Zatoichi’s Vengeance (Zatoichi no uta ga kikorero)
Directed by Tokuzo Tanaka
Written by Hajime Takaiwa
1966/Japan
Daiei Studios
First viewing/Netflix rental
[box] To be blind is not miserable; not to be able to bear blindness, that is miserable. John Milton [/box]
Always a treat to have the next fix of my favorite blind swordsman!
The plot of these things is always same-ish, which matters to me not at all. In this one, the wandering Ichi sets out to deliver a bag of money to a dying man’s son. In the process, he rescues damsels in distress and anguishes over his inability to stop killing.
There are two reasons to watch these things: the awesome Shintaro Katsu’s performance as Zatoichi and the chance for some equally awesome sword fighting. This one ends with Zatoichi fighting off at least 20 opponents while they are trying to confuse his keen sense of hearing with “thunder drums”. The whole thing is done in silhouette – very cool.
