Zatoichi Review
by Michael Yagi (myagi AT sympatico DOT ca)June 7th, 2004
By: Michael Yagi
Review of 'Zatoichi'
Genre: Action
Director: Takeshi Kitano
Year: 2003
I grew up in a household that loved watching chambara on Japanese TV. Particularly the long running 'Abarembo Shogun' and the very cool 'Mito Komon'. Zatoichi is directed and written by Takeshi Kitano who happens to be my all time favorite director and writer. So viewing this film was a treat for me. Although the story is based on another very popular series of movies of the same title, it's pure Takeshi Kitano style. The base of the story from the original series is kept the same, Zatoichi is a blind swordsman with a blade hidden in his cane. He takes care of the poor and uses his masseuse skills to relieve the stress of the downtrodden. Oh, and he's a gambler, a very good gambler. Takeshi fuses his own style of storytelling and camera direction with a beloved and popular character. The result is an explosive and sometimes charming mix. It's a lot darker than the swordplay that I grew up with, but it was just as captivating.
The story begins as Zatoichi wanders into town and sees, or should I say overhears, of townspeople suffering the consequences of being stuck in the middle of a gang war. These gangs intimidate the citizens and extort money from them. All the while, these gangs hire ronin (wandering samurai), who will do anything for money, to be youjimbo (bodyguards). The very survival of the gangs rides on the skill of these bodyguards. As Zatoichi gets friendly with the towns folk, he gets a sense of the horrible wrongdoings of these gangs and sets out to try to get rid of them. The final showdown is between what people fear might be the end for Zatoichi, with the cool and collected expert youjimbo, Gennosuke Hattori (played by Tadanobu Asano of Electric Dragon 80000V). The rest of the story plays out with a few surprising twists and turns.
The film has its bits of the 'Beat' in Takeshi Kitano. His comedic interludes lighten the mode and are truly funny. The sword fighting is lightening quick in movement and in length. It's a relief to see that Takeshi doesn't overshadow the movie with lengthy scenes of fighting as we do in so many other swashbuckling films. But still, it's very explosive action and so well choreographed. I feared the worst for the director because it was hard to imagine Beat Takeshi doing a good job of the fight sequences. Of course I was proven wrong and it goes to show what kind of commitment he puts into each of his films. Some of the fake bloodletting goes a little too far. The blood spraying doesn't actually splatter in places it's supposed to, or splatter at all. And some of the stab wounds don't look very believable, either because of bad CG editing or it was meant to be that way to tone down the violence. But it doesn't get in the way of the direction as it is such a minor issue. One big annoyance however, was the soundtrack. He made an unusual switch from composer Joe Hisaishi to Keiichi Suzuki. That's all well and good but sometimes it was annoying and overbearing. Suzuki uses a lot of percussion in this film, I suppose for the setup of a big dance number at the end of the movie. But in some scenes, it was just damn inappropriate upbeat and forgettable music! Joe Hisaishi uses simple but charming and appealing melodies which could have been used to Takeshi's advantage in some of the sequences. Regardless, this is an adventure not to be missed. Directed, written and starring the brilliant storyteller, Takeshi Kitano. And that says a lot.
The verdict:
7.8/8- The direction is pure brilliance, the soundtrack is a disaster.
(c) 2004 Eight Trees CineMANIA
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