Zatôichi (1989)

Older, wiser but still a wandering loner, the blind, peace-loving masseur Ichi seeks a peaceful life in a rural village. When he's caught in the middle of a power struggle between two rival... See full summary »

Director:

Shintarô Katsu

Writers:

Tatsumi Ichiyama (screenplay), Shintarô Katsu (screenplay)

Stars:

Shintarô Katsu, Kanako Higuchi, Takanori Jinnai

Cast

Credited cast:
Shintarô Katsu	...	Zatôichi / Ichi, a zatô in the Tôdô-za
Kanako Higuchi	...	Boss Han Bosatsu
Takanori Jinnai	...	Inspector Hanshu
Ryûtarô Gan	...	Boss Goemon (as Takehiro Okumura)
Yûya Uchida	...	Boss Akabei
Toyomi Kusano	...	Ume
Tsurutarô Kataoka	...	Tsuru
Miho Nakayama
Ken Ogata	...	Rônin / Masterless samurai
Norihei Miki	...	Zatoichi's friend
Rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Naonori Aihara
Ryo Akashi
Buntaro Aoyanaki
Yosuke Ara
Gô Awazu	...	Kame

Storyline

Older, wiser but still a wandering loner, the blind, peace-loving masseur Ichi seeks a peaceful life in a rural village. When he's caught in the middle of a power struggle between two rival Yakuza clans, his reputation as a deadly defender of the innocent is put to the ultimate test in a series of sword-slashing showdowns.

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Plot Keywords:

zatoichi | twenty sixth part | cult film | directed by star | jail | 

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Taglines:

The final and most savage installment of the series.

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Genres:

Action | Drama

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Certificate:

Not Rated

Details

Country:

Japan

Language:

Japanese

Release Date:

4 February 1989 (Japan)

Also Known As:

Shintaro Katsu's Zatoichi

Filming Locations:

Eiga-mura, Kanami, Kanae-chô, Fukuyama City, Hiroshima, Japan

Company Credits

Production Co:

Katsu Production

Technical Specs

Runtime:

116 min

Sound Mix:

Stereo

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

On the morning of Monday 26 December 1988, in the movie village (eiga-mura) located in the mountains of Kanami, Ryûtarô Gan (age 24) - eldest son of Shintarô Katsu - stabbed Yukio Katô (age 34) in the neck with a katana long sword, while performing in an action scene for this film. Katô was taken unconscious to the Okayama University Hospital (Okayama Daigaku Igakubu Fuzoku-byôin), where he died as a result of massive blood loss from the neck wound. Hiroshima Prefectural Police determined that the incident was one of professional negligence causing death (gyômujô-kashitsu chishi).

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Connections

Follows Zatoichi the Fugitive (1963)

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Soundtracks

Tsugaru Jongara Bushi
Sung by Kazuko Matsumura

User Reviews

a very depressing and poor end to the series

When I read MOST of the other comments, I felt they were way too glowing for this movie. I found it had completely lost the spark found in the earlier Zatoichi movies and just goes to prove that after a long absence from the screen, it's often best to just let things be. I completely agreed with the Star Trek analogy from another reviewer who compared the FIRST Star Trek movie to the original series---millions of excited fans were waiting and waiting and waiting for the return of the show and were forced to watch a bland and sterile approximation of the original.

The plot is at times incomprehensible, it is terribly gory (though the recent NEW Zatoichi by Beat Takeshi is much bloodier) and lacks the heart of the originals. I didn't mind the blood at all, but some may be turned off by it (particularly the scenes with the severed nose and the severed heads). In addition, time has not been good to Ichi--he seems a broken and sad man in this film (much, much more than usual)--and that's something fans of the series may not really want to see.

This was a very sorry return for Zatoichi. Unless you are like me and want to see EVERY Zatoichi film, this one is very skipable. See one of the earlier versions or the 2003 ALL-NEW version.