Customer Reviews

Zatoichi in Desperation

5 star:		(43)
4 star:		(16)
3 star:		(8)
2 star:		(7)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

Kitano's remake of the popular 1960's "Zatoichi-the Blind Swordsman" series (there were probably over two dozen of the original series) takes big risks but largely succeeds. Kitano is a darker, more sinister Zatoichi, and the action is a lot more Tarantino-esque. The sword action is first class but extremely violent, unlike the original series which, like the vintage Westerns, were mostly bloodless affairs. Blood squirts everywhere on the scale of "Kill Bill."

This is not the 1960s Zatoichi, who was a more light-hearted character who often avoided conflict and was even prepared to play a buffoon to avoid violence. Not so here - Kitano stalks his prey relentlessly, like the former Yakusa he was. There is a very adult story spliced in here about the two gisha runaways (one is not who s(he) appears to be) so forget about pre-teens watching this one. Unlike many Samurai period pieces, there is a plot here which is serious and sad.

The unexpected bonus to this movie is the excellent musical soundtrack consisting of Taiko drumming and dancing, well worth cranking up on a home theater system. Peasants threshing rice beat out a syncopated background to a scene, and there is a big Taiko musical send up (not too different from some of the 1960s Zatochi musical numbers) at the end.

For Zatoichi:

I must admit that, although I live Takeshi Kitano and films, that I was a bit hesitant watching his version of the classic Shintaro Katsu series. I think the main thing that made me worry was Kitano's bleached blond hair, hehe. Well, I must say that Kitano definately does not disappoint with this film.

As with the 25+ Zatoichi movies, the plot is quite simple. A town is over run by criminals some individual seeks revenge and Zatoichi, the wandering blind masseur/gambler comes to town and kills every evil individual with ease, but with flair, until he comes to his final battle gets a bit injured. Those who like tradition of the Zatoici films will definately not be disappointed with this film.

The film begins simply enough with Zatoichi sitting on the side of the road enjoying the sunshine. A group of ronin disturb the peaceful massuer and wind up losing three or four of their comrades. Zatoichi eventually encounters Aunt Oume who informs him that the town in which she lives has gone to crap because the two head gangs, Ogi and Ginzo, have teamed up together, demanding protection money not only once a month, but everytime a gang member demands it. As usual, Zatoichi, does not come out and say that he will help, but of course he does.

Combined with a taciturn blond Zatoichi, the audience is also treated to Hattori Gennosuke a ronin who acts as the bodyguard for the Ginzo boss. This character has noble deeds for his job, however. He does it to support his sick wife. Might I add this character is played by Asano Tadanobu.

An interesting film with Kitano's trademark flair. The music is nice and fits the scenes well and the dance choreography by the dance group, The Stripes, is stunning. The set design is amazing, one almost feels as if one is in Tokugawa Japan.

For Sonatine:

I guess that I am like many other people interested in Japanese film,

because it was the work of Kitano Takeshi that first sparked my

interest in modern Japanese cinema. The first film I watched of

Kitano's was the bittersweet comedy _Kikujiro_ and while I thought that

it was a bit sappy, it opened the door for me to delve into Japanese

Film. The thing that amazed me the most about Kitano's films are how

un-formulaic they are and that they are also quite unique from each

other, but one can see common Kitano elements.

_Sonatine_ starts off simply enough. Murakawa is the head of a small

group of yakuza who rules his district with an iron fist. He does not

hesitate an iota before either having someone killed or beating someone

into a bloody pulp. However, it seems that his presence makes some oh

his higher ups a bit nervous because he is sent to Okinawa to aid the

Nakamatsu gang against the Anan gang. Taking a group of colorful

individuals with him, Murakawa joins up with a few local Yakuza.

However, the Nakamatsu boss is quick to state that there is no real

problem. However, trouble soon begins when members of Murakawa's gang

are killed in a bomb explosion and later in a shoot out. Murakawa and

the surviving members of the gang hide out in a beach side home.

Instead of being terrified of being hunted down by the Anan gang. The

yakuza group, including Murakawa, seem to really enjoy themselves at

the beach. If you thought it was funny to see a couple of bikers play

like children in _Kikujiro_, wait till you see yakuza shooting

fireworks at each other and digging pits to catch their friends.

However, the movie truly has a state of foreboding over it. One just

can't help but wait for this ideal time to end for Murakawa and his

fellow yakuza.

I was urged by my Japanese film professor to watch _Sonatine_. He told

me that he believed it was the perfect summation of Kitano's films.

While I definitely would not call _Sonatine_ my favorite film by

Kitano, it is quite good and it should be watched by Kitano fans

ok, to be honest, i have not yet watched Zatoichi. i'm not here to review that. judging by the reviews of the others on here, you can see that you either love it or hate it. i'm here to recommend SONATINE.

people seem to overlook Sonatine. to be honest, that was the reason i bought this DVD. Sonatine was previously not available on DVD, and you could only get it in a full screen VHS. now it's here in all it's glory. don't expect a crazy action movie like Zatoichi, Sonatine is more akin to Hana-Bi (aka Fireworks). very slow paced, but still very good. this double feature is worth it just for Sonatine.

This is the type of Beat Takeshi film I have been yearning to see for a decade. It is a Japanese period film stylistically similiar to Kurosawa's Yojimbo and Sanjuro. Takeshi however has modernized the genre with the utmost taste and care. The music, the acting, the swordfights, the tap dances, the camerawork, the plot, the computerwork... all utterly amazing. Takeshi set out to make a "Big Screen" work to entertain the masses and he has far surpassed any expectations.

I cannot believe this hasn't exploded onto the big screen in America. This movie can be enjoyed on a number of different levels by an extremely wide audience.

If you haven't seen this movie go out and rent it, you will not be disappointed.

Godon Sensei would be Proud!

This Zatoichi movie is a twist on a long line of Japanese movies about a classic hero, a blind Samuri. Everything gets a bit twisted, from the heros blond hair to the cross dressing geisha. It is every bit as bloody as noted in other reviews, however the fight scenes are wonderfully choreographed and the CG slow motion blood droplets are really actually pretty in a strange way. There are no long drawn out fight scenes,the action is abrupt and certian.

There is a special feature on the making of the movie and Kitano explains some of his ideas for the movie. My absolute favorite scene in this movie has become one of my favorite scenes in any movie, it is the showdown near the end of the movie where Zatoichi faces another skilled Samurai the other Samurai visualizes how he will defeat Zatoichi because the grip Zatoichi is using will allow him to be a fraction of a second faster, after visualizing this he looks up at Zatoichi and smiles. Zatoichi quickly changes his grip, momentarily throwing his opponent off guard, then attacks at once. He of course wins instantly.

I just don`t understand the people that refer to the obvious digital blood spill scenes as unrealistic, it is just meant to be like that to excaggarate the obvious, how realistic would it be if a blind swordsman kills all yakuza by the way? Japan is all about illustration, big and colorfull stuff, cool and tough guys, swift swords masters..We have to notice in Japanese cinema that Japan is not a materialist culture and things like justice, fun and friendship means something to them. This movie is very good, not as good as the good old Kurosawa movies may be, but it just makes its point. The music is great by the way, sometimes I found myself dancing with the crowds, it is so good. So enjoy the movie, but see also lighter Chinese movies too like "the house of flying daggers" and "Hero" just to keep it cool. Avoid Tarantino as much as you can,apparently he is loosing it.(Why I recall him, because he recommends Zatoichi, but may be only because it is bloody. After "the Hostel" what else could I think?). The original Zatoichi series is lovely too. By the way that was an era of extraordinary gentlemen, just about the same time a Turkish actor, Cuneyt Arkin released a series in which he acted a blind karate master who beats the hell out of criminals. Those days were really full of fun and creative ideas..We are still longing for the day his "The man who saved the world" to come with English subtitles to see what creativity is.

I found this film to be exceptional and worthy of the legacy of Zatoichi. Takeshi takes a well known character and without changing the feel of the character, he gives him a vivid personality that comes out well on the screen. I got the chance to see this film in a pre-screening and I enjoyed it thoroughly. The only part that I found to be strange was at the very end when the townspeople did a modern dance, but I understand this was artistic license. I hope this brings a revival into the character and we will see many more in the future.

I've just spent several months watching the original Zatoichi cinematic series and as a finale, I took a look at this updated version by Takeshi Kitano. Unfortunately I found it a strangely cold and alienating effort.

Many modern movie goers are unaware of the 26 original films from the 60's and 70's, so I assumed this film would reintroduce Zatoichi, giving us some of his background and history. Sadly this was not the case. We are simply dumped into Zatoichi's world knowing nothing of him. Eventually we learn he is a masseur and a gambler and a god-like swordsman, but that's all. Nothing of how he became blind, learned swordplay or ended up a wandering yakuza is presented here. That's a shame, for we learn nothing to really help us identify with him, and he is portrayed in such a distant and cold manner that we never really gain any affection toward the character. His loneliness and loss--his tragic side--are never seen, neither are his doubts and regrets. This leaves our main character a rather inhuman creature, possessed of super human abilities and few discernable endearing qualities.

Structurally this is the old familiar Zatoichi story and all the hallmark themes are here: yakuza (gangsters) bullying farmers and townspeople, Zatoichi out-gamboling the villains, flashy swordplay, fallen samurai taking jobs as yojimbo (bodyguards) for sleazy gang bosses. But when it comes to the main character himself, Zatoichi is treated like a background character. He is silent through 90% of the film; the entire plot is driven by the actions of what should be secondary characters. More often than not, Zatoichi is seen in the background of the scene with his head bowed and his back towards the viewer. When he does come into play it is usually as a killing machine. He displays his amazing sense of smell and hearing, yet he is rarely seen interacting with other characters except when he's chopping them up into digital bits.

Unlike the original films, Zatoichi displays no sense of humor, no scheming intelligence and little humility. He is a distant and unknowable character, like an angel of death, set apart from his world and the viewer alike. Unlike the original films, Zatoichi does not investigate the wrong-doings of the yakuza bosses in town, other characters do that on their own and report it to Zatoichi. And again, unlike the original character, he does not befriend or form emotional ties to the downtrodden in the story, he simply listens to them tell their tale. Ultimately he does take care of their problem, but when he does, it seems to be more a personal matter, not the act of an man righting the wrongs he finds around him.

The special effects in this film are obviously digital, complete with 3-dimensional spouts of the old red-red kroovy, which rarely seem to stain anything, vanishing instead as a mist in the air. Gratuitous violence there is aplenty, often in much greater excess than in the original films--Zatoichi seems more a merciless and unstoppable killer than a man living within the confines of a strict, if harsh, code of ethics.

The score is rather bizarre and distracting, often layering Asian-influenced synthesizer parts overtop traditional shamisen music without regard for whether the two are harmonically related. Natural sounds, such as farmers digging in the fields or carpenters building a house, are turned into the rhythm track for annoying little soundtrack pieces, and not for any apparent reason. It felt like the producers were teetering on the edge of turning this into a musical . . . when suddenly the finale of the film arrives and we're treated to an extended choreographed tap dance scene! Yes, tap dancing in feudal Japan.

In all we end up with a film that is completely blind to what made the original films work so well: their ultimate humanism, which was derived from the stellar performance of Shintaro Katsu, who managed to portray the legendary blind swordsman as a compassionate, charming, empathetic, humble, humorous and highly ethical human being, not the distant and unknowable creature we have here.

Takeshi Kitano does another take from the Zatoichi series and adds alot of humor into the mix along with the drama and action. A retelling of the Zatoichi samurai epic, the blind master swordsman and masseur Zatoichi played by Takeshi Kitano finds himself in a town in fear of a gang that is in control of everything, he gets to defeat the gang and has a final confrontation with the final tough bad guy.

Zatoichi also befriends a local old woman and her nephew who seems somewhat like a coward and fumbling idiot but is a nice guy, there is also a subplot involving two orphaned geishas who had a hard time growing up as one of them had to be a prostitute to survive they want revenge for the death of their parents.

The film definently has bizzare scenes as some farmers seem to dance for no reason and make music that has a rythem to it like with their farming equipment and that weird ending, the blood and violence was similar to Kill Bill but it seems like they used computer fx or cgi I have no idea why they did this but it doesn't matter, it all seems like Kitano wanted to do this with his own style and sense of humor I guess. Takeshi Kitano definently did a great job with this film I thought it was fantastic, if your a fan of Japenese cinema than I highly recomend that you watch this.

Takeshi Kitano's cinematic style answers to nobody. You either accept it or you don't, and if you're going to derive enjoyment out of his films, you have to understand and accept his quirky approach towards narrative -- such as never signalling a flashback, never introducing characters by name, and lurching expositions.

I had expected that his remake of Zatoichi would become the most accessible of his films, but despite the samurai-film milieu, Kitano's style remains as difficult to grasp as ever. And the middle of the film lags quite a bit, when the back story of the two geishas and the gambling nephew's subplot take over and Zatoichi disappears for 20, 30 minutes straight.

But I'd seen enough Kitano films to be prepared for this. And the reward lies in stunning action choreography, beautiful cinematography, a terrific acting turn from Kitano himself, and some of the best sight gags in the Kitano catalogue. Comedy has always been the backbone of his films, and in Zatoichi he crafts some of his funniest situations and characters. Kitano himself is perfect for this role, with his immense physical presence, yet he constantly expresses that little odd sliver of tenderness and humour that has always made his characters so watchable.

What truly amazes are the action scenes. Characters move with grace and power, and the sound effects are realistic and pack a wallop -- no comic-book whooshes and noises here. Fight choreographer Tatsumi Nikamoto, in a short interview on this DVD, hits the nail on the head: Kitano uses his entire body to drive blows and directs his actors to do the same, making for kinetic swordplay scenes that rank with some of the best martial-arts scenes ever filmed. The choreography, shooting and editing here are leagues above Kill Bill Vol. 1's blood-spraying, overly edited scenes and won't even pale alongside some of Lau Chia-liang and Tang Chia's best work with Chang Cheh.

There are traces of Kurosawa's Yojimbo and Sanjuro in this film, in terms of the dark humour, the warring gangs, and the one-swift-blow approach towards duelling rather than clashing, extended swordfights, and watching Zatoichi cut a swath through the hordes, you might think Toshiro Mifune were still alive -- and that's a mighty feat.

The long period of waiting for plot progressions in the middle does cut into the enjoyment, and overall the pacing of this film is less accessible than Brother, but the best parts of Zatoichi are thrilling beyond words. A must-watch, though newcomers to Kitano are advised to check out Brother first.

One more word about this DVD: The strange cover and the "double bill" moniker may suggest this is a pirated copy, like one of those "10 Jackie Chan movies on one disc" releases by no-name companies, but looking at the disc, I think it's authentic. Miramax simply made a weird choice by including Sonatine in the package and making the package look inexplicably like those pulpier releases. Why Sonatine? I have no idea, since it has nothing to do with Zatoichi, despite being a pretty good film in itself. But the picture transfer on both films is good, the supplemental materials well put together, and everything suggests that this disc is indeed an official release. So don't be fooled by the packaging.