The over-exaggerated stories of the violence in Takeshi Kitano's latest film Zatoichi nearly put me off going to see it. Yet, since Kitano's Dolls is among my favourites, I made up my mind and summoning all my strength, pressed the play button of my DVD. Was it worth it? Well, I wasn't disappointed for sure. With animated blood spilt lavishly on the screen, the violence was presented in a comic Kill Bill sort of way. So, one is allowed to focus on the story behind what's happening on screen. After all, Zatoichi is not a horror film, right? To my greatest delight, all of the things I love about Kitano's directing were there - the precise shots, the interesting fighting sequences and the original interpretation of traditional symbols (the blindness) and characters (the ronin, the geisha). Yet, I think the film is emotionally poor compared to Dolls and the other Kitano classics. I turned off my DVD knowing I might not have seen the best Kitano (and Japanese cinema) had to offer, but still re-playing in my mind some of the scenes with a grin of guilty pleasure on my face.
Review of The Blind Swordsman: Zatoichi
