Ichi (2008)

Ichi is a blind woman who roams about town with her shamisen (a three-stringed Japanese guitar), but she has exceptional sword skills with which she fights off yakuza and other villains.

Director:

Fumihiko Sori

Writers:

Kan Shimosawa (story), Taeko Asano (screenplay)

Stars:

Haruka Ayase, Shidô Nakamura, Yôsuke Kubozuka

1 win.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Haruka Ayase	...	Ichi
Shidô Nakamura	...	Banki
Yôsuke Kubozuka	...	Toraji Shirakawa
Takao Osawa	...	Toma Fujihira
Gô Rijû	...	Kihachi
Mayumi Sada	...	Mitsu
Tetsuo Yamashita
Ayumu Saitô
Toru Tezuka
Kumiko Tsuchiya
Shirô Namiki	...	Kataoka
Tetta Sugimoto	...	Blind man
Megumi Yokoyama	...	Toma's mother
Eri Watanabe	...	Ohama
Yoshiyuki Yamaguchi

Storyline

Ichi is a blind woman who roams about town with her shamisen (a three-stringed Japanese guitar), but she has exceptional sword skills with which she fights off yakuza and other villains.

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Plot Keywords:

sword | massacre | morality | ninja | slashing | 

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Genres:

Action

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for sequences of bloody violence, and brief sexuality

Details

Official Sites:

Official site [jp] Official site [us]

Country:

Japan

Language:

Japanese

Release Date:

25 October 2008 (Japan)

Also Known As:

I tyfli samurai

Filming Locations:

Shonai, Yamagata, Japan

Company Credits

Production Co:

Asahi Shimbun Newspaper, The, Dentsu, Geneon Entertainment

Technical Specs

Runtime:

120 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Connections

Version of The Tale of Zatoichi (1962)

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Soundtracks

"Will"
Lyrics by Natsumi Kobayashi
Composed by Ryosuke "Dr.R" Sakai
Arrangement by Yoichiro Kakizaki
Performed by SunMin

User Reviews

Zatoichi or Crimson Bat???

Ichi is supposed to be a remake of Zatoichi but for some reason I feel that its more like the 1st Crimson Bat movie.

I think a lot of the negative reviews is because of its inevitable (since it claims to be a zatoichi remake) comparison to Zatoichi. The characters are of course blind but while the zatoichi characters have mannerism such as the way he acted, the facial expressions and the way he talked. This Ichi is totally devoid of all personality. Ichi's features range from wooden stoic to wooden sadness to wooden expressionless. Her speech is in monotone and her action/motion are no different from people with vision, except for the cane.

However if you compare it to Crimson Bat it becomes better. The plot and character becomes almost similar, abandoned by parent and took up Goze as a living. Travelling in search of the parent. The unseeing open eyes and expressionless face (although Crimson Bat still shows more personality). Even the gambling sequence where she wins by listening to the dice.

The actions scenes with Ichi are not bad, nice quick and slow motioned sequence. One cut type kills. But the action sequence are far in between. But the part where she fights the main baddie is weak.

A well shot movie thats worth a watch. Just don't compare it to Zatoichi.