The Blind Swordsman: Zatoichi

The legend of Zatoichi is one of a humble, blind traveling masseur and gambler who can wield a shikimi-zue (cane sword) faster then any ordinary man or woman. He has been known to defeat even the most skilled of samurai warriors and when pressed can take down whole armies of men. In The Tale of Zatoichi, the 1962 original film, the fastest sword in the East, played by Japanese screen icon Shintaro Katsu, confessed that he learned his sword talents with a year of self-taught, intensive training. His character, who is often dismissed or treated poorly because of his blindness, uses that same handicap to his advantage; his heightened sense of sound, smell and touch become weapons against his enemies. It is Zatoichi's unique character that separates this series from other films in the chambara (swordfighting/samurai) genre. The key difference between the original film from 1962 and the new Japanese version, The Blind Swordsman: Zatoichi, directed by and starring Takeshi Kitano (who also goes by the pseudonym 'Beat' Kitano), is their sense of pace. "In the old chambara films, the bad guy, who was positioned where the sword could not possibly be within reach, screamed, "ugh!" and collapsed to the ground, all within one continuous shot," Kitano explains, "I aimed at depicting sword-fighting scenes as realistically as possible. In order to achieve the look, I needed to position characters closer together and divide scenes into more shots." The Tale of Zatoichi takes a much more meditative approach to its characters and culture, but in the 2003 remake, any moral issues lead to an immediate violent payoff. "In this film, there are a lot of deaths, so I didn't want the audience to feel too much pain," Kitano explained. "I decided to show the sword fighting scenes like choreography in a video game so that watching the film would be bearable." Some critics have complained about the bloody, hyper-violent CGI effects, but Kitano feels these sequences add a visually rich aspect to the film that has "the look of flowers blossoming across the screen." Miramax co-chairman Harvey Weinstein, whose company is releasing the new film, said, "Takeshi Kitano is a master. And for me, this movie breaks new ground as well as unloads a wealth of cinematic memories from my movie-going past." This opinion was obviously shared by film festival audiences at both the Venice International Film Festival and the Toronto International Film Festival where Zatoichi won the Audience Award for Best Picture and encouraged Weinstein to pick up distribution rights for the North American, Latin American, and Australian markets. The new Zatoichi fully exploits the fact that Zatoichi is a character "who comes into town and cuts down everybody in sight and leaves." Kitano knew that he had to distinguish his Zatoichi from Katsu's original portrayal which was much more stoic and reserved. "I had to direct the film myself and make Zatoichi my own. The first thing I did was dye my hair blonde." Kitano also adds Stomp-like choreography, unique sound designs and kinetic action scenes into the mix. "My film has the same name, but it's completely different. Speaking in terms of prolonging or parodying the old series doesn't have much significance. My film probably doesn't even have much to do with the old Zatoichi series," reveals Kitano, "I've hardly seen any of his films. I basically shot this film in my way. So that way, I wasn't too tense about reprising a famous role." Yet, despite all of Kitano's stylistic flourishes, Zatoichi is a film that remains firmly entrenched in the traditional. An interesting side note: Zatoichi was executive produced and partially financed by a 76-year-old strip-club owner and former nude dancer named Chieko Saito, known to her family, friends, Katsu, and Kitano as "Mama." by Tom Cappello