodly reason, that one has not been released or played! I am not sure why since Mifune is the only actor in the Samurai genre who would be more well-known then Shintaro!
December 21st, 2006 at 7:35 pmI really enjoyed Beat’s Zatoichi but I just didn’t get the song and dance routines. What was that about?
December 21st, 2006 at 8:25 pmI know what you mean Yeolchae. The first time I saw that in the theaters I was at a complete loss.
But its a matsuri, a celebration of a new dawn without the Yakuza bosses. They dance because they are free and new buildings are being built and things are finally growing again.
Now mind you Takeshi-san might give you a different answer. I suspect he’d say something like “Was a good way to end the film”.
December 21st, 2006 at 11:29 pmI really love Zatoichi movies. I’ve only been able to see a handful of them, but they’ve all been great.
December 22nd, 2006 at 5:58 amo.k – i’ve sat thru a few chambara flicks in my time ..but at the end of the Kitano remake (recently) what is the exact translation?.. as he stares into the camera…
is it? “there are none so blind as those who will not see”
or a mirror reverse of that aphorism.
December 22nd, 2006 at 7:23 amYeah the Takeshi version was fully skitz. Excpet for the cheesy computer animated sword blades and blood.
December 22nd, 2006 at 9:53 amAnd I actually liked the dance sequences! They worked really well. The only thing I didn’t like was the random, okama.. or onabe, which ever I get confused.
don’t you mean the CGI dance sequence?
I was looking for info on the very last 15 seconds – where kitano takesh…utters that wonderful sentence about blindness and human gullibility.
December 22nd, 2006 at 11:03 amI don’t think you understand the whole concept of Zatoichi. He isn’t “a humble reject from the yakuza who cannot stand anyone who does evil things.” He is IN the yakuza, and he does plenty of evil by himself. But what Zatoichi hates is yakuza who do not live up to their code, corrupt yakuza who betray their oath to protect the weak.
December 22nd, 2006 at 2:28 pmChas – at the risk of sounding (impolite) this does not answer my primary query in regard to the most recent remake of zatoichi.
After the ..
“stunning Stomp-inspired tap dance routine (choreographed by The Stripes)”
Midnight Eye -review.
what does Beat Takeshi say at the end.. to the bored rigid audience ??
That’s all I’d like to know.
December 22nd, 2006 at 5:08 pmThe very last words that Zatoichi says in Takeshi Kitano’s version is: “Even with my eyes wide open, I cannot see” as he trips over a rock.
December 22nd, 2006 at 8:29 pmChas, what I meant by “reject” was that he did not participate in its activities, except for gambling. And he always seems to go out of his way to thwart the untoward, or you might say evil, actions of the bosses. You are right that he definitely has little patience for the bosses who break the code, but the code does not say anything about not extorting or not creating indentured servants.
December 23rd, 2006 at 1:32 am“I really enjoyed Beat’s Zatoichi but I just didn’t get the song and dance routines. What was that about?”
I’m a fan of the Zatoichi movies I’ve seen and I also tend to like Beat Takeshi movies, but Beat Takeshi’s Zatoichi was complete garbage. He completely ruined the character.
December 23rd, 2006 at 3:49 amIchi did participate in yakuza activities. There is one movie (I forget which) where he goes to the local oyabun’s annual meeting to pay his respects (and his annual tribute money). That film goes into detail about Ichi’s relationship to the yakuza and their moral code.
I hated the Beat Takeshi version, I watched it and it was so awful I turned it off halfway through. If you really want a modern take on the story, go find the last movie with Shintaro Katsu, made in 1989, about 25 years after his last film, known as “Zatoichi 26.” It is his farewell to the role, and he directed it himself. Maybe that’s why in this film, Ichi finally gets the woman.. ha..
December 23rd, 2006 at 4:20 amwell i personally prefer lone wolf & cub flicks (far more gritty and reality anchored).
but i’m hesitant to glamourise & romanticise the yakuza.
in it’s origins/affiliations (shinsengumi/koizumi’s dad..etc,etc) are questionable at best.
pretty much an irrelevance/embarassment in the modern japanese enviroment.
December 23rd, 2006 at 7:31 amI would not be here if not for samurai movies and later but to a lessre extent videogames
December 23rd, 2006 at 7:54 pmbut Weiser_Cain: are you not in agreement that the genre of samurai/jidai-geki movies/films/flicks has either been in fashion or out of fashion and also in keeping with the spirit of kaizen – constantly evolving and (hopefully) improving.
I have read an interview with Beat Takeshi where he stated that probably the only reason he did that last remake was because he was approached by Katsu’s long suffering amore (or maybe inverted remora)..as a (last paean) to Shintaro Katsu’s memory.
She put up the money – and Takeshi dutifully complied.
shrewd – neh?
I would say that kyodai or even American Yakuza 1 or 2 with Ishibashi Ryo and the mighty Viggo (Aragorn Strider) Mortenson would be more accurate and preferable to some highly romanticised and Edo-delirious fantasy about chivalry and honour in 17th century Japan.
I could rant on about Itami Juzo’s slash incident etc,etc. or Bunta.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bunta_Sugawara
or even Riki.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Riki_Takeuchi
but why bother?….:shock: there are no puns there.
signed
remora/amore
December 24th, 2006 at 8:34 am