Zatôichi (2003)

Director:

Takeshi Kitano

Writers:

Takeshi Kitano (screenplay)
Kan Shimosawa (novels)

Release Date:

6 September 2003 (Japan)

Genre:

Action | Comedy | Crime | Drama | Music

Tagline:

His Sword Made Him a Hero... His Courage Made Him a Legend. This Summer, Justice is Blind.

Plot:

The blind masseur/swordsman comes to an town in control of warring gangs, and while bunking with a farming family, he meets two women with their own agenda.

Plot Keywords:

Zatoichi | Samurai | Swordsman | Masseur | Ronin

Awards:

21 wins & 10 nominations

Cast

Takeshi Kitano	...	Zatôichi / Ichi (as Beat Takeshi)
Tadanobu Asano	...	Hattori Genosuke
Michiyo Ookusu	...	Aunt Oume
Gadarukanaru Taka	...	Shinkichi
Daigorô Tachibana	...	Geisha Seitaro 'Osei' Naruto
Yûko Daike	...	Geisha Okinu Naruto
Yui Natsukawa	...	O-Shino, Hattori's Wife
Ittoku Kishibe	...	Boss Inosuke Ginzo
Saburô Ishikura	...	Boss Tashichi Ogi
Akira Emoto	...	Tavern Owner Pops
Ben Hiura	...	Tavern Gramps
Kohji Miura	...	Lord Sakai
Hideboh	...	Dancing Farmer (as The Stripes)
Ron II	...	Dancing Farmer (as The Stripes)
Suji	...	Dancing Farmer (as The Stripes)
Noriyasu	...	Dancing Farmer (as The Stripes)
Makoto Ashikawa	...	Carpenter
Tsumami Edamame	...	Carpenter
Kosuke Ohta	...	Carpenter
Yoshiyuki Morishita	...	Carpenter
Naomasa Musaka	...	Yakuza Boss on the Country Road
Shoken Kunimoto	...	Rival Swordsman
Daigaku Sekine	...	Ginzo's Henchman I
Koji Koike	...	Boss Funahachi
Koji Kiryu	...	Dice Dealer at Funahachi's Joint
Taigi Kobayashi	...	Funahachi's Bodyguard
Ayano Yoshida	...	Young O-Kinu
Taichi Saotome	...	Young O-Sei (Seitaro)
Kanji Tsuda	...	Playboy at Home
Ikki Goto	...	Kuchinawa Underling 1
Yoshio Nakamura	...	Kuchinawa Underling 3
Hiroaki Noguchi	...	Kuchinawa Underling 5
Shinichi Nakatsu	...	Kuchinawa Underling 2
Toru Yonezu	...	Kuchinawa Underling 4
P. Man	...	Tavern Customer 4
Al Kitago	...	Farmer Boy 1
Omiya Nomatsu	...	Farmer Boy 2
Tsutomu Takeshige	...	Farmer Boy 4
Gambino Kobayashi	...	Farmer Boy 5
Sammy Moremore Jr.	...	Farmer Boy 6
Muhomatsu	...	Farmer Boy with a Spear
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Yasushi Higuchi
Masayoshi Ohzeki
Kenji Takechi	...	Yakuza
Yôji Tanaka

Directed by
Takeshi Kitano

Writing credits
Takeshi Kitano		(screenplay)
Kan Shimosawa		(novels)

Produced by
Shinji Komiya	....	line producer
Jack Maeby	....	producer (english language version)
Masayuki Mori	....	producer: Office Kitano
Chieko Saitô	....	planner
Tsunehisa Saitô	....	producer: Saitô Entertainment
Masanori Sanada	....	co-producer
Takio Yoshida	....	co-producer

Original Music by
Keiichi Suzuki

Cinematography by
Katsumi Yanagijima

Film Editing by
Takeshi Kitano
Yoshinori Ôta

Casting by
Takefumi Yoshikawa

Production Design by
Norihiro Isoda

Costume Design by
Yohji Yamamoto

Makeup Department
Kakusei Fujiwara	....	special makeup effects artist

Production Management
Kensei Mori	....	production manager

Sound Department
Senji Horiuchi	....	sound designer
Akira Nakano	....	sound recordist
Kenji Shibazaki	....	sound effects

Camera and Electrical Department
Hitoshi Takaya	....	lighting director
Toshio Watanabe	....	still photographer

Costume and Wardrobe Department
Kazuko Kurosawa	....	costume supervisor

Other crew
Hideboh	....	choreographer: tap dancing (as The Stripes)
Richard Lormand	....	publicist: international
Noriyasu	....	choreographer: tap dancing (as The Stripes)
Ron II	....	choreographer: tap dancing (as The Stripes)
Haru Shôbara	....	script supervisor
Suji	....	choreographer: tap dancing (as The Stripes)

Production Companies

• Asahi National Broadcasting Company
• Bandai Visual Company
• DENTSU Music And Entertainment
• Office Kitano
• Saitô Entertainment
• TV Asahi
• Tokyo FM Broadcasting Co.

Distributors

• Shochiku Company (2003) (Japan)
• Office Kitano (2003) (Japan)
• Celluloid Dreams (2003) (worldwide) (all media) (sales)
• Artificial Eye (2004) (UK) (theatrical)
• Bac Films (2003) (France) (theatrical)
• Bright Angel Distribution (2004) (Netherlands) (theatrical)
• Buena Vista International (2005) (Argentina) (theatrical)
• Concorde Filmverleih (2004) (Germany) (theatrical)
• Frenetic Films (2003-2004) (Switzerland) (theatrical)
• Lighthouse Pictures (2004) (Singapore) (theatrical)
• Mikado (2003) (Italy) (theatrical)
• Miramax Films (2004) (USA) (theatrical) (subtitled)
• Sandrew Metronome Distribution Sverige AB (2004) (Sweden) (theatrical)
• Sandrew Metronome Distribution (2004) (Finland) (theatrical)
• Shu Kei's Creative Workshop Ltd. (2004) (Hong Kong) (theatrical)
• A-Film Home Entertainment (2004) (Netherlands) (DVD) (VHS)
• Artificial Eye (2004) (UK) (DVD)
• Buena Vista Home Entertainment (BVHE) (2009) (USA) (DVD) (Blu-ray)
• Buena Vista Home Entertainment (2005) (Brazil) (DVD)
• Buena Vista Home Entertainment (2005) (Brazil) (VHS)
• Concorde Home Entertainment (2004) (Germany) (DVD)
• Gativideo (2005) (Argentina) (DVD)
• Gativideo (2005) (Argentina) (VHS)
• Panorama Distributions (2004) (Hong Kong) (DVD)
• Warner Home Video (2004) (Switzerland) (DVD)

Special Effects

• Nippon Effect Center (visual effects)

Other Companies

• Aoi Studio  post-production sound services
• Continental Far East  Dolby consultant
• Half H-P Studio  foley design
• Kodak Japan  film stock supplied by
• NAC Image Technology  camera equipment supplied by
• Nihon Shomei Co.  lighting equipment supplied by
• Shu Tokki  grip equipment supplied by
• Tokyo Laboratory Co. Ltd.  film processing
• Warp Station Edo  exterior sets
• Yoshikawa Casting Office  casting

Also Known As:

Takeshi Kitano's Zatoichi (International: English title) (informal title)
The Blind Swordsman: Zatoichi (USA)
Zatoichi (International: English title)

MPAA:

Rated R for strong stylized bloody violence.

Runtime:

116 min

Country:

Japan

Language:

Japanese

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

Switzerland:16 (canton of Zurich) | Brazil:18 | Canada:18A (Ontario) | Iceland:16 | Portugal:M/16 | Argentina:13 (DVD rating) | Sweden:15 | Argentina:16 | Australia:MA | Canada:14A | Chile:14 | Finland:K-18 | France:-12 | Germany:16 | Hong Kong:III | Ireland:18 | Italy:T | Japan:R-15 | Netherlands:16 | New Zealand:R16 | Norway:18 | Peru:14 | Philippines:R-13 | Singapore:NC-16 | South Korea:15 | Spain:13 | Switzerland:14 (canton of Geneva) | Switzerland:14 (canton of Vaud) | UK:18 | USA:R

Filming Locations:

Eiga-mura, Kanami, Kanae-chô, Fukuyama City, Hiroshima, Japan

Company:

Asahi National Broadcasting Company

Trivia:

The blood in the film has been described by many as being "too CGI". Kitano did this intentionally, wanting to "soften the shock to the audience" due to the high body count. Kitano told the CGI artist he wanted the blood to "look like flowers blossoming across the screen."

Quotes:

Aunt Oume: This must be quite a sight! I'm guiding a masseur, who's carrying my vegetables.
Zatôichi: Wish I could see that!

Movie Connections:

Referenced in One More Beer (2005)

dancing Zatoichi

beat takeshi's tribute to shintaro katsu has been a little controversial as one could have predicted. The final entry of the series, directed by shintaro katsu himself, was also controversial, since it is the bloodiest, most uncompromising, and most swiftly paced of that series, presenting us with pretty raw film with some unsettling themes. - ultimately, zatoichi leaves the world pretty much as corrupted by yakusa as he first finds it.

takeshi's zatoichi comes to us very stylized - blond, with clean clothes, a very neatly crafted sword cane. The violence is augmented by CGI blood spurting (in the documentary accompanying the film on DVD, takeshi is frank that he wanted the blood to look a little phony). And then there is the dance segment at the end, foreshadowed throughout the film by rhythmic natural sounds of men and women at work.

After trying to get a hold on this film and its clearly complex relationship to the original series, through multiple viewings of the film, I think I've finally grasped that the dance sequence is really the heart of the whole film. no matter what you think of it in relationship to the rest of the film, it's extremely entertaining ; so, perhaps that's all we need to know about this film - perhaps it's all we need to know about the original zatoichi series as well.

There is a strange question that recurs again and again in Takeshi's films - what do we do to entertain ourselves when death is near, and there's neither need nor possibility of accomplishing anything with a purpose? In most of Takeshi's films, the proper response to that question is to live life like a circus. Here, obviously, salvation is to be found in dance. I'm not sure that these answers are satisfactory; but the question is too disturbing to ignore.