Zatôichi goyô-tabi (1972)

User Rating:

7.2/10   

Director:

Kazuo Mori

Writer:

Kinga Naoi (writer)

Release Date:

September 1973 (USA)

Genre:

Drama | Action | Adventure

Plot Keywords:

Martial Arts | Katana Sword | Sword Fight | Zatoichi | Katana

Cast

Shintarô Katsu	...	Zatoichi
Rentaro Mikuni	...	Boss Tetsugoro
Hisaya Morishige	...	Constable Tobei
Etsushi Takahashi	...	Denjuro
Naoko Otani	...	Yae
Osamu Sakai	...	Seiji
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Katsutoshi Akiyama
Akiyoshi Fukae
Tsutomu Hashimoto
Renji Ishibashi	...	Gunroku
Keizo Kanie
Jun Katsumura	...	Rowdy horse puller
Kazuo Mortuchi
Shintarô Nanjô
Ken K. Okamoto
Osamu Okawa
Teruko Omi	...	Baby caretaker
Emiko Ono
Jun Ôsugi
Jun Satomi
Soji Shibata
Shigako Shimegi	...	Dice thrower
Takumi Shinjo
Nikaku Shofukutei	...	Monkey trainer
Reiji Shoji	...	Duo performer husband
Utae Shoji	...	Duo performer wife
Kazutsuru Tanabe	...	Dramatic performer

Also Known As:

Zatôichi 23 (Japan) (informal title)
Zatoichi at Large

Runtime:

90 min

Country:

Japan

Language:

Japanese

Color:

Color (Fujicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Westrex Recording System)

Certification:

Australia:M

Company:

Katsu Production Co. Ltd.

Movie Connections:

Follows Tsubaki Sanjûrô (1962)

Zatoichi gets another baby and another excellent film

Only two more films before the end of a 25 entry series. You would think that after 11 years the final films would be tired and derivative but this film belies that assumption. While reusing some elements from previous films, the baby for example, this film is an excellent combination of humor, drama and action with the usual Zatoichi world view. It should be remembered that at the time these films would rarely get shown again so the film makers felt comfortable reusing themes. Soon after this Zatoichi moved to television where they really reused the stories and themes from the movies.

Zatoichi chances upon a pregnant woman who unknown to him has just been attacked and had her gold stolen. She goes into labor and Zatoichi helps deliver the child but the woman dies from her wound. Zatoichi goes to bring the child to his father and of course finds himself in the middle of a town being invaded by yakuza. Zatoichi is compelled to help the child's family and control the ruthless yakuza.

There's nothing unusual about the plot, it's the details that make this film so wonderful. The characters are all colorful and interesting. There an elderly constable and his good-for- nothing son, a group of wacky festival performers, a mysterious child who pelts Zatoichi with rocks, the required master swordsman to challenge Zatoichi and the sleazy yakuza. The film is well paced, but the first action is not until 30 minutes into the film. However it's well worth waiting for. Unlike the previous film that had Zatoichi caring for an infant (which is a very good film), he doesn't get attached to this one and it's pretty much out of the plot half way thru.

Recommended for all Zatoichi fans, newcomers might want to try an earlier film first.