Zatoichi
Move over, Daredevil...now there's someone meatier. The inventor of Radar Sense before it became fashionable...I bring you....ZATOICHI!!!!!
Zatoichi, in case you didn't know, is the blind Japanese swordsman so ably played by the late great Shintaro Katsu in over 25 movies and 100 TV episodes. The character of Zatoichi is a Japanese pop culture icon-the closest American parallel I can come up with off the cuff is Indiana Jones (although the two are nothing alike and Zatoichi has made way more appearances). Actually, he's a lot like Robin Hood, minus the merry men and the archery. He was blatantly ripped off in a Rutger Hauer film called Blind Fury, which sucked ASS, and was recently played by Takeshi "Beat" Kitano, best known as "Vic Romano" on Spike Tv's MXC, in a remake entitled, appropriately enough, Zatoichi.
The movies are wicked fun and are now available on DVD from two separate companies, which can make it kind of a pain in the ass to collect the series. One company is pricier than the other and their quality isn't as good, either, but it looks like one company owns the rights to some films and the other owns the rest...a licensing nightmare, I'm sure.
Zatoichi makes his living as a wandering masseur, although he was once a yakuza, part of the criminal underworld in Japan. He's a bit of a social outcast because of this and because of his blindness, which makes him a target for bullies (but not for long). Zatoichi maintains a cheerful outlook most of the time, despite his afflictions, and never fails to help those in need. He is generally above selling his blade as a mercenary, although that's not always true...
The movies tend to focus mainly on his amazing skill with his trusty sword-cane despite his handicap, which you wouldn't even know was there based on the body count he racks up every movie. Zatoichi is forever hounded by enemies, although none of them stick around long enough to be considered a disadvantage. For all his vaunted swordsmanship, Zatoichi is continually beset by people who wish him ill for one reason or another....usually because someone they know tried to kill him and wound up on the business end of his sword-cane intead. An often overused line: "He's just a blind man! How much trouble can he be!!?"
Zatoichi is also hounded by people who are just annoyed that he's so good despite the fact he's blind. It's an insult to them; they can't seem to let it go no matter what, whether they've actually met him before or not. Many try to test their mettle against Zatoichi because of his reputation; some just because they find it a disgrace that a blind man has such skill. They all wind up dead in the end.
For all his truly badass-edness, Zatoichi tries like hell to avoid trouble and takes a lot of abuse. In fact, it's not usually until people actually make the mistake of attacking him that he even draws his blade. When he does, the person who messed with him is usually dead by the time Zatoichi returns his blade to his scabbard (average time: 1.6 seconds). Despite the cool swordplay in the films, these aren't kung-fu movies...each one has a definite plot. That being said, it's certainly not necessary to see them in order, which is what I tried to do last summer until my trusty comic-shop owner Wayne set me straight. They're all subtitled, so if you're the type of person who can't abide subtitles then forget it. (I feel bad for you-you miss a lot of great movies.) Each movie is stand-alone, you can dive right in without needing as much familiarity with the character as you already have by reading this blog.
Cool places like my comic shop (The Annex in Newport, R.I.) may have some or all of the Shintaro Katsu Zatoichi movies for rent, or you can buy them at places like Virgin Megastores, Suncoast Video, or Newbury Comics. The lastest Takeshi Kitano Zatoichi is available at your local Blockbuster. It probably contains a dubbed version too. It's a lot more violent than the Shintaro Katsu originals and Zatoichi isn't as nice a guy, but it's still a cool movie and I hope he makes more.
Enjoy!
Zatoichi, in case you didn't know, is the blind Japanese swordsman so ably played by the late great Shintaro Katsu in over 25 movies and 100 TV episodes. The character of Zatoichi is a Japanese pop culture icon-the closest American parallel I can come up with off the cuff is Indiana Jones (although the two are nothing alike and Zatoichi has made way more appearances). Actually, he's a lot like Robin Hood, minus the merry men and the archery. He was blatantly ripped off in a Rutger Hauer film called Blind Fury, which sucked ASS, and was recently played by Takeshi "Beat" Kitano, best known as "Vic Romano" on Spike Tv's MXC, in a remake entitled, appropriately enough, Zatoichi.
The movies are wicked fun and are now available on DVD from two separate companies, which can make it kind of a pain in the ass to collect the series. One company is pricier than the other and their quality isn't as good, either, but it looks like one company owns the rights to some films and the other owns the rest...a licensing nightmare, I'm sure.
Zatoichi makes his living as a wandering masseur, although he was once a yakuza, part of the criminal underworld in Japan. He's a bit of a social outcast because of this and because of his blindness, which makes him a target for bullies (but not for long). Zatoichi maintains a cheerful outlook most of the time, despite his afflictions, and never fails to help those in need. He is generally above selling his blade as a mercenary, although that's not always true...
The movies tend to focus mainly on his amazing skill with his trusty sword-cane despite his handicap, which you wouldn't even know was there based on the body count he racks up every movie. Zatoichi is forever hounded by enemies, although none of them stick around long enough to be considered a disadvantage. For all his vaunted swordsmanship, Zatoichi is continually beset by people who wish him ill for one reason or another....usually because someone they know tried to kill him and wound up on the business end of his sword-cane intead. An often overused line: "He's just a blind man! How much trouble can he be!!?"
Zatoichi is also hounded by people who are just annoyed that he's so good despite the fact he's blind. It's an insult to them; they can't seem to let it go no matter what, whether they've actually met him before or not. Many try to test their mettle against Zatoichi because of his reputation; some just because they find it a disgrace that a blind man has such skill. They all wind up dead in the end.
For all his truly badass-edness, Zatoichi tries like hell to avoid trouble and takes a lot of abuse. In fact, it's not usually until people actually make the mistake of attacking him that he even draws his blade. When he does, the person who messed with him is usually dead by the time Zatoichi returns his blade to his scabbard (average time: 1.6 seconds). Despite the cool swordplay in the films, these aren't kung-fu movies...each one has a definite plot. That being said, it's certainly not necessary to see them in order, which is what I tried to do last summer until my trusty comic-shop owner Wayne set me straight. They're all subtitled, so if you're the type of person who can't abide subtitles then forget it. (I feel bad for you-you miss a lot of great movies.) Each movie is stand-alone, you can dive right in without needing as much familiarity with the character as you already have by reading this blog.
Cool places like my comic shop (The Annex in Newport, R.I.) may have some or all of the Shintaro Katsu Zatoichi movies for rent, or you can buy them at places like Virgin Megastores, Suncoast Video, or Newbury Comics. The lastest Takeshi Kitano Zatoichi is available at your local Blockbuster. It probably contains a dubbed version too. It's a lot more violent than the Shintaro Katsu originals and Zatoichi isn't as nice a guy, but it's still a cool movie and I hope he makes more.
Enjoy!
posted by The Angry Piper at 4:25 PM
9 Comments:
So who would win in a fight? Zatoichi, Bruse Lee, or Batman?
I'm sure you meant Bruce Lee. But since he's dead, and the other two are fictional characters, I'd say it's anyone's game.
What about Zatiochi vs. SHANG CHI? Huh? Who do you think would win in that fight?
What do you think of Zatoichi versus a small electric can opener?
Here's an idea: why don't you clowns WATCH a Zatoichi movie and tell ME what you think?
Dorks.
Aha! If you hadn't gouged both my eyes out in high school, maybe I could!!!!
Actually, I did see the new one they made. It was entertaining; I certainly wasn’t expecting that kind of ending in a samurai movie (I wont spoil it for our viewers, but it is certainly… unique).
My one complaint is the use of the cgi gore effects. I know that it may be the modern successor to the “Orange Spurting Blood™” of previous chambara films, but I think I would have preferred the OSB to what they tried pulling in this one. It was as distracting as if they had tried to paint in cartoon blood spurts on live actors. Just didn’t work.
So I have seen one of them, but not enough to opine on the whole character as you have so eloquently done.
The new one is a pretty cool film, despite the CGI you complain about (I forgot how over-the-top it was in some scenes). Rest assured, the older (and better) Shintaro Katsu Zatoichi series doesn't do anything like that (they're surprisingly bloodless). Oh-and nothing in any of the Zatoichi films I've seen approaches the um..bizarre...ending of the modern film.
I've heard from my trusty comic shop owner Wayne that they play the Zatoichi films on the International Film Channel on Saturday mornings as part of "Samurai Saturdays." I don't get that channel (basic cable for me, boyo) but if any of you get it you should be able to see Sintaro Katsu as Zatoichi at his finest.
Wow! Thanks for the info, Cate!
Check out the new (2002) Beat Takeshi take on the character and let us know what you think. Like I said, it should be available at your local Blockbuster. :)
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