Zatôichi abare tako (1964)'s comments

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DJPowWow

That final image, of Ichi's face lit up by the light of fireworks, blood trickling down his forehead... holy moley! The entire last act is visually stunning, almost more like a horror or thriller than your usual chanbara sword-flick.

7 years 7 months ago

nbats

https://youtu.be/uFulwTv_NuY

1 year 10 months ago

Siskoid

To make sure the new direction takes, Kazuo Ikehiro does two Zatoichi movies in a row, and the second, Zatoichi's Flashing Blade, is I think the better film. In fact, it may be the best in the series since the first. Ikehiro still brings a lot of color and dynamic camera work, but he lays off the experimental tricks and instead concentrates on crafting impressive and unusual fight scenes. The story also feels more personal for Ichi, which I thought was lacking in Chest of Gold, and easier to follow despite being as convoluted as any of them. We have Ichi getting shot early and being saved by a secret benefactor who he tracks down to repay his debt, not knowing his would-be assassin has an intimate connection to the helpful family. The setting includes a disputed river ford, and a fireworks festival, which adds a lot of color and texture to the piece. Great stuff, with at atmospheric final fight in the dark as the sky explodes. My only complaint is that the script sometimes plays Ichi's senses as superhuman, and sometimes he's quite blind and talking to the air after people have left the room, which only distracted me into wondering (pointlessly) if he's putting on an act in the latter case.

3 years 9 months ago