Zatōichi (2003 film)


Zatoichi is a 2003 Japanese samurai drama/action film, directed, written, co-edited by and starring Takeshi Kitano in his 11th directorial venture. Kitano plays the role of the blind swordsman.
The film is a revival of the classic Zatoichi series of samurai film and television dramas. It premiered on 2 September 2003 at the Venice International Film Festival, where it won the prestigious Silver Lion for Best Director award, and went on to numerous other awards both at home and abroad. It also stars Tadanobu Asano, Michiyo Okusu, Yui Natsukawa, Guadalcanal Taka, Daigoro Tachibana, Yuko Daike, Ittoku Kishibe, Saburo Ishikura and Akira Emoto.

Plot

The film's plot follows a traditional theme, with Zatoichi coming to the defense of townspeople caught up in a local yakuza gang war and being forced to pay excessive amounts of protection money. Meanwhile, Zatoichi befriends a local farmer and her gambler nephew and eventually offers his assistance to two geisha siblings who are seeking revenge for the murder of their parents. The siblings are the only survivors of a robbery and massacre that was carried out on their family estate ten years ago. They soon discover the people responsible for the murders are the same yakuza wreaking havoc on the small town.
After slicing his way through an army of henchmen with his sword, Zatoichi defeats the yakuza's bodyguard, a powerful rōnin, in a duel. Zatoichi later wanders into town and confronts the yakuza bosses, killing the second-in-command and blinding the elderly yakuza boss after surprising him by opening his eyes. The film ends with a dance number led by noted Japanese tap dance troupe The Stripes, and Zatoichi walking down a trail and tripping over a rock, saying "Even with my eyes wide open, I can't see anything."

Cast

Kitano revealed that he was approached by others to create the film and therefore differed from his own techniques and followed the common filmmaking process in order to please them and make a pure-entertainment film.
This film marks Kitano's first collaboration with composer Keiichi Suzuki, ending an 11-year streak with Joe Hisaishi. The director said he made the decision feeling that the film needed percussion-based music and that Hisaishi is not a flexible composer, and also suggested that Hisaishi had become too expensive for him. Costumes were created by Kazuko Kurosawa.

Reception

The film grossed in Japan. Peter Bradshaw of The Guardian gave Zatoichi 4 out of 5 stars. Jasper Sharp of Midnight Eye praised the films as "pure cinematic magic". Allan Tong of Exclaim! said, "when Zatoichi is on screen, the film erupts with brilliant fury in unforgettable action sequences". On review aggregation website Rotten Tomatoes, the film had a positive approval rating of 86% based on 124 reviews.

Awards