The blind Swordman returns on DVD
Cast: Shintaro Matsu, Ryuzo Shimada, Raizu Ichiwaka, Masayo Mari, Masayo Banai
(Home Vision Entertainment, DVD 2002) Rated: not rated
Zatoichi first appears on screen slowly crawling over a small bridge on his hands and knees. From this inauspicious beginning we are introduced to one of greatest and most popular of all Japanese action heroes: Zatoichi the blind wandering swordsman who disguises himself as a masseur and occasionally hires out his skillful sword-fighting services to various clans in order to make a living.
The Zatoichi series began in 1962 right at the time the Japanese film industry was trying to readjust the focus of their yearly output in order to abate dwindling ticket sales. One of the best ways Japan’s biggest studio - the Daiei Studios - figured to get people into the theatres and out of their homes was to give them a bigger, better version of what they could get on television. In this case samurai pictures – called chambaras - proved to be the perfect vehicle.
Chambara dramas don’t usually rise much above the B-movie level and – perhaps because of this – proved to be popular because of their escapist entertainment value and their pop versions of samurai history. Almost all chambaras take place in the war torn Edo period (approximately the 18th century) and emphasize heroic samurais, lots of action and sword fighting. Each are awash in romantic historical perspective and often use various clan rivalries.
Zatoichi, one of many such series, became the cream-of-the-crop and one of the longest running series in the history of cinema running for 26 episodes in as many years (and 100 TV episodes in the mid-1970’s).
Episode one of the Zatoichi series, titled The Tale of Zatoichi (directed by Kenji Misumi), is basically an introduction to Zatoichi (played in every episode by Shintaro Katsu). What we learn right from the beginning is that Zatoichi lives an almost zen-like life. He travels very light, has a disheveled costume and a sword. He's also a rather simple person; human loyalty and the commoner attitudes that he finds in the working class are more important to him than appearance and worldly possessions. And, as we learn early in the first film, he also would prefer to gamble or work as a masseur than fight.
Despite the fact that Episode one is a chambara it doesn’t deliver much action choosing instead to introduce the soft-spoken hero to us and develop the place (the rural village of Lioka), the era (middle 18th century) and the other characters.
In the First Episode he ambles into Lioka and stays to visit an old acquaintance named Sukegoro (Ryuzo Shimada) who is the leader of a fierce Yakuza clan. He finds out that Sukegoro is in a war with a rival clan led by a guy named Shigezo. Sukegoro offers a few nights of free room and board if Zatoichi agrees to fight with his clan and defeat his nemesis. But Zatoichi has no allegiance to anyone so he won’t agree to fight; instead he decides to take advantage of the hospitality and make a definitive decision later.
What’s most interesting about this film - and the rest of the Zatoichi series - is that such an unassuming, non-traditional hero became so popular. One on hand he can be compared - both in popularity and fighting ability – to both Clint Eastwood (especially Dirty Harry) and John Wayne: Only with a handicap. But on the other hand the comparisons stop there because unlike those two (or other traditional Mythological and Literary heroes) he doesn’t have a hero complex or is search of a fight. Instead, he is a rather self-deprecating and amiable character who protects himself against violence rather than vengefully seeking justice.
Zatoichi too often uses his handicap as well as his senses to passive/aggressively introduce himself to a group he knows will not like him and trick them. One could say he is manipulative: always aware of his actions and willing to take advantage of people the way they would take advantage of him.
Oddly enough, this may have something to do with Zatoichi’s popularity. His appeal is predicated on the fact that he is a superhero who doesn’t have the pretensions of one. Instead he is an underdog and a commoner who turns out to be much smarter and much more perceptive than the villains around him. And the audiences who watch and enjoy each of his films pull for him knowing he must overcome his handicap in order to win. Audiences can relate to him much easier than they can to a mythical figure, a superman or an avenger.
But too, from a much more human perspective, his appeal may have something to do with the fact that he endures hardship just like the lower classes. The first Episode lays out subtle plot points that lead to potentially tragic consequences. An example of this comes when Zatoichi meets his potential rival - a wandering Ronan named Hirate Miki (Raizu Ichiwaka) – while fishing. The two become fast friends when Zatoichi is able to tell that his new companion is ill. But in the next scene he learns that Hirate is his potential rival.
Soon after their meeting one of the clan members says to another that it would be great to see Hirate and Zatoichi fight one another. And, frankly, that is what the audience waits for too. The film builds tension around this fact until the fateful fight ensues. And this is where Zatoichi has to face the fact that he is not a commoner but a wandering samurai warrior. He knows that his acceptance of free room and board from Sukegoro has led to this. He must face the fact that his code of honor is being tested and, in this case, involves fighting against a man for whom he has a great admiration.
Hirate and Zatoichi meet on a bridge that crosses the creek he crossed in the beginning. And now Zatoichi has to make a decision that will bring him to his knees. Will he fight Hirate or will he turn away? As a samurai warrior he seems to have little choice.
One of the main subplots involves a love story, of sorts, that starts between a woman of the local clan named Otane (Masayo Banai) whom Zatoichi befriends. In a short time she falls in love with his simple kindness and proposes to be his wife. But, since he is an itinerant rogue, he doesn’t feel obliged to take her up on it.
But it could also be because he doesn’t necessarily find solace in a beautiful woman. One of the subtle things about The Tale of Zatoichi is its homoerotic element. When Zatoichi meets Hirate Miki he realizes that they are very similar to one another, both are for-hire loner samurais who live a perilous lifestyle. After their initial meeting he shows great concern for his new friend, who it turns out is dying from consumption. Much like some of the Hong Kong films that have been popular (like John Woo’s The Killer) the past twenty years this is a buddy picture in which the two rivals have a strong loyal feeling toward one another.
In the second episode – titled The Tale of Zatoichi Continues or The Return of Masseur Ichi Zatoichi returns to the Lioka valley one year later to go to a local Temple to pay respects to those who perished in the fight at the end of Episode one. But no sooner does he return than he is immediately involved in a clash and finds himself broiled in the middle of another clan war. Only this time rather than any of the clans trying to hire him both sides seem intent on killing him.
Episode two, directed by Kazuo Mori, delivers a lot more action, a convoluted plot, more malevolence characters including a feudal lord, a one-armed bandit on the run from the government and a final battle between Zatoichi and his estranged brother.
A lot of the action in Episode two is started by clan members who don’t respect Zatoichi’s abilities. All in all there are six sword fight scenes and the body count reaches into the twenties. In one fight scene Zatoichi takes on 11 men. Still, he generally remains composed and keeps his sense of humor. Before one fight he quips, “Remember I’m blind. So you’ll have to make the first move.”
Even more than in the first Episode Zatoichi enjoys playing the rival clans off against on another. He sets up little schemes so that they end up having to fight each other. But, despite all the sword play and action this Episode is more somber. Mainly because in it we learn a little about his past: In this case heartbreak at the hands of his brother who married the woman Zatoichi was in love with.
Since we are used to heroes that have a revenge streak in them the series (Which HVE promises to continue releasing) may not become anywhere near as popular as it was in Japan. But it seems that many viewers may find it is easy to become hooked on a refreshingly non-traditional hero: One who doesn’t look for revenge, or go on a killing spree but one that is destined to live out his days on the road wandering and fighting for a living even though he would rather turn away from it all, settle down and live a normal life.
- Matt Langdon
