One-man band Takeshi Kitano's first period film is a quirky take on the popular character Zatoichi, a sightless swordsman who wanders Edo-period Japan like a cross between comic-book hero Daredevil and TV-detective Columbo, a shuffling Robin Hood who always seems three steps behind the bad guys until he abruptly reduces a mob of truculent samurai to fish food. Itinerant masseur Zatoichi (Kitano) helps middle-aged O-Ume (Michiyo Ookusu) carry her vegetables from the market, and in return she offers him a place to stay. O-Ume confides that for the last decade the town has been run by the warring gangs of Boss Funahachi (Koji Koike) and Boss Ogi (Saburo Ishikura), but i...
Released:
2003
Rated:
R
Length:
116 mins