August 28 movie: Zatoichi and the Fugitives. IFC showed a couple of original Zatoichi movies in honor of the release of Takeshi Kitano's new remake, and we're finally getting around to watching them.
For those of you who don't obsessively follow Asian swordfight movies, Zatoichi (played by Shintaro Katsu) is "The Blind Swordsman," an itinerant fighter who travels around the countryside helping people in need and killing bad guys. Lots and lots of bad guys.
There are over tons of Zatoichi movies, many of them available on DVD. I've only seen a couple but they've all been fantastic. All a bit formulaic though, I must admit. Zatoichi shows up in a new village, helps some people who take him in and offer him a job, he discovers some gangsters bullying his new friends, the gangsters humiliate him, he kills them all. Nothing really to distinguish Zatoichi and the Fugitives from the rest, except a supporting role for Takashi Shimura (veteran of many Kurosawa films) as the doctor who takes Zatoichi in.
I can't wait for Kitano's new Zatoichi. We're going to see it tomorrow afternoon. yay!
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...and don't forget my favorite part of the zatoichi formula: zatoichi demonstrates, in full view of all the bad guys, that he is badass supreme. bad guys wait a few screen minutes, then decide that he is helpless and blind. zatoichi kills all of them violently.
kitano's movie rocked my world.
we saw the Kitano version today and it rocked! Will post a write-up later.