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- ZATOICHI, THE BLIND SWORDSMAN -
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Twenty-six movies, all staring the late Shintaro Katsu in the lead role, were made about Zatoichi (In Japanese, Zato [a form of "Mr."] is a prefix commonly used when addressing a blind man. "Ichi" is his family name.), spanning 13 years (1962-1974). A twenty-sixth, again staring Katsu, was made in 1988.
Set a couple of hundred years in the past, the blind hero is a masseur who also happens to be an honest yakuza gambler. Walking from town to town, his walking stick tapping away in an effort to avoid falling on his face, Zatoichi is always looking for a little massage work and an exciting game of dice. Invariably, what he does find is corruption, people in need, and violence as the body count of the assembled villains grows with each wave of his blade.
Zatoichi puts on quite a few extra pounds in his later films, which actually makes the role even better; his bedraggled appearance serves to humanize a man that could easily slip into superhuman, and therefore unreal, status. It's this down to earth feel that makes him such a beloved character, and in some ways reminds me of Peter Falk's "Colombo," another kind, unpretentious hero that seeks justice behind an inept façade.
FOLLOWING IS A COMPLETE GUIDE TO ALL THE MOVIES
! SPOILERS AHEAD !
[01] The Tale of Zatoichi - 1962
The blind masseur Zatoichi is hired by yakuza gang-leader Sukejoro Iioka (Eijiro Yanagi) as he thinks that war is inevitable with the rival yakuza Shigezo Sasagawa (Ryuzo Shimada). Zatoichi has a distinguished reputation as a swordsman and Sukejoro thinks he is money well spent. Shigezo responds by hiring a swordsman of similar repute, Ronin Miki Hirate (Shigeru Amachi). Ichi is a meek and humble man who is commonly underestimated by common men, and looked upon suspiciously. He being a masseur, which was a position of low regard in feudal Japan, merely increases the hostility that is shown towards him. They even try to take advantage of his blindness in a gambling den, but from early on it is clear that Zatoichi draws strength from his disability.
The only person who respects him is a fellow warrior who has a similar code of practice (Hirate). The tragedy is that the two warriors know they must fight when the war begins, but this does not stop them developing a strong bond throughout the earlier stages of the film. Hirate is eager to fight Zatoichi, as he is terminally is with consumption. Unfortunately for Hirate, as he becomes increasingly sick, Sukejoro decides to attack Shigezo. He also tells Ichi that he is no longer needed. However, as the war begins, Hirate drags himself from his bed to fight Zatoichi, and word gets to Ichi that Hirate will be fighting and that Sukejoro intends to shoot him with his rifle. Zatoichi travels to the battle to duel with his fellow dying Samurai. After the tense final fight, Zatoichi leaves Iioka and rejects the advances of Otane (Masayo Banri), who has become disillusioned with the yakuza lifestyle, to continue as a solitary wandering swordsman.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0056714/
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[02] The Tale of Zatoichi Continues - 1962
The opening scene places Zatoichi on a boat with a group of Samurai, who decide to hunt down Ichi after he slashes one of them. Within a few moments there is a heated band of Samurai demanding revenge, but a mysterious one-armed swordsman Yoshiro (Kenzaburo Joh) steps in and maims many of the swordsmen. Ichi's problems really begin when he is recruited to massage the lord at the House of Kuroda. The lord has a 'condition' (he seems insane), and they decide that Zatoichi must be killed so this secret cannot spread. Boss Kanbei is hired to kill Zatoichi, and he discovers that Ichi is on his way to Joshoji Temple to pay his respects to Hirate Miki exactly one year after killing him.
Yoshiro is also in trouble as he is a wanted gangster, and Sukegoro (whom Ichi stayed with for 10 days in the original) expels Yoshiro from his residence. He then follows him with an armed guard in order to capture him. The finale involves Ichi fighting with Kanbei's men at the same bridge where he fought Hirate one year earlier. Zatoichi slaughters all of Kanbei's men and before he can finish off Boss Kanbei, Yoshiro steps in to fight his brother. Both have a deadly grudge to bear against each other. Yoshiro stoles Ichi's love, Chiyo, away from him and Ichi crippled Yoshiro. Both are badly injured in the duel but manage to escape Sukegoro's men by jumping in the river. Yoshiro's wounds are lethal but Ichi survives and exacts his revenge on Boss Sukegoro.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0200309/
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[03] New Tale of Zatoichi (1963)
With the third installment of the Zatoichi series, we gain a new insight into the enigmatic masseur, and learn much of his past. Released this past October by HVE, New Tale of Zatoichi brings our hero back to his old stomping grounds where he finds that he cannot escape the ghosts of his past, even as new threats arise.
Like most of the films in the series, New Tale of Zatoichi opens with the blind swordsman embroiled in trouble demanding his lighting-quick skills. Of course, Zatoichi regrets the necessity of the fight, since his past sins are once again rearing their ugly heads. Though victorious, Zatoichi is deeply troubled. Will he ever be free of his past?
Apparently not. Soon afterwards, Zatoichi encounters a childhood friend on the road. Discovering that his old friend, a destitute shamisen player, has fallen on hard times, Zatoichi warmly offers him money to keep him company at a nearby inn. This leads to an entertaining sequence in which Shintaro Katsu is allowed to show off his real-life musical skills, as he regales the inn patrons with a self-mocking shamisen tune about his plight as a blind masseuse.
Of course, it's not long before trouble appears. A group of thieves break into the inn and demand everyone's money, but not before Zatoichi's friend spots a unique tattoo of dice on one of the men's hands. Knowing this to be the mark of a gambler, Zatoichi heads to the local Yakuza household and demands the traveler's money.
Zatoichi and his friend part ways after this exciting preamble, each promising the other to become a better person the next time they meet. This is all a set-up for the film's second act, in which Zatoichi encounters his old sensei, Banno. While Zatoichi is glad to see his old teacher, who taught him to overcome his blindness, he is also somewhat ashamed at the uses to which he has put his skills, namely becoming a gambler and Yakuza.
Much has transpired since Zatoichi left, however, and he soon finds himself once again at odds with his past.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0057503/
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[04] Zatoichi the Fugitive - 1963
After arriving in the town of Shimonita, Ichi finds that a price has been put on his head by a local yakuza boss. He's drawn into a trap, but after hearing of the slaying of a former love, Ichi furiously fights his way through the entire clan to face the killer, a hired ronin.
The adventures of Ichi, the blind swordsman continues with a story heavy on drama until the end which pays off with a spectacularly ferocious showdown between Ichi and an entire clan of yakuza thugs.
Episode four follows the previous film in offering a light-hearted opening as Ichi participates in an open wrestling competition. Of course, trouble is just around the corner as a thug named Kisuke loses his life attempting to collect a bounty on Ichi. Ichi pays respects to the dead man's mother and begins to seek out the man responsible for the bounty which turns out to be a local yakuza boss and banker named Yagiri Tokyuro. Yagiri has hired a ruthless ronin named Tanakura to dispatch with Ichi. Their impending clash is complicated by the fact that Tanakura's lover is Tane, a woman who returns from Ichi's past (Zatoichi 1) and whom he still loves.
Ichi's main companion becomes Nobu, a spunky innkeeper's daughter who loves Sakichi, the hesitant heir to the Shimonida clan. Yagiri plots to kill Sakichi, take over their territory and do away with Ichi all in one fell swoop. He convinces Sakichi to lure Ichi into a run down house as Yagiri's entire clan surrounds the structure. But, the unexpected murder of Tane at the hands of the ronin sparks a fury in Ichi who charges out to lay waste to the yakuza thugs and exact revenge on Tanakura
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0057715/
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[05] Zatoichi On the Road - 1963
Back from the slight slump that was The Fugitive, Ichi returns in Grade A form. Here, he's sworn to protect the life of a young girl. As is usually the set-up for the Zatoichi series, without any real allies, Ichi finds himself in the middle of a bloody turf war. Normally, he's hesitant to get involved, but this time he plays ball and, in the end, turns in one of the greatest climax battles since Seven Samurai.
On the Road is by far the best of the first five films in this series. It starts off red hot and just keep getting hotter. You really can't miss out on this one.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0057714/
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[06] Zatoichi and the Chest of Gold 1964
After paying his respects at the grave of a man he accidentally killed, the legendary blind swordsman Zatoichi (played in top form as always by Shintaro Katsu) arrives at a village where the impoverished
locals are in mid-celebration. It seems they've finally gathered enough money to pay off their heavy tax burden--a great relief to everyone in this drought-stricken area. At first, they invite Ichi to join in their fun. When the money is stolen by a group of samurai thugs, however, the villagers blame Ichi too, thinking that he's in on the heist. Desperate to clear his name, Ichi swears to find those responsible and return the money.
But it won't be easy. First, Ichi has to investigate a local and much loved boss, who has gone into hiding. Then he'll have to tangle with those thugs... including one of his toughest adversaries yet--a samurai by the name of Jushiro who wields a dangerous bullwhip as skillfully as a sword.
Zatoichi and the Chest of Gold is arguably the most theatrical of all the Ichi films. Its stylized opening credit sequence recalls the Bond film intros, for example. Chest of Gold is also the first film in the series to graphically depict violence. When swords fly here, so does the blood.
For these reasons alone, the film would be interesting. Making it even more so are Ichi's face-offs with Jushiro, first over a game of chance and later on the field of battle. Ichi buffs will be interested to know that Jushiro is played here by Katsu's real-life brother, Tomisaburo Wakayama, who would later star in the Lone Wolf and Cub series of films (produced by Katsu).
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0130377/
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[07] Zatoichi's Flashing Sword - 1964
The blind swordsman Zatoichi goes up against an ambitious crime boss who isn't above kidnapping and murder. He must rescue a fireworks specialist who has been kidnapped for his expertise with gunpowder as a weapon. This film tells us something of the origins of Zatoichi's training in martial arts, as a way of compensating for his blindness, and his preferred method of using darkness as a weapon against sighted opponents.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0191664/
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[08] Fight, Zatoichi, Fight - 1964
The blind swordsman Zatoichi escapes from a gang of assassins with help from a group of blind pilgrims, but a woman is killed by mistake during their hunt for him. He finds her baby alive and vows to bring the child to its father in a story that plays like a medieval Japanese version of John Ford's Three Godfathers. The warrior dotes on the child even as he fends off attackers and helps to reform a woman criminal. When he gets the baby to its father, however, the man rejects the child and allies himself with the assassins trying to kill the hero.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0123334/
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[09] Adventures of Zatoichi - 1964
Zatoichi, the blind swordsman, encounters an elderly man who claims to be his long-lost father. The nomadic warrior, who has never had any personal ties to anyone as an adult, believes that he may finally have found a bond with his past. Only later does he discover that the man is an imposter. In contrast to most of the movies in this long-running series, Adventures of a Blind Man, by the very nature of its plot, offers a look into the background of the blind swordsman.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0164984/
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[10] Zatoichi's Revenge 1965
Itinerant masseur and master swordsman, the blind Zatoichi, is near the village of his teacher, Hikonoichi, so he decides to visit. He learns of Hikonoichi's recent robbery and murder and the imprisonment of his virginal daughter, Osayo, in a brothel. Through friendship with Denroku, a local dice thrower and devoted father, Ichi uncovers an unholy alliance between the governor and the area strongman: among their scams is falsifying tax records to put farmers in debt, then forcing their daughters into prostitution at the boss's brothel. With help from Denroku's daughter, Otsuru, Ichi comforts Osayo until he can provoke showdowns with the villains and their henchmen.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0123335/
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[11] Zatoichi and the Doomed Man 1965
While locked up on gambling charges, Ichi meets a man sentenced to die. He claims to be innocent, and knowing Ichi will be released, he begs him to find the one man who can prove his innocence. He also asks Ichi to tell his family he'll be home very soon.
After such a string of adventures, Ichi is hesitant to go on this errand and chooses to walk the other way, but fate (as well as an inept con man's scheme) puts him right smack dab in the middle. Soon Ichi learns that friends are foes, greed is God and everyone is somehow related. Oh, Ichi, such is your lot in life: round and round the circle goes.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0202154/
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[12] Zatoichi and the Chess Expert 1965
The great Zatoichi, gambler and ex-samurai extraordinaire, returns in this installment of the Japanese adventure series. This time, the blind warrior makes friends with another fighter/chess-player during a voyage to Honshu island to attend a gambling match on Mt. Fuji. Zatoichi's new friend finds the old master fascinating. The two become involved in adventure when they are set upon by bandits when landing. During the ensuing battle, a young girl is harmed and Zatoichi heads off to right the wrong.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0059942/
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[13] Zatoichi's Vengeance 1966
Zatoichi comes upon a dying man who asks him to give a bag of money to "Taichi". Zatoichi has no idea who this is but when he comes upon a small town harassed by gangsters, he finds that "Taichi" was the man's young son. Along his travels he also met a blind monk who makes Zatoichi question his murderous lifestyle. In trying to help the town, Zatoichi kills some gangsters and becomes a hero to the boy. He must make a choice of whether to use non-violence and set a good example, or violence and set the boy on the wrong path in life.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0143012/
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[14] Zatoichi's Pilgrimage - 1966
After a girl is assaulted on the highway Zatoichi finds himself acting as midwife to a dying woman. He heads for a nearby village to deliver the baby to its father, Satoro, but on the way is cheated and stoned by local people. Satoro`s sister is about to become a sex slave because of an unpaid debt but Zatoichi resolves this problem only to become confronted with more and has to resort to his martial arts skills.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0199905/
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[15] Zatoichis Cane Sword - 1967
In this adventure, Zatoichi, hitches a ride with an acting troupe on their way to the town of Tonda. Upon arriving, he discovers the place overrun by yakuza. Undaunted by the gangsters or their crooked dice game, Zatoichi proceeds to win a bagful of gold coins. In retaliation, the thugs attempt to kill the blind man but are instead slain with a flash of his cane sword.
A retired swordsmith named Senzo observes the fight and marvels at the blind man's skill. Examining the cane sword, he discovers it to be forged by his old teacher. Senzo declares the sword's life to be over as it will surely break when claiming its next victim. Shocked and confused, Zatoichi swears off killing forever and leaves the sword with Senzo for safe keeping. Will our hero kill again or instead face death unarmed and alone?
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0186725/
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[16] Zatoichi the Outlaw - 1967
When a local gambling house kidnaps some peasants because they failed to pay their debts, a rival gambling house pays their debts and sets them free. But it's really all just a plot to enlist Ichi's aid in eliminating the competition. Once that's been attended to, the master of the surviving house of chance grabs more and more power - and more cash from the hapless farmers. Even a blind man can see that justice must be done!
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0062518/
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[17] Zatoichi Challenged - 1967
In this Japanese actioner, the brave blind swordsman Zatoichi is assigned to escort a little boy to his father's home. En route he is set upon by five killers. Using his super-sensitive powers of perception, he kills them. Later an enigmatic samurai joins them and helps fight off a second gang. Eventually they make it to the boy's hometown where they discover that the father is being held hostage by smugglers. It is then that the mysterious fighter reveals that he is a government agent assigned to destroy the gang. Zatoichi agrees to help him if the samurai will return the favor. He cannot, and so the sightless fighter challenges the agent to a duel.
A dying woman begs Zatoichi to reunite her son with his father, who is working in a small town. But when the son and father meet, Zatoichi finds out that the father has been forced to work for gangsters. Using his lightning sword, Zatoichi takes on the crime boss in a relentless blend of action, violence, and comedy that makes Zatoichi Challenged one of the best in the long-running series.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0063834/
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[18] Zatoichi and The Fugitives - 1968
On the road, Ichi (Shintaro Katsu) has a run-in with members of a band of fugitives on the run from the law. He kills two outright after being attacked and leaves an impression with Ogano Genpachiro (Kyosuke Mashida), their leader by slicing a falling snake in two. In a small village, Ichi has another tense meeting with the fugitives and Ogano arrives just in time to warn his impulsive crew to back down. Ichi hooks up with Junan, a local doctor played by the great dramatic actor Takashi Shimura, best known for many standout performances in Akira Kurosawa's films. In the meantime, the fugitives force themselves onto the village's local yakuza boss who agrees to hide them from authorities in exchange for killing a representative of the local merchants. The fugitives turn the killing of one man into a massacre as they wipe out the entire household. Things get worse when Ichi is ambushed by the fugitives and takes a bullet. Seriously wounded, he makes a narrow escape and begins to recover with the aid of the doctor and his daughter. But when the yakuza boss fails to find Ichi in order to finish him off, he kidnaps Junan and his daughter. Although still wounded, Ichi strikes back at the yakuza boss and the fugitives with an unearthly vengeance.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0063835/
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[19] Samaritan Zatoichi - 1968
Zatoichi is forced to kill a young man who owes a debt to a yakuza boss. Moments later, his sister Osode arrives with the money she earned (prostituting herself) to pay his debts. The bosses true motives are revealed and he attempts to steal Osode even though the debt is paid. Zatoichi realizes his grievous error and protects the girl from the gang. Osode and Zatoichi are caught in a dilemma as she must rely on her brother's killer for protection and Zatoichi wrestles with the injustice he has caused.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0164983/
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[20] Zatoichi Meets Yojimbo
In Zatoichi vs. Yojimbo, the blind swordsman Zatoichi has to battle Yojimbo (Toshiro Mifune), the title character from Akira Kurosawa's famous film. At the beginning of the film, Zatoichi is planning on retiring, yet his village is besieged by outlaws; eventually he fights, then befriends Yojimbo on his way to securing his village. The movie is a light-hearted parody of samurai films and a comic take on the genre, boasting a wonderfully funny performance from Mifune.
With a price on his head, Ichi seeks tranquillity in a favorite village. Since his last visit, it has fallen prey to Boss Masagoro, the son of a merchant rumored to have stolen gold from the shogunate. The boss has hired Yojimbo as his hard-drinking enforcer, but Yojimbo is both a spy for the shogunate, trying to find the gold, and in love with the merchant's unwilling mistress, Umeno. Ichi hires on as the merchant's masseur and buys Umeno's freedom with his employer's own money. This embarrasses Yojimbo who withdraws from a pact with Ichi to stir up trouble between father and son and their gangs. As the two sides fight, Ichi finds the gold and sets up a final set of confrontations.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0066603/
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[21] Zatoichi at the Fire Festival - 1970
Zatoichi attends an auction of women in order to rescue a samurai's bride. He teaches petty thugs a sharp lesson in humility, and plays with stilt-walking kids on the country road. After some clowning around in the gambling den there's a naked swordfight at the bathhouse with a hot-tub full of tattooed yakuza killers. There's also a very strange 'vision' sequence, and the amusement of the two blind men playing checkers and trying to catch each other out cheating.
In the end, of course all the unruly humour is simply a diversion and mounting tensions between members of the criminal fraternity develop into a murder plot, against Zatoichi, then explode into a demonstration of the power of a blind man as invisible slayer. The festival of the title isn't a fireworks display but a sacrificial ritual. Guess who the baddies intend to roast alive?
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0164982/
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[22] Zatoichi and the One Armed Swordsman - 1971
On the outskirts of the town of Furukawa, blind masseur and master blade-slinger Zatoichi encounters one-armed Chinese martial artist Wang Kang and a young boy. Discovering that the pair are on the run from the corrupt local Samurai, murderers of the boy's parents, Zatoichi agrees to guide them to a nearby temple. Unfortunately, things are never that easyifor the blind man, as he becomes entangled in a struggle to save not only these two, but also the lives of the people they come across. When the situation worsens, Zatoichi may discover that his greatest enemy is not the men sent to kill the party, but Wang Kang and the lack of a common language between the two of them. As the crisis escalates, the two master swordsmen will find themselves in a confrontation where only one will walk away alive!
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0066602/
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[23] Zatoichi At Large - 1972
No good deed goes unpunished for Zatoichi (Katsu Shintaro), the blind masseur and master swordsman. After delivering the baby of a dying woman and fulfilling her last wish to take her infant to the town of Shiobara, he finds the father missing and must leave the child with his aunt, Oya-e. Immediately taking a liking to the young woman, he resolves to help her when her inn is turned into a brothel by Tetsugoro, the local yakuza boss. Things take a turn for the worse when Zatoichi fights to have the performers at the upcoming festival perform without a yakuza tax. Enraged by his audacity, Tetsugoro puts a price on the blind man's head. Meanwhile, the baby's father, Sataro, returns home, and a misunderstanding results in him blaming the masseur for his wife's death. As the danger on both sides escalates, Zatoichi's sword-cane will fly and the blood will flow into the streets!
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0202153/
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[24] Zatoichi in Desperation - 1972
After a fatal encounter with an elderly woman on a decrepit rope bridge, Zatoichi seeks out her daughter, to make restitution for his role in her death. He finds that the daughter, Nishikigi, is the most popular prostitute in the local brothel. Vowing to save Nishikigi from this life of sin, he sets out to earn the money to redeem her.
But the blind swordsman goes too far when he hustles the local yakuza gang for the money. Now, trouble comes from all sides as the local boss, a master swordsman and the prostitute's lover, all want a piece of Zatoichi. Worst of all, Nishikigi just can't seem to turn her back on her life of sin! All these lead to the most shocking of ends of Zatoichi, one which will leave him forever changed!
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0201922/
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[25] Zatoichi at the Blood Fest - 1973
The flip of a coin leads the blind masseur and master swordsman Zatoichi to his hometown, a place he has not visited in over two decades. Despite his extended hiatus, he finds that several people remember him from his hellcat youth, including a 'sister' that he never knew he had and the village's local government Superintendent.
But things never stay quiet for the masseur for very long. An old face from Ichi's childhood, Shinbei, has hatched a nefarious plot to rob the town of their valuable community quarry. The masseur is caught in the unenviable community position of mediating the conflict between his former pal and the home of his youth, with neither side willing to budge. Can Ichi, the champion of the weak and oppressed, do the right thing, even if it pits him against his childhood chum?
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0072439/
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[26] Zatoichi Darkness Is His Ally - 1989
As the 26th film opens, Zatoichi is still a wandering masseuse traveling the backroads of 1800’s Japan. Zatoichi is noticeably older but that has not affected his sword prowess or aptitude for finding trouble. In fact, the story starts as Zatoichi is imprisoned for burglary. Zatoichi tells a fellow prisoner that the judge almost allowed the charges to be dismissed because he couldn’t believe a blind man could have the skills to be a thief. To prove him wrong, Zatoichi grabbed the judge’s sword and ran from the court. He was caught and serves a small amount of time in jail. In fact, he later tells his friend Norihei Miki after he is released from jail that the lashings he received as punishment in jail helped his “stiff shoulders” and was very relaxing.
Zatoichi befriends a poor ronin that also works as an artist portrayed by Ken Ogata. He feels conflicted because he has been offered a substantial payment to deliver the head of Zatoichi to an enemy. However, Zatoichi is the only person he has encountered in his lonely life that understands him and shares his sense of humor. He also has respect for the way Zatoichi leads his life and his sword expertise. Will he succumb to the pressure or protect his new friend?
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0202152
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