Zatoichi - 16 - 19
Zatoichi
the Outlaw (1967) – 8.0
It has been months since I watched my
last Zatoichi film. There are a finite number - 26 of them - and this is
the 16th. Then there is the TV show as well which I have some of. So I want
to take my time with these films. Right at the beginning of the film it
proudly announces that this is the first from Katsu Production - though
still in partnership with Daiei who had produced the previous fifteen. Shintaro
Katsu who plays Zatoichi was moving into the production side of things and
over the years made a number of films generally in the Yakuza or Samurai
genre. The most famous being the Lone Wolf series with his brother as the
star and Hanzo the Razor series in which Shintaro as Hanzo lifts weights
with his penis. Harder than it sounds. The Lone Wolf series is famous for
its violence with graphic displays of blood-letting.
So it appears that Shintaro was pushing
the boundaries of good taste - at least for the times. There is plenty of
killing in the Zatoichi films but they tend to come near the end and not
be overly graphic. One quick cut and two or three guys fall down dead. So
how does this effect this first Zatoichi? For the most part it is the same
old Zatoichi who loves a good meal and the roll of the dice but there are
touches here and there. It has a few scenes that have nothing really to do
with the plot - thrown in there for atmosphere or comedy perhaps. One of
him winning an archery contest and another with him rooming with a group
of pervy blind masseurs who all hate him because he doesn't letch on passing
women.
But what really sets the film apart isn't
stylistic but a philosophical tone - a moral one. In many of the Zatoichi
films there has always been this conflict within himself about what kind
of man he wants to be. The evil of killing. Karma. He often makes penitence
for those he has murdered and even gone as far as looking up their family
to make amends. It burdens him. The killing is easy but not the guilt of
the always increasing body count of souls weighing down on him. Here this
conflict takes on a human form to counter him.
On the road he meets a Ronin, Oharu Shushi
(Mizuho Suzuki), who is basically a Christ figure. He has thrown away his
sword, preaches peace, fidelity, working together, not gambling or whoring
to the farmers. A few little symbols enforce this thinking - when he is
forced to leave his home a cross bars entry and later he tells the authorities
"The Imperial Throne and the Shogunate don't matter anymore". In a song
that Zatoichi hears them singing "You mustn't have an affair with another
man's wife. No more fights. No more whores". What kind of a town is this
Zatoichi wonders. Zatoichi enters into conversations with this Ronin in
which they talk about the evil of killing. He asks Zatoichi "How many people
have you killed?" Zatoichi can't answer because either he doesn't know or
is too ashamed.
This preaching doesn't please one of the
two local casino owners. He wants to have people gamble, cheat them and
then take their land. The other casino owner, Asagoro (Rentaro Mikuni),
does his best to keep the farmers afloat lending them money. Zatoichi greatly
respects him. The other casino owner sends men to kill Zatoichi because
he knows of his reputation and that sooner or later Zatoichi will come for
him. He does, but the film is only half over. The bad guy is dead. The farmers
are free of debt. So Zatoichi leaves as he always does. But in protecting
himself, he has killed a young attacker - who has a girlfriend - and Zatoichi's
karma envelops another to tragic ends. Every action has ramifications though
you may never see them.
Months later he hears rumors that Asagoro
is worse than the other casino owner. The devil in disguise. Zatoichi is
shocked that he was taken in. Asagoro along with a government official (the
pinched face of Kô Nishimura) arrest the Ronin for sedition. For preaching
revolution ala Jesus. He is put in a cage to take to Edo for execution. Zatoichi
has an injured leg and the farmers have to put him on a board and carry him
like a vengeful Buddha to stop the men. Peace and non-violence is good to
believe in Zatoichi says but in a violent world sometimes you need the Sword
of Death at your side.
Zatoichi Challenged
(1967) – 7.0
This is the 17th in the Zatoichi film
series. These films can be broken into basically two types of plots. There
are the ones that have loads of action and a kill count well into the dozens
or those that slowly build up the drama and characters leading to the finale
which is always worth its weight in popcorn. These latter ones can sometimes
be very contemplative about life, karma and his place in it or just a simple
story. This is a simple story of Zatoichi as usual being in the wrong place
at the wrong time and then having to do the right thing to uphold his honor
or that of others. Not that it doesn't start with a bang as to the strumming
of a Spanish guitar five men run down the road in order to kill Zatoichi.
A minute later Zatoichi is on his way again. But this is witnessed by a
lone Samurai who tips his hat to Zatoichi. We know we will be seeing this
samurai (Jushiro Konoe) again.
He stops off at an inn and has to share
the room with a woman who has a young boy. She is dying and her last wish
is that Zatoichi take the boy to his father in another town. He grumbles
but agrees. The boy is a brat but a promise made is a promise kept for Zatoichi
no matter the hardship. On the way he and the boy hitch a ride with a travelling
troupe of entertainers and when they are later threatened by Boss Gonzo
you think this is where the story will stay - but Zatoichi moves on because
he needs to get rid of this annoying child. He arrives in the town but of
course nothing is easy. The father is being held captive by Gonzo in order
to paint pornography that fetches large prices. And that darn Samurai keeps
showing up. Zatoichi of course has to go up against Gonzo and his men -
but the samurai is once again on the scene and demands that Zatoichi hand
over the father to him. Zatoichi cannot break a promise - you damn samurai
he yells. One of the better endings in a Zatoichi film.
Directed by Kenji Misumi who not only
directed a number of the Zatoichi films but also a few of the Sleepy Eyes
of Death, one of the Hanzo the Razor films, most of the Lone Wolf and Cub
films and even one of the Daimajin trilogy.
Zatoichi and the
Fugitives (1968) - 9.0
It feels a little absurd calling the 18th
film in this long-running series a masterpiece but this is damn close. It
has the usual Zatoichi characteristics that we have come to expect. The
lone masseuse wandering from town to town, running into an injustice that
he can't turn away from and leaving a trail of dead bodies behind him when
he moves on. But it is how you surround these basic plot points that matter.
The little stuff. The ceremony, the traditions, the rituals, the saké
well drunk, the quiet moments and the slow inevitable death march. This
film has one brilliantly staged scene after another - both action scenes
and the suggestion of action.
There is this beautiful bit near the end.
Zatoichi has been shot and badly wounded, barely able to stand, his clothes
blood soaked. He has a large group of killers searching for him and has
found refuge in the poor home of a family that he helped earlier in the
film. He is nearly unconscious when their son rushes in and tells his parents
that the doctor and his daughter have been taken away by the villains. The
father says don't tell Zatoichi. The camera pans to Zatoichi lying in bed,
near death and his eyes flutter and he reaches for his sword. The film cuts
to the boy yelling to his parents that Zatoichi is gone. And then a stunning
shot of Zatoichi walking through a wheat field with ominous dark clouds filling
the screen as he goes to mete out death. When he comes face to face
with one of his enemies he tells him "I came back from Hell to get you. They
won't let me cross the River of the Three Crossings without you". And the
killing begins.
Zatoichi of course never looks for trouble.
It just finds him like a dog and a bone. It begins with a pouring rain and
a bedraggled Zatoichi finding cover in an empty hut. He asks if anyone is
there but gets no answer but off in the corner is a beautiful woman with
a light blue shawl covering parts of her face. This is Oaki played by Yumiko
Nogawa, who a few years later was so good as the female gambler in the Cat
Gambler series. We learn as we go along that she is part of a gang of vicious
fugitives who are on the run but murdering and raping as they go.
Two of them come up to Zatoichi and put dirt and rocks into his rice as
he sits eating on the side of the road. Don't fuck with a man's rice bowl.
He spits it in their faces and they reach for their swords. They didn't know
when they woke up that morning that they were going to die that day. Their
leader Ogano (Kyôsuke Machida) had seen Zatoichi kill a falling snake
out of a tree and keeps warning his group, don't even think about attacking
him or you will lose your heads.
But that is not how these things go. He
also comes across the town Boss Matsugoro (Hôsei Komatsu) whose corruption
is written across his face in bold print. It is only a good doctor (the
wonderful fish-mouthed Takashi Shimura) and his pretty daughter (Kayo Mikimoto)
who take Zatoichi in when he is looking for work. Zatoichi has a wonderful
lyrical scene with her out in the fields collecting herbs. She asks him
how old he was when he went blind. 8 years old. So you must remember things
like colors. "I tried so hard to hold on to them but over time they faded
away. Now I only see darkness". And he could have added dead men. His life
is darkness. Death follows him like a tragic shadow. Much is to come very
soon.
Directed by Kimiyoshi Yasuda who had already
directed three Zatoichi’s along with some Sleepy Eyes of Death and many
other sword fighting films.
Samaritan Zatoichi
(1968) - 7.5
As soon as you see in the opening credits
that Kenji Misumi is the director, you know Zatoichi is in good hands. He
not only directed the first in the Zatoichi series and got it off to a great
start, but no other director was as immersed in pulp Chanbara during the
1960s. His credits are amazing - Zatoichi, Sleepy Eyes of Death, Satan's
Sword, Hanzo the Razor and the Lone Wolf and Cub series. All for Daiei Studio.
No one is likely to put him on the same level as a Kurosawa, Inagaki or Gosha
in the samurai genre, but the man knew how to make an entertaining film filled
with empathy and beauty. And death. These characteristics come out most in
his Zatoichi films, I think. Zatoichi is such an endearing and enduring figure
- a man with many flaws, but at the same time a pure soul. No more than in
this film. It follows in the same footsteps as so many Zatoichi films, but
by the end he is nearly canonized. It is a powerful moment. It almost feels
that this would have been a good place to end the series, but Zatoichi has
not finished his travels yet. As he sings here, "Chased by the wind, the
wanderer drifts".
As usual, Zatoichi is on the road - going
where - does it matter - when a fruit falls from a tree at his feet. He says
to himself, someone is going to die. Well of course they will. Probably many.
Later Zatoichi is with his friend (one of his very few) when they are offered
money to get payment from a gambler who has reneged on his gambling debts.
Or kill him. He tries to warn the man to surrender, but he is attacked and
kills the man. All to the amazement of the men of Boss Kumakichi. Zatoichi
is part of the Brotherhood of Yakuza and he lives by a code and this man
broke the code. So, it turns out did the boss. His real intent was to get
the man's sister Sode (Yoshiko Mita - over 140 acting credits, her last in
2024) as a gift for a high ranking official that he wants a favor from.
When he hears this, Zatoichi is ashamed of himself and tells the Boss, I
should kill you too.
He is soon back on the road when he realizes
that he is traveling in the same direction as Sode. He ends up at an inn
sharing a room together where he apologizes for what he has done. He needs
to make amends. Balance karma. Live by the code. He offers to travel with
her, but she refuses - but when the Boss's men show up, there is Zatoichi.
Throughout the film - nothing will deter him - not even having to ride a
horse at full speed. Along the way a master Samurai, a Ronin (Makoto Sato)
takes an interest in this blind swordsman - he wants a match. It all leads
of course to first the big killing field and then the duel - one of the best
in a Zatoichi film, as the two men go back and forth. Though you know it
can never happen and Zatoichi knows it too, you feel like this is the time
to settle down with Sode and simply be happy. He has never been so loved,
but his journey is not over. This is the 19th film in the series.
