Skipping number 14 in the series as it has yet to receive a DVD release with English subtitles (I’ve got an ‘unofficial’ DVD but decided to hold off reviewing it in the hopes that one day we’ll see a proper release) we reach Zatoichi’s Cane-sword. By now the series had established its formula and that formula has much in common with the American Western.
Zatoichi’s like the weary gunfighter who comes into town hoping he won’t have to use his gun again but, when he encounters a damsel in distress, he knows he’s going to have to take on the local cattle baron (or in this case Yakuza boss) . Of course gunfighters aren’t normally blind and they tend to leave fewer corpses behind than Master Ichi but you get the idea.
This time around Zatoichi’s got sword troubles. An ageing alcoholic swordsmith tells him that his cane-sword is on its last legs – one more fight and it will snap. What’s a blind swordsman to do? Hang up his gun sword of course. Ichi tries to live a normal life in a boarding house, taking a job as a live in masseur but when a Yakuza boss attempts to take over the town after murdering his rival, Zatoichi steps in to defend the murdered boss’s daughter.
There’s a little more blood this time around, but not much. Considering the amount of slicing and dicing that gets done you’d expect to see ketchup everywhere but the Zatoichi series is surprisingly bloodless (another thing it has in common with old westerns). This doesn’t stop the fights being exciting and this time out, with Ichi bereft of sword for much of the film, it saves most of the action for the finale when we get a seven minute showdown as Zatoichi takes down the Yakuza boss and ALL his men.
While all the performances are good it’s the wonderful Shintarô Katsu who shines brightest once again. He’ll make you laugh at times but there is a core of sadness and loneliness to Ichi that is never far beneath the surface and Katsu plays it with just the right balance. It’s testament to how good he is that, even after fifteen films, his performance doesn’t feel stale of clichéd.
Horror and Western film buff, Marvel comic geek, music lover and occasional gamer. 