Zatôichi abare-himatsuri (1970)

User Rating:

7.6/10   

Director:

Kenji Misumi

Writers:

Shintarô Katsu (writer)
Kan Shimosawa (story)

Release Date:

12 August 1970 (Japan)

Genre:

Drama | Adventure | Action

Plot Keywords:

Zatoichi | Katana | Katana Sword | Sword | Martial Arts

Cast

Shintarô Katsu	...	Zatoichi
Tatsuya Nakadai	...	Jealous Ronin
Reiko Ohara	...	Kiyo
Masayuki Mori	...	Dark Lord Yamikubo
Peter	...	Umeji
Kô Nishimura	...	Migi
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Yoshitaro Asawaka
Ryutaro Gomi	...	Yakuza boss
Yuuji Hamada
Yukio Horikita	...	Kuroku yakuza
Shingo Ibuki
Ryunosuke Kaneda
Jun Katsumura	...	Yamibuko yakuza
Akane Kawasaki
Eizo Kitamura
Takuya Kitano
Kanae Kobayashi	...	Egg merchant
Yosuke Kondo
Gen Kuroki
Yasuhiro Mizukami	...	Yakuza boss
Osami Nabe	...	Mistress auctioneer
Jun Nagasawa	...	Egg slinging Kuroku yakuza
Tatsuya Nakayo
Junjiro Niida
Akira Nitta
Masaji Nunome
Osamu Okawa	...	Yakuza boss
Teruko Omi	...	Bath house manager
Jun Satomi
Akira Shimizu	...	Merchant with business burning down
Takumi Shinjo	...	Yakuza boss
Reiji Shoji	...	Tea house owning husband
Utae Shoji	...	Tea house owning wife
Kenzo Tabu	...	Wealthy mistress auction buyer
Tadashi Takadera
Kazue Tamachi
Kunie Tanaka	...	Drunken horse puller
Kazuko Taniguchi
Yoshio Yoshida	...	Mistress of auction yakuza boss
Kazuko Yoshiyuki	...	Unfaithful wife

Directed by
Kenji Misumi

Writing credits (in alphabetical order)
Shintarô Katsu		writer
Kan Shimosawa		story

Produced by
Shintarô Katsu	....	producer
Hiroyoshi Nishioka	....	assistant producer

Original Music by
Isao Tomita

Cinematography by
Kazuo Miyagawa

Film Editing by
Toshio Taniguchi

Production Design by
Yoshinobu Nishioka

Art Direction by
Yoshinobu Nishioka

Costume Design by
Yoshio Ueno

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Toshiaki Kunihara	....	assistant director

Sound Department
Masao Oosumi	....	sound engineer

Production Companies

• Daiei Motion Picture Company
• Katsu Production Co. Ltd.

Distributors

• AnimEigo (2003) (USA) (DVD)
• Artsmagic (UK) (DVD)
• Artsmagic (UK) (VHS)
• Daiei Studios
• Dainichi-Eihai (1970) (Japan)
• Madman Entertainment (2005) (Australia) (DVD)

Also Known As:

Blind Swordsman's Fire Festival
Zatôichi 21 (Japan) (informal title)
Zatoichi Goes to the Fire Festival (USA)
Zatoichi at the Fire Festival (UK) (video title)

Runtime:

96 min

Country:

Japan

Language:

Japanese

Color:

Color (Eastmancolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Westrex Recording System)

Certification:

Australia:PG (DVD rating) | Australia:M

Company:

Daiei Motion Picture Company

Movie Connections:

Followed by Shin Zatôichi monogatari: Oreta tsue (1972)

Wow! Tatsuya Nakadai in Zatoichi

I couldn't believe it when I saw Tatsuya Nakadai (Yojimbo, Sanjuro, Harakiri, High and Low, Ran, etc,etc) pop up in this Zatoichi episode as a crazed, jilted husband out for revenge on almost everyone, including Zatoichi. I noticed the credits had a variation of his name (Nakayo, I think it was). We also have Masayuki Mori (Rashomon, The Idiot, etc) as the mandatory evil boss. Only this time, the evil boss is an evil SUPERBOSS, he's blind (and therefore obviously much more dangerous) and resembles Fritz Lang's Dr. Mabuse. We also have a great humorous side story with Peter (the blind younger brother in Ran) playing an effeminate pimp who tries to seduce and kill Zatoichi --a riot--in order to enter the local yakuza gang. There's also a very funny scene with two roadhouse employees that had me laughing out loud. The cast, characters and plot really set this one above many of the Zatoichi's, including the one Katsu did with Toshiro Mifune (Zatoichi vs. Yojimbo). The film is directed by Kenji Misumi, who directed some of the best Zatoichi films as well as several of the Lone Wolf and Cub series. An absolute must-see for Zatoichi fans and highly recommended for sumarai movie fans. As a Zatoichi movie, 11 out of 10, as a samurai movie or on any other basis, 9 of 10.