Zatôichi (2003)

Director:

Takeshi Kitano

Writers:

Takeshi Kitano (screenplay)
Kan Shimosawa (novels)

Release Date:

6 September 2003 (Japan)

Genre:

Action | Comedy | Crime | Drama | Music

Tagline:

His Sword Made Him a Hero... His Courage Made Him a Legend. This Summer, Justice is Blind.

Plot:

The blind masseur/swordsman comes to an town in control of warring gangs, and while bunking with a farming family, he meets two women with their own agenda.

Plot Keywords:

Zatoichi | Samurai | Swordsman | Masseur | Ronin

Awards:

21 wins & 10 nominations

Cast

Takeshi Kitano	...	Zatôichi / Ichi (as Beat Takeshi)
Tadanobu Asano	...	Hattori Genosuke
Michiyo Ookusu	...	Aunt Oume
Gadarukanaru Taka	...	Shinkichi
Daigorô Tachibana	...	Geisha Seitaro 'Osei' Naruto
Yûko Daike	...	Geisha Okinu Naruto
Yui Natsukawa	...	O-Shino, Hattori's Wife
Ittoku Kishibe	...	Boss Inosuke Ginzo
Saburô Ishikura	...	Boss Tashichi Ogi
Akira Emoto	...	Tavern Owner Pops
Ben Hiura	...	Tavern Gramps
Kohji Miura	...	Lord Sakai
Hideboh	...	Dancing Farmer (as The Stripes)
Ron II	...	Dancing Farmer (as The Stripes)
Suji	...	Dancing Farmer (as The Stripes)
Noriyasu	...	Dancing Farmer (as The Stripes)
Makoto Ashikawa	...	Carpenter
Tsumami Edamame	...	Carpenter
Kosuke Ohta	...	Carpenter
Yoshiyuki Morishita	...	Carpenter
Naomasa Musaka	...	Yakuza Boss on the Country Road
Shoken Kunimoto	...	Rival Swordsman
Daigaku Sekine	...	Ginzo's Henchman I
Koji Koike	...	Boss Funahachi
Koji Kiryu	...	Dice Dealer at Funahachi's Joint
Taigi Kobayashi	...	Funahachi's Bodyguard
Ayano Yoshida	...	Young O-Kinu
Taichi Saotome	...	Young O-Sei (Seitaro)
Kanji Tsuda	...	Playboy at Home
Ikki Goto	...	Kuchinawa Underling 1
Yoshio Nakamura	...	Kuchinawa Underling 3
Hiroaki Noguchi	...	Kuchinawa Underling 5
Shinichi Nakatsu	...	Kuchinawa Underling 2
Toru Yonezu	...	Kuchinawa Underling 4
P. Man	...	Tavern Customer 4
Al Kitago	...	Farmer Boy 1
Omiya Nomatsu	...	Farmer Boy 2
Tsutomu Takeshige	...	Farmer Boy 4
Gambino Kobayashi	...	Farmer Boy 5
Sammy Moremore Jr.	...	Farmer Boy 6
Muhomatsu	...	Farmer Boy with a Spear
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Yasushi Higuchi
Masayoshi Ohzeki
Kenji Takechi	...	Yakuza

Directed by
Takeshi Kitano

Writing credits
Takeshi Kitano		(screenplay)
Kan Shimosawa		(novels)

Produced by
Shinji Komiya	....	line producer
Jack Maeby	....	producer (english language version)
Masayuki Mori	....	producer: Office Kitano
Chieko Saitô	....	planner
Tsunehisa Saitô	....	producer: Saitô Entertainment
Masanori Sanada	....	co-producer
Takio Yoshida	....	co-producer

Original Music by
Keiichi Suzuki

Cinematography by
Katsumi Yanagijima

Film Editing by
Takeshi Kitano
Yoshinori Ôta

Casting by
Takefumi Yoshikawa

Production Design by
Norihiro Isoda

Costume Design by
Yohji Yamamoto

Makeup Department
Kakusei Fujiwara	....	special makeup effects artist

Production Management
Kensei Mori	....	production manager

Sound Department
Senji Horiuchi	....	sound designer
Akira Nakano	....	sound recordist
Kenji Shibazaki	....	sound effects

Camera and Electrical Department
Hitoshi Takaya	....	lighting director
Toshio Watanabe	....	still photographer

Costume and Wardrobe Department
Kazuko Kurosawa	....	costume supervisor

Other crew
Hideboh	....	choreographer: tap dancing (as The Stripes)
Richard Lormand	....	publicist: international
Noriyasu	....	choreographer: tap dancing (as The Stripes)
Ron II	....	choreographer: tap dancing (as The Stripes)
Haru Shôbara	....	script supervisor
Suji	....	choreographer: tap dancing (as The Stripes)

Production Companies

• Asahi National Broadcasting Company
• Bandai Visual Company
• DENTSU Music And Entertainment
• Office Kitano
• Saitô Entertainment
• TV Asahi
• Tokyo FM Broadcasting Co.

Distributors

• Shochiku Company (2003) (Japan)
• Office Kitano (2003) (Japan)
• Celluloid Dreams (2003) (worldwide) (all media) (sales)
• Artificial Eye (2004) (UK) (theatrical)
• Bac Films (2003) (France) (theatrical)
• Bright Angel Distribution (2004) (Netherlands) (theatrical)
• Buena Vista International (2005) (Argentina) (theatrical)
• Concorde Filmverleih (2004) (Germany) (theatrical)
• Frenetic Films (2003-2004) (Switzerland) (theatrical)
• Lighthouse Pictures (2004) (Singapore) (theatrical)
• Mikado (2003) (Italy) (theatrical)
• Miramax Films (2004) (USA) (theatrical) (subtitled)
• Sandrew Metronome Distribution Sverige AB (2004) (Sweden) (theatrical)
• Sandrew Metronome Distribution (2004) (Finland) (theatrical)
• Shu Kei's Creative Workshop Ltd. (2004) (Hong Kong) (theatrical)
• A-Film Home Entertainment (2004) (Netherlands) (DVD) (VHS)
• Artificial Eye (2004) (UK) (DVD)
• Buena Vista Home Entertainment (BVHE) (2009) (USA) (DVD) (Blu-ray)
• Buena Vista Home Entertainment (2005) (Brazil) (DVD)
• Buena Vista Home Entertainment (2005) (Brazil) (VHS)
• Concorde Home Entertainment (2004) (Germany) (DVD)
• Gativideo (2005) (Argentina) (DVD)
• Gativideo (2005) (Argentina) (VHS)
• Panorama Distributions (2004) (Hong Kong) (DVD)
• Warner Home Video (2004) (Switzerland) (DVD)

Special Effects

• Nippon Effect Center (visual effects)

Other Companies

• Aoi Studio  post-production sound services
• Continental Far East  Dolby consultant
• Half H-P Studio  foley design
• Kodak Japan  film stock supplied by
• NAC Image Technology  camera equipment supplied by
• Nihon Shomei Co.  lighting equipment supplied by
• Shu Tokki  grip equipment supplied by
• Tokyo Laboratory Co. Ltd.  film processing
• Warp Station Edo  exterior sets
• Yoshikawa Casting Office  casting

Also Known As:

Takeshi Kitano's Zatoichi (International: English title) (informal title)
The Blind Swordsman: Zatoichi (USA)
Zatoichi (International: English title)
Zatoichi (Argentina) (Chile) (Spain) [es]
Zatoichi - Der blinde Samurai (Austria) (Germany) [de]
Zatoïchi, le samurai (Canada: French title) [fr]
Zatoichi (Brazil) [pt]
Zatoichi (Poland) [pl]
Zatoichi (Turkey: Turkish title) [tr]
Zatoichi - Sokea samurai (Finland) [fi]
Zatoichi, o tyflos samurai (Greece) [el]

MPAA:

Rated R for strong stylized bloody violence.

Runtime:

116 min

Country:

Japan

Language:

Japanese

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

Switzerland:16 (canton of Zurich) | Brazil:18 | Canada:18A (Ontario) | Iceland:16 | Portugal:M/16 | Argentina:13 (DVD rating) | Sweden:15 | Argentina:16 | Australia:MA | Canada:14A | Chile:14 | Finland:K-18 | France:-12 | Germany:16 | Hong Kong:III | Ireland:18 | Italy:T | Japan:R-15 | Netherlands:16 | New Zealand:R16 | Norway:18 | Peru:14 | Philippines:R-13 | Singapore:NC-16 | South Korea:15 | Spain:13 | Switzerland:14 (canton of Geneva) | Switzerland:14 (canton of Vaud) | UK:18 | USA:R

Filming Locations:

Eiga-mura, Kanami, Kanae-chô, Fukuyama City, Hiroshima, Japan

Company:

Asahi National Broadcasting Company

Trivia:

"Zatô" was the lowest of the four official ranks (kan'i) within the Tôdô-za - the Kyôto-based guild for the blind established early in the Muromachi Period (1392-1573), and abolished in 1871 (the fourth year of the Meiji Restoration). The three other ranks, in ascending order, were "kôtô", "bettô", and "kengyô" - as in Shiranui kengyô (1960).

Quotes:

Aunt Oume: This must be quite a sight! I'm guiding a masseur, who's carrying my vegetables.
Zatôichi: Wish I could see that!

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Grindhouse (2007)

Totally convincing Kitano

Beat Takeshi does a remake of one of the most popular film series in Japan about the blind swordsman Zatoichi and this is what a remake should look like, not like those crappy stars-sfx-and-nothing-else Hollywood remakes.

Having seen only the first of the series I didn't recognize many references in the movie, but the few I spotted were very clever, not copying, but putting it in new context.

The story is good, coupled with many funny excursions about hancho gambling, a crazy man running around in his undies and so on, and the actors are all well picked and does a very good job. This turned me into a big Kitano fan.

Some complain about the blood looking to cgi, I think its for the better. Its not a film about the horrors of sword fighting.

Kitano's usual partner in crime Joe Hisaishi was dropped in favour of Keiichi Suzuki and for the better of it IMO. What a wonderful and funny score that syncronizes with the sound from the film (or is it the other way around?), takes traditional sounds into the future and fuses them with African and South American rhythms very successfully. The final song is a real frenzy of samba, tapdancing and I can swear that he quotes the house club classic 'The Bomb' by 'The Bucketheads' an alias for Kenny Dope of the 'Masters at Work'. Fantastic. How can you not smile?