Zatoichi – Der blinde Samurai (2003)

Zatoichi – Der blinde Samurai: Directed by Takeshi Kitano. With Takeshi Kitano, Tadanobu Asano, Michiyo Yasuda, Taka Guadalcanal. The blind masseur/swordsman comes to a town in control of warring gangs, and while bunking with a farming family, he meets two women with their own agenda.

“Zatoichi is the updated version of cult Japanese show some decades back.Here a blind swordsman goes to a small town controlled by a ruthless gang and abuses the people there. There he meets many characters like the siblings on a mission, a samurai who is hired by the gang, as well as an unlucky gambler who befriends the blind swordsman. u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003e This is the first ever Takeshi Kitano film I have ever seen and I got to say it turned out to be a rather pleasant surprise. Prior to this I have heard so much about Kitanou0026#39;s work and was really expecting to see a really good film. Add to that every samurai film I see normally gets compared to Kurosawau0026#39;s works like Rashomon, and Ran which of course are tough acts to follow. I thought the film was well made in many aspects. The cinematography was really beautiful and well made. The costumes like most period films were finely crafted and were beautiful. The scoring was also very good.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003e I always find it rather hard to laugh in a film that is non-English. I guess I always believed that humour doesnu0026#39;t always transcend different cultures. What may be funny for one may seem rather dull in another. This film however debunks that thought. I found myself laughing over a lot of scenes in the film. Even in scenes where you do not think there could be a funny moment Kitano is able to deliver one just to break the tension a little.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003e The fight scenes in this film were also well planned and I though it was done realistically but not necessarily done to shock the audiences with bucket loads of blood and mangled body parts. It was effective but not too disturbing.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003e I also thought that the overall story of the film was good. I was particularly interested with the story of the siblings and itu0026#39;s eventual resolution at the end of the movie.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003e Takeshi Kitanou0026#39;s Zatoichi is a great film which now ranks as one of my and hopefully it will be to other people. Iu0026#39;m already anticipating the next film from this great film and will also look for some of his earlier works.”