Stars: 'Beat' Takeshi Kitano, Tadanobu Asano

Director: 'Beat' Takeshi Kitano

Summary: A retelling of the Zatoichi samurai epic. The blind master swordsman Zatoichi finds himself in a town in fear of a criminal gang.

Main Language:	Japanese
Region:	Region 0
Special Features:	Documentary - 1. MAKING OF (40 mins), Theatrical Trailer, Stills & Poster Gallery, Takeshi Filmography
Subtitles:	English
Year:	2003
Release Date:	July 26, 2004
Runtime:	111 minutes
Certification:
Catalogue Number:	A R T 274 D V D
Keywords:	Action, Subtitled, General, Japanese, Adventure, Zatoichi
Genre:	Action/Adventure

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Takeshi "Beat" Kitano, the Japanese actor-director best known in the US for his quirky, ulraviolent gangster movies (Fireworks, Brother, Sonatine) and in the UK (among satellite and cable viewers, at least) for the bizarre It's a Knockout-meets-Endurancegameshow Takeshi's Castle, applies his off-kilter sensibility to the samurai genre in The Blind Swordsman: Zatoichi. A blind masseur (Kitano with his hair dyed white) wanders into a small town divided up by rival gangs. Though hunched and shuffling, Zatoichi soon reveals his deadly skills as a swordsman. He befriends a pair of geisha girls with secrets of their own and helps them hunt down the bandits who killed their parents. But one of the gangs has just hired a ronin, a masterless samurai, whose fighting skill may equal the blind swordsman's.

Zatoichimixes a melodramatic storyline, deadpan comedy, and dazzling, CGI-enhanced swordfights into a supremely entertaining package. In Japan, Zatoichi is a recurring character in popular action movies, but Kitano places his own unique stamp on the series. --Bret Fetzer