Zatoichi sekisho yaburi (1964)

User Rating:

7.5/10   

Director:

Kimiyoshi Yasuda

Writers:

Shozaburo Asai (writer)
Kan Shimosawa (story)

Release Date:

30 December 1964 (Japan)

Genre:

Action | Adventure | Drama

Plot:

Blind swordsman/masseuse Zatoichi befriends a young woman looking for her father, a village leader who has disappeared...

Plot Keywords:

Zatoichi | Kite | Daruma Doll | Dice | Sword

Cast

Shintarô Katsu	...	Zatoichi
Miwa Takada	...	Saki
Eiko Taki	...	Sen
Kichijiro Ueda	...	Boss Jinbei
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Daimaru	...	Zany Entertainer
Mikijiro Hira	...	Gounosuke
Gen Kimura	...	Yakuza dice thrower
Akitake Kôno	...	Intendant Gorota Kajima
Koichi Mizuhara	...	Kamazo
Ikuko Môri	...	Hanokama
Rocket Nakata	...	Zany Entertainer
Teruko Omi	...	Daruma maker's wife

Also Known As:

Adventures of Zatoichi (USA)
Adventures of a Blind Man
Blind Swordsman: The Adventures of Zatoichi
Zatôichi 9 (Japan) (informal title)

Runtime:

86 min

Country:

Japan

Language:

Japanese

Color:

Color (Eastmancolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Westrex Recording System)

Company:

Daiei Studios

Goofs:

Continuity: Throughout the film, Zatoichi's hair length and the darkness around his eyes changes from scene to scene or sometimes within the same scene.

Movie Connections:

Follows Zatôichi kesshô-tabi (1964)

Japanese samurai movie partially delivers

This was my first exposure to Zatoichi series, which I think numbers 27 movies. My biggest problem was that the movie deposits you into the story without any explanation. My disorientation could be because I am unfamiliar with the Japanese culture and Zatoichi could be well-known there. Anyhow, after the first ten minutes, the movie is pretty easy to follow because it has the same structure as the classical western: stranger comes to a town with a problem, rids the town of the problem and then leaves. There are twists that aren't surprising and one that is. I have to say that the sword fights are very different than what I was expecting. Each fight lasted approximately five seconds. Even the fight with a really good swordsman lasted only 30 seconds, if that. The tactic of the vanquished standing very still for a little while until he collapses, was a good one and managed to be effective throughout the whole movie. The best fight was when Zatoichi prevented three thugs from ascending a staircase by pretending to be just a clumsy blind man. The fact that the film is very short, helps out a lot but in the end the movie only seems like an episode in a TV series. I guess I will have to see more of the series to really understand it.