 |
 |
| ZIPANG. Starring - Masahiro Takashima - Narumi Yasuda - Mikijiro Taira - Shu Ken. Director - Kaizo Hayashi. In the diary of Marco Polo it is written that a mythical land exists which is inhabited by gods and is rich in gold. In order to gain access to this place one must first obtain the Golden sword which acts as a key to the sunless land, Zipang. Jigoku and his band of renegades stumble across the sword, which immediately arouses the attention of the Shogun who himself desires the riches locked inside Zipang. The shogun sends his best ninjas led by Hanzo to retrieve the sword from Jigoku. Also on Jigoku’s trail is Yuri the pistol a female bounty hunter with her eyes on one thing and that is the reward for his capture. That is until she actually meets him and finds him to be a dashing and rather charming young man. However before their relationship can blossom Hanzo appears and manages to steal the sword whisking both himself and Yuri off to Zipang. Jigoku is not a happy bunny his woman has been taken from him and he wants her back. It also transpires that not only was the sword a key to get into Zipang, but it was also a kind of seal preventing a proud and ancient warrior from returning to Zipang to rescue his true love. If you want entertainment then you can’t go far wrong with Zipang. The only thing I could compare Zipang to would be the awesome Zu warriors but on acid, and lots of it. Zipang is a sort of samurai fantasy period comedy love story ? The director Kaizo Hayashi has obviously dabbled in drugs at some stage and it shows. The first thing to hit you about Zipang is just how colourful it all is, whilst not breaking the bank the settings are of a rich and high standard. The camera work is first rate and the director has made a few thousand bucks look like a million. The costumes are equally impressive with the bizarre Hell Gate guardian being the best; his stuffed bat hat has got to be seen to be believed. Zipang is a very funny movie with some fabulous posturing and one liners from the splendidly over the top cast. The most noteworthy being that of Jigoku (Masahiro Takashima), an Elvis Presley wannabe with plenty of swords and strange allies, including a midget an elephant and a gun toting bounty hunter. Jigoku is also at the centre of most of the movies multitude of fight scenes. These are not the quickest I have ever seen, but they are expertly choreographed and extremely enjoyable to watch, blending traditional Japanese swordplay with the wire work more associated with Hong Kong martial arts movies. This is one of the hardest reviews I have ever written, simply because I didn’t know where to start. There are so many different and intriguing elements to this movie. I have had to try and concentrate on the more memorable moments of which there are many. I have had to skip over the fantastic Hanzo and the bizarre characters that surround Jigoku, let alone the Shoguns profound awareness as to where Zipang really is. This is a fantastic movie that really does entertain without ever being pompous. Let down only by it’s weak ending and the obviously low budget on which it was filmed. But even the latter serves a purpose lending to Zipang’s unique feel, as every penny of the budget is squeezed out to the greatest effect. 8********stars. |
| . |
|
|
 |
 |
 |
 |