Zatoichi I

Year: 1962

Grade: B+

Country: Japan

Director: Misumi

Review

one year after yojimbo was released, comes the first installment of zatoichi, the film series. i’m pretty sure this started as a television series in japan, and became hugely popular at some point…i can see why. this story is fairly similar to yojimbo – a wandering stranger (zatoichi, the blind samurai) who works for one of two warring gangs. there are other, smaller similarities that i won’t bother to list. since it’s so easy to compare the two films (especially given the relative paucity of japanese samurai films i [and most] have seen) i’ll first talk about the relative shortcomings of zatoichi. the score is good, but yojimbo’s score is great. the direction in zatoichi is pretty good, whereas kurosawa’s direction in yojimbo is almost unparalleled. the cinematography in both films is strong. the acting in yojimbo is amazing – from the smallest role all the way up to the title character, whereas zatoichi has solid acting, but nothing spectacular. in other words, yojimbo is a better film in just about every conceivable way. that said, zatoichi is a great film. its opening sequence serves as a great hook storywise and characterwise. i suppose that by now most japanese filmgoers would have had some interaction with zatoichi through the tv series, but the filmmakers wisely dedicated some time to getting to know the title character. i think the strongest aspect of this film was the relationship that was built between zatoichi and his adversary. they have a great deal of respect and admiration for each other, at one point zatoichi even gives his adversary a massage while they discuss swordsmanship. a common theme in asian cinema is the “herofication” of traditionally weak individuals – women, blind people, one-armed people, etc. zatoichi, the blind swordsman, is another in this tradition. i’ll just say that it’s a good film and you should give it a try if you liked yojimbo or sanjuro.