Film Review: Zatoichi (Japanese)
The blurb on the posters says it all: “Zatoichi can kill Bill in 2 minutes, let alone 2 movies”. The movie was going like a song, until they f***ed it up with the last scene. It was so jarring! Wish I could’ve said it was a great movie. Anyways, here’s a break-up of what made the movie tick and what didn’t:
The Good
The Editing/Story-telling: there are 4 to 5 parallel story-threads going, some even symbolic in their juxtaposition. And nowhere does the editing feel tacky/patchy.
The Swash-buckling: delightful (although gory) samurai sword-fights. There are at least 3 showdowns if my memory goes right, not to mention the numerous one-sided fights. And the post-stab blood-gushing (the only consolation for the faint-of-heart is that the fights are rather short-lived.) is IMO a tad more realistic than in Kill Bill Vol.1 (with due respect to the latter movie, which I absolutely adore).
The Soundtrack: one example that immediately comes to mind is this very cool scene where four farmers plough the soil to the tune of the background score.
The Feel of the movie: I am a sucker for movies that can bring to life the ambience of the period/place they are set in (e.g.:- cinema paradiso, y tu mama tambien etc). The villagers, the roads, the sliding doors, the geishas, the tavern, the gambling dens…the works! The frames/shot compositions are really good and so are the production values. Its also a situational comedy to boot. Some enjoyable scenes are the conversations among sake-savoring bums at the watering hole.
The Bad/Ugly
The climax has alternating scenes of Zatoichi kicking the Ginzo clan’s butt (which are all very slick), and young village folk tap-dancing on a stage (all we’re told is that they’re celebrating ‘the festival’). I personally feel the latter was totally unnecessary and a very bad way of ending an otherwise chic flick. Also, a neat twist towards the end wasn't quite given the pride of place it deserved.
The Story-line
Zatoichi is this blind, old, good-natured wandering masseur whose walking stick doubles up as a deadly samurai’s sword in his faster-than-light moves. He wanders into this village which is plagued by the Ginzo clan’s mafia. The Ginzo clan hires another (seemingly) equally-skilled Ronin to protect their interests and wipe out competing clans. The Ronin has his reasons for taking the path of the un-righteous.A brother and sister duo (both dressed as Geishas), go around avenging the virtual massacre of their well-to-do family at the hands of Ginzo’s men. Zatoichi assists them in their revenge.Zatoichi takes shelter at an old woman’s place in the village. She and her nephew form part of another parallel track. The tavern-owner and the conversations revolving around him are yet another parallel track.
My Take
Recommended for those who don’t mind violence, and enjoy Japanese (for instance, I just love the way the language sounds :)…) and/or Samurai movies (and no, ‘last samurai’ doesn’t count, even though I haven’t watched it...:p).
Cast
I only know the guy who played Zatoichi – Takeshi Kitano (check out his chilling performance in ‘Brother’). He is also the director of the movie.
The Good
The Editing/Story-telling: there are 4 to 5 parallel story-threads going, some even symbolic in their juxtaposition. And nowhere does the editing feel tacky/patchy.
The Swash-buckling: delightful (although gory) samurai sword-fights. There are at least 3 showdowns if my memory goes right, not to mention the numerous one-sided fights. And the post-stab blood-gushing (the only consolation for the faint-of-heart is that the fights are rather short-lived.) is IMO a tad more realistic than in Kill Bill Vol.1 (with due respect to the latter movie, which I absolutely adore).
The Soundtrack: one example that immediately comes to mind is this very cool scene where four farmers plough the soil to the tune of the background score.
The Feel of the movie: I am a sucker for movies that can bring to life the ambience of the period/place they are set in (e.g.:- cinema paradiso, y tu mama tambien etc). The villagers, the roads, the sliding doors, the geishas, the tavern, the gambling dens…the works! The frames/shot compositions are really good and so are the production values. Its also a situational comedy to boot. Some enjoyable scenes are the conversations among sake-savoring bums at the watering hole.
The Bad/Ugly
The climax has alternating scenes of Zatoichi kicking the Ginzo clan’s butt (which are all very slick), and young village folk tap-dancing on a stage (all we’re told is that they’re celebrating ‘the festival’). I personally feel the latter was totally unnecessary and a very bad way of ending an otherwise chic flick. Also, a neat twist towards the end wasn't quite given the pride of place it deserved.
The Story-line
Zatoichi is this blind, old, good-natured wandering masseur whose walking stick doubles up as a deadly samurai’s sword in his faster-than-light moves. He wanders into this village which is plagued by the Ginzo clan’s mafia. The Ginzo clan hires another (seemingly) equally-skilled Ronin to protect their interests and wipe out competing clans. The Ronin has his reasons for taking the path of the un-righteous.A brother and sister duo (both dressed as Geishas), go around avenging the virtual massacre of their well-to-do family at the hands of Ginzo’s men. Zatoichi assists them in their revenge.Zatoichi takes shelter at an old woman’s place in the village. She and her nephew form part of another parallel track. The tavern-owner and the conversations revolving around him are yet another parallel track.
My Take
Recommended for those who don’t mind violence, and enjoy Japanese (for instance, I just love the way the language sounds :)…) and/or Samurai movies (and no, ‘last samurai’ doesn’t count, even though I haven’t watched it...:p).
Cast
I only know the guy who played Zatoichi – Takeshi Kitano (check out his chilling performance in ‘Brother’). He is also the director of the movie.
posted by CogitoErgoConfusum at 10/08/2004 04:10:00 AM
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