Director: Kanji Misumi
Notable Cast: Shintaro Katsu, Shigeru Amachi, Masayo
Banri, Michiro Minami
While my preference has always been with the Chinese kung fu
and wuxia films, in the last couple of years I have decided to really delve
into the swordsman genre. For this, I picked up the massive Criterion Collection
release of the Zatoichi series to review. The first film, The Tale of
Zatoichi was a lot different than I imagined it would be. It's far less
violent and extreme in execution as say Lone Wolf and Cub or Lady
Snowblood and much more akin to the films of Akira Kurosawa, although a bit
easier to digest. The end result is a film populated with fascinating
characters, an easy but subtle plot, and a finale worth the slow burn.
With tension mounting between two yakuza clans, Zatoichi
(Shintaro Katsu) finds himself caught up in a escalating situation. As a blind
man, people always underestimate his powers as a swordsman, but the leader of
one clan knows this and pressures him to stay with pampering and money. When
the other clan hires the talents of a ailing ronin Hirate (Shigeru Amachi) to
balance out the sides, a war seems inevitable.
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| Draw! |
While sword fighting films seem noted for their sword play and
intense characters, The Tale of Zatoichi seems content in keeping things
in the gray area. This first film of the series takes its sweet time really
building up our anti-hero and the complexity off the situation at hand.
Truthfully, it’s about half way through before we see Zatoichi pull his sword
in defense and even then it’s done in a way that really showcases his lethal
speed and precision instead of some well-choreographed battle. The rest of the
film really focuses on the character development and interaction of the world
created. The actors involved handle this interaction between plot and character
with surprising finesse. Both Shintaro Katsu (as Zatoichi) and Shigeru Amachi
(as the ronin Hirate) really slather on deep and subtle character work for the
two main characters, although the latter gets far less screen time despite his
importance to the plot and our lead, and the intriguing dynamics of the
supporting cast left me enveloped in the world of these two clans. While some
of the subplots are obviously there only for character development (including a
romantic one), they are effective in placement and how it all works together.
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| Burning the candle at both...sides? |
As for the finale when the tensions mount to the brink of
war, director Kenji Misumi handles it with stunning visual prowess. The battle
scenes are played more for realism and minimal budget constraints for these
eager but poorly trained yakuza yes-men and when Zatoichi and Hirate finally
meet, the camera shot that pans, spins, and zooms is damn near breathtaking.
The build towards the finale is pretty hefty, but it pays off in spades leaving
our final sword duel one of emotional weight instead of testosterone-fueled
arrogance.
While I didn’t expect this franchise starter to be such a
dramatic and effective piece of cinema, the resulting brilliance of The Tale
of Zatoichi works on a variety of levels. As a swordsman film it hits all the
necessary elements of loyalty, betrayal, and the lonely road of trying to
accomplish the right deed with the sword as a burden and as a drama it nails
the depth of characters and pacing of plot. It’s a fantastic film to start off
my massive marathon and one that I highly suggest to any cinephile.
Written By Matt Reifschneider
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