The Blind Swordsman Zatoichi

Actor/director Takashi Kitano revives the iconic Japanese movie character Zatoichi, subject of a long-running series of Japanese movies. Zatoichi is a blind gambler/masseur and master swordsman who travels the islands of Japan playing dice, giving massages, and fighting injustice when he finds it.

The Zatoichi character (a role that was a career unto itself for actor Shintaro Katsu who played Zatoichi in no less than 25 films between 1962 and 1973, including six of them in 1964 alone) originated with 1962’s The Life and Opinion of Masseur Ichi., and was last seen in 1989’s Zatoichi. As director and star, Kitano’s new film (which won the Silver Lion at the 2003 Venice International Film Festival) is artfully respectful of the spirit of the legendary hero, preserving the action and humor of the long-running series, with the director’s genius for pacing and burst of graphic violence neatly updating the Zatoichi character.

Matt Parks