The Tale of Zatoichi (1962)

The adventures of a blind, gambling masseur who also happens to be a master swordsman.

Director:

Kenji Misumi

Writers:

Minoru Inuzuka (screenplay) (as Minoru Inuduka), Kan Shimozawa (short story)

Stars:

Shintarô Katsu, Masayo Banri, Ryûzô Shimada

1 nomination.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Shintarô Katsu	...	Zatôichi / Blind Man Ichi / Masseur Ichi
Masayo Banri	...	Tane / Tatekichi's sister / Seisuke's ex-lover
Ryûzô Shimada	...	Shigezô of Sasagawa / Sasagawa yakuza boss
Hajime Mitamura	...	Hanji of Matsugishi
Shigeru Amachi	...	Hirate, Miki
Michirô Minami	...	Tatekichi / Tane's brother / Saki's lover / Iioka yakuza member
Eijirô Yanagi	...	Sukegorô of Iioka / Iioka yakuza boss
Toshio Chiba	...	Masakichi / Iioka yakuza member (as Toshirô Chiba)
Manabu Morita	...	Seisuke / Tane's ex-lover / Iioka yakuza member
Yoshindo Yamaji	...	Yahei / Father of Tane and Tatekichi (as Yoshito Yamaji)
Yôichi Funaki	...	Yogorô / Sasagawa yakuza member
Eigorô Onoe	...	Rihei / Sasagawa yakuza member
Ikuko Môri	...	Yutaka / Shigezô's wife
Chitose Maki	...	Yoshi / Hanji's wife
Kin'ya Ichikawa	...	Mokichi / Sasagawa yakuza member

Storyline

An impoverished blind masseur becomes a mercenary swordsman, to gain basic respect. The first of novelist Kan Shimozawa's Zatoichi series: 26 films, a TV series and a play, all but two starring controversial singer/producer/director Shintaro Katsu. First of six Zatoichi films directed by Kenji Misumi. The shrewd Zatoichi targets a yakuza-controlled village, because war with a neighboring town's smaller gang is brewing. The broke ex-masseur "Ichi" immediately wins big, by taking advantage of local bakuto's cheating, after they scoff at his asking to join a dice game. The larger horde, who have been given carte blanche by the local governor, summoned Zatoichi. Zatoichi hates the fact that he's become an outlaw, so he strikes up a friendship with the other gang's honorable hired samurai, who has TB.

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Plot Keywords:

zatoichi | samurai | cult film | violence | sword duel | 

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Genres:

Action | Adventure | Drama

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Certificate:

Not Rated

Details

Country:

Japan

Language:

Japanese

Release Date:

18 April 1962 (Japan)

Also Known As:

The Tale of Zatoichi

Company Credits

Production Co:

Daiei Motion Picture Company

Technical Specs

Runtime:

96 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Hanji's wife Yoshi practices "ohaguro" (literally: "black teeth.") In many areas of Asia, blackened teeth were considered a sign of beauty and maturity. In Japan, the practice was banned by the government in 1870.

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Goofs

Hirate's fishing line is clearly a modern transparent nylon filament.

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Quotes

Zatôichi: [after asking Zatoichi what she would do with having so many children] Just don't raise them to be gangsters.
Tane: I won't... But why do you say that?
Zatôichi: Because to be a gangster is a foolish way to live.
Tane: Then why don't you live a decent life?
Zatôichi: It's like being stuck in a bog; it's not easy to pull yourself out once you've fallen in.

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Connections

Followed by Zatoichi at Large (1972)

User Reviews

Sombre and effective period drama

This is the first of more than 20 films featuring Ichi, a blind masseur-turned-swordsman in medieval Japan. Although he learned to wield a sword only to gain respect, Ichi finds his skill constantly in demand by criminal gangs. He's always reluctant to fight, and resorts to violence only with great reluctance and as a last resort. He prefers to make his living by practising his skills as a masseur and supplementing that income by conning greedy crooks who underestimate his gambling abilities.

In this first episode of a series that covered two decades, Ichi is hired by a gang leader to defeat a consumptive samurai who's been imported by a rival gang. The two swordsmen meet while fishing and become friends, but destiny has decreed they must fight each other, and only one will survive…

Fans of action movies may be disappointed with ZATOICHI MONOGATARI, because there's virtually no fighting for the movie's first hour. Instead, there's unusual emphasis on character development. Ichi himself receives much of the attention, and Shintaro Katsu (who also played the role in all the sequels) presents us with a subtle, complex portrayal of the reluctant mercenary. His scenes with the enamored sister of one of the gang members and with the mortally sick samurai are played with great sincerity without becoming sentimental. These two characters are also sensitively portrayed. Even many of the crooks are carefully established as individuals.

The climax won't disappoint action fans, though. Beginning with a flurry of gang skirmishes, frenetically edited to a throbbing score, it ends on a bitter and almost tragic note after the inevitable confrontation between the two protagonists.

Director Kenji Misumi embellishes the slow build-up with a succession of captivating black-and-white compositions and attention to period detail. A degree of pace is maintained by making scene transitions with cuts rather than dissolves. Sets are given visual depth by being framed with foreground objects. The camera is often positioned slightly above or below the characters' eye-lines. Very precise interior lighting creates interesting patterns on and around the actors. By contrast, the daytime exteriors are overly bright and tend to disrupt the mood.

Far from being a typical samurai movie, ZATOICHI MONOGATARI is an unusually somber yet effective period drama, and probably the best entry in the long series it inaugurated.