Zatoichi

Zatoichi(2003) directed by Takeshi Kitano

* Type
- Comic Action
* Stars
- Takeshi Kitano, Tadanobu Asano, Yûko Daike, Akira Emoto, Taka Gatarukanaru
* Film Company
- Office Kitano, Bandai Visual Company Ltd., Saitô Entertainment
* Plot Summary (Story)
- Zatoichi (Kitano) is wandering a remote mountain area. Helping an old woman, he gets shelter for the night and learns, that the town is terrorized by gangs - especially the Ginzo gang. Meanwhile the ronin Hattori (Asano) seeks employment as a bodyguard, to be able to buy medicine for his sick wife, and gets hired by Ginzo, who with a ronin by his side, now begin to wipe out his enemies.

Zatoichi doesn’t get involved. Instead he spends his pastime playing dice (odd even). Here he meets the nephew of the old woman he stays at. Together they win a small fortune and decide to spend the night in the company of two geisha. But they are not ordinary geisha: Okino (Daike) and her cross dressing brother (Tachibana) are assassins, who have spend most of their life tracking down those behind the killing of their family.

Soon it becomes impossible for Zatoichi to stay uninvolved and he has to step up and put an end to the terror. The outcome is bloody.
* Special effects/Computer Graphics
- The blood in the film has been described by many as being "too CGI". Kitano did this intentionally, wanting to "soften the shock to the audience" due to the high body count. Kitano told the CGI artist he wanted the blood to "look like flowers blossoming across the screen."
* Other Information
- The end dance sequence is a tribute to many of the popular Japanese films, in which the Hollywood-style happy ending was followed by a sudden "burst into song". He wanted to attempt this, but in a different type of way. Kitano combined traditional Kabuki theatre clog-dancing with "the latest African-American tap style".

Kitano said that he wanted the fights to be as realistic as possible, but that he wanted the blood to be extremely exaggerated.12) Reason for Choosing This Movie
* Reason for Choosing This Movie
- This movie was on the list of the Busan International Movie Festival(2003). I went down to see that movie with my friends, and I felt this movie was really funny and showed Kitano Takeshi's style. I was a big fan of Kitano Takeshi's evey movie at that time. Especially, the action scene and clog-dance was really impressive. As a remembarance, I would like to share this movie with all the students in this class.