Zatoichi Review
by Laura Clifford (laura AT reelingreviews DOT com)July 26th, 2004
THE BLIND SWORDSMAN: ZATOICHI
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A large group of Samurai encourage a small boy to steal the cane of a blind man sitting by the roadside. The child's success emboldens them and they approach, but suddenly a blade flashes and several have been dispatched. The rest take to their heels. The ordinary looking old masseur (Beat Takeshi, "Brother") is the legendary "The Blind Swordsman: Zatôichi."
The Zatôichi stories from the novels of Kan Shimozawa have been made into a number of Japanese films since the early 1960s. Multi-hyphenate Japanese television star and film director Takeshi 'Beat' Kitano has updated the character in a crowd pleasing mishmash of ultra violence, revenge, comedy and "Stomp-like" musical interludes. Kitano and Yoshinori Oota's editing is razor sharp within individual scenes, but often confusing transitioning from one to the next, making "Zatôichi" tricky to follow.
Several story strands are introduced and randomly followed before they begin to merge at about the film's hour mark. The humble masseur finds loding with Mrs. Oume (the terrific Michiyo Ookusu), a no-nonsense peasant. Two geishas, the Naruto 'sisters' O-Kinu (Yuuko Daike, "Dolls") and O-Sei (Daigorô Tachibana), are hunting and killing the men responsible for the murder of their family. Gennosuke Hattori (Tadanobu Asano, "Taboo (Gohatto)") is a skilled ronin seeking employment as a bodyguard in order to care for his consumptive wife O-Shino (Yui Natsukawa). The underbosses of the mysterious head of the Kuchinawa clan are plotting to wipe his rivals.
Zatôichi meets up with Oume's nephew Shinkichi (Gadarukanaru Taka, "Warm Water Under a Red Bridge") at a Kuchinawa gambling house and his sharp senses help the addict to make unexpected winnings. They're approached outside by the geishas, but Zatôichi senses murderous intent when O-Kinu undoes the strings of her shamisen and O-Sei gives off the scent of a male. O-Kinu relates their story and they find a friend in Zatôichi. The foursome retreat to Oume's house where she is surprised to be reunited with her lost relative.
In a local saki bar which all the characters pass through, Hattori displays his swordsmanship to Boss Ginzou (Ittoku Kishibe). Soon he is killing his employer's enemies, much to his wife's consternation. When he runs into the blind man in the bar, he observes 'You're no ordinary masseur.' 'I smell blood on you too,' replies Zatôichi. The two will meet again.
The bleached blond Kitano maintains his typical stone-faced 'watchfulness' which erupts into spectacular displays of violence. Here, Kitano almost goes for a comic-book effect, with Pythonish blood spurting and injuries as punch lines. Bright red droplets and vivid sprays seem to hang suspended in air. In a repeated comic bit, a neighbor of Oume's who dreams of becoming Samurai races about her house screaming and brandishing a spear. Zatôichi simply bops him off the head with a well aimed log while chopping wood. In fact, Kitano plays with the swordsman's blindless, hinting that he may really be watching or allowing Shinkichi to draw eyes upon his lids as a form of disguise.
The cross-dressing character of O-Sei also crosses the line between comedy and tragedy, particularly when the young man's dance practice segues to a flashback (one of the few times Kitano makes it clear he is changing time periods) which shows the young boy prostituting himself for much needed coins. The geisha siblings reenter the action when Oogiya (Saburo Ishikura) approves them as entertainment for the big boss the Narutos seek vengeance on. The eventual big showdown (which is oddly intercut with, before giving over to, a spirited musical number where cast members dance on Geta sandals outfitted for tap!) is followed by epilogues where the Kuchinawa boss's surprise identify is revealed not once, but twice!
Sound is Kitano's seeming obsession in "Zatôichi." As the masseur makes his way along a road in early goings, a comedic percussion score (original music by Keiichi Suzuki, "Tokyo Godfathers") keeps rhythm with howers in a field. Later raindrops fall to the beat of dancers in the mud. Oume's house is rebuilt by workers wielding hammers as instruments of music.
While this "Zatôichi" is indeed fun, Kitano's storytelling is unnecessarily confusing. The tremendously sympathetic character of Hattori, given equal weight to Zatoichi in the film's first half, is dispatched too abruptly and dispassionately. Still, now that Kitano has spent some artistic exuberance reestablishing the character, he could proceed with a surer hand for more adventures.
B
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