Zatoichi - The blind samurai

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Movie
German title Zatoichi - The blind samurai
Original title 座頭市
Zatōichi
Country of production Japan
original language Japanese
Publishing year 2003
length 116 minutes
Age rating FSK 16
Rod
Director Takeshi Kitano
script Takeshi Kitano
production Tsunehisa Saitō , Masayuki Mori , Takio Yoshida , Masanori Sanada , Shinji Komyia
music Keiichi Suzuki
camera Katsumi Yanagishima
cut Takeshi Kitano, Yoshinori Oota
occupation

Zatoichi - The Blind Samurai is a Japanese Jidai-geki film by the director and actor Takeshi Kitano from 2003, which continues a series of films about the Japanese cult figure Zatōichi that began in the 1960s . The role of Zatōichi is played by Kitano himself. The film premiered on September 2nd at the Venice International Film Festival and was released in German cinemas on June 24th, 2004.

action

In 19th century Japan, the blind hiking masseur Zatōichi, behind whose harmless exterior hides a precise and merciless swordsman, comes to a mountain village. The Ginzo clan rules there with a brutal hand. Zatōichi takes the side of the oppressed, especially two young geishas , whose parents once fell victim to the unscrupulous gangsters and who are out for revenge. Zatoichi earns his bread in the dice game room in the village, because his keen ears hear whether even or odd numbers have been thrown. After he always wins, the bar owner becomes restless and causes the croupier to cheat. The blind man notices it, slaughters the entire local staff and makes the Ginzo clan an enemy. The young, extremely strong Rōnin Hattori, who works as a killer to care for his sick wife for the clan, is put on him and a decisive battle ensues on the beach: Zatoichi wins the fight with a single blow. Then he brings the leaders to their just punishment and shows that he is not blind at all. The happy ending is a party with a tap dance . Finally, you can see Zatōichi stumbling over a stone and hear him say: "Even with my eyes wide open, I don't see the slightest thing."

Background to the film

Chieko Saito, a good friend of the late original Zatōichi actor Shintarō Katsu and owner of the film rights, turned to Takeshi Kitano with the request to continue the Zatōichi film series that had begun in the 1960s, the last part of which had been shot in 1989 .

Kitano retained some of the main features of the cult figure, but also added modern elements: Zatōichi received platinum blonde hair and a red-painted stick sword to underline his outsider status. In addition, some scenes of violence with computer animation were intentionally exaggerated or alienated . Despite the presence of a choreographer , Kitano preferred to stage the fights himself. Since he had to keep his eyes closed, there was almost a serious eye injury during the rehearsals.

Akira Kurosawa's daughter, Kazuko Kurosawa, was responsible for the costumes.

The tap dance troupe "The Stripes", which performed a ten-minute performance in the final, is Kitano's personal favorite group. In its West-African style of dance, the sequence is more reminiscent of “ stomp ” or hip-hop than of kabuki .

Interesting is the rhythmic use of noises made by farmers plowing the field with their rakes, or by craftsmen working on the wooden beams for a new house with their tools. These rhythms, which are resumed in the tap dance at the end of the film, are mostly in contrast to the actual film music and thus create an exciting contrast.

According to an interview, Kitano sees homosexuality as a subliminal issue in Japanese history and culture. The film therefore contains quite clear references.

"The film can [...] be read as an attempt at an artistic self-positioning between tradition and the present as well as between East and West."

- Claus Löser : Zatoichi - The blind samurai in film service

Reviews

“A samurai film, full of combat and tough, at the same time full of jokes and gimmicks that ironically break the thematic proximity to classics of the genre. In addition, the film represents a comment on the current enthusiasm for the Far East from Western culture, which is broken several times. "

- film service

“Anyone who thinks that the numerous innovations would shake Kitano's unique style is, fortunately, deceived. They all become creative opportunities that Kitano integrates into his own mood with a confident staging routine. [...] Again he takes on the mocked and rejected, who have always been his big topic, again he shows with touching warmth the security in the midst of a thrown together group of lonely people. Kitano's predilection for childish, exuberant comedy and his silent and sometimes almost religious persistence in breathtakingly beautiful images have also remained. "

- Daniel Bickermann : Editing something new in the East - Das Filmmagazin

“Like many musicals, The Blind Swordsman works better in individual scenes than as a whole. Kitano isn't the most disciplined storyteller, and the plot meanders between digressions and stumbles in flashbacks and loses momentum in the middle. The film often appears as if many episodes of a series are condensed into one feature film. In the end, this may be easier to digest than 25 sequels or a hundred hours of television. It can also whet your appetite for more. "

- AO Scott : The Way of the Samurai - retested by a new master in The New York Times , July 23, 2004

In relation to the filmmaker's career, the Lumière Reader foresaw: "but the signs are that the whole Harry Callahan -slash-sensitive machismo schtick has exhausted itself."

success

Zatoichi - The Blind Samurai became Takeshi Kitano's most commercially successful film to date, with grossing over $ 30 million worldwide. The theatrical release in Germany brought in € 489,809.

Awards

Venice International Film Festival 2003

  • Open Prize
  • Audience award
  • Special Director's Award
  • Future Film Festival Digital Award

Toronto International Film Festival 2003

  • Audience award

Sitges Festival Internacional de Cinema de Catalunya 2003

  • Best movie

Japanese Academy Awards 2004

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b Jörg Stodolka: Eyes Wide Open - Conversation with Takeshi Kitano , a. a. Cit., P. 10 f.
  2. ↑ a b c film-dienst 13/04, p. 20 f.
  3. ↑ David Rooney on Variety
  4. ↑ Benjamin Happel on filmzentrale.com
  5. ↑ David Rooney on Variety
  6. ^ Editing - Das Filmmagazin ( Memento from September 27, 2007 in the Internet Archive ) (online resource, accessed on December 19, 2006)
  7. ^ AO Scott: The Way of the Samurai, Followed by a New Master. In: The New York Times . July 23, 2004, accessed on July 30, 2008 (English): “Like many musicals, The Blind Swordsman works better in individual scenes than as a whole. Mr. Kitano is not the most disciplined storyteller, and the plot meanders along tangents and stumbles into flashbacks, losing momentum for long stretches in the middle. It often feels like many episodes of a serial compressed into a single feature. This may, in the end, be easier to digest than 25 sequels and a hundred hours of television. It may also whet your appetite for more. "
  8. ↑ Tim Wong: Samurai Resurrection: Takeshi Kitano's Zatoichi . (No longer available online.) In: The Lumière Reader. June 1, 2004, archived from the original on September 8, 2008 ; accessed on July 30, 2008 (English). Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.lumiere.net.nz
  9. ↑ Gross profit according to Mediabiz.de