I definitely agree; a lot of Zatoichi purists thought it was sacrilege, but that's a good thing. (I mean, there were, what, 368 Zatoichi films made in the 60s? If you want a traditional version, watch one of those)
I thought it had real heart to it in the depiction of the two orphaned kids, some beautiful landscapes and individual shots, and of course Takeshi's own peculiar screen presence. Point of fact, I wouldn't mind watching it again right now.
Exactly - I've seen three other versions and this is the first that made me laugh. I never even thought you could laugh at this plot, but the idea of a swordsman this good is essentially an over-the-top comic concept.
He's definitely a strange one, but in a good, subversive way. Knowing a little about Japanese culture (I work with Sony sometimes and have good friends from there), I feel like he must really disorient his Japanese audiences more than his fans in other cultures. God, I realize that was a lousy, unintended pun.
I think Zatoichi was the first film he'd directed that was a really big hit in his home country. Understandably, Japanese audiences find it a bit peculiar that he fills the shoes of "wacky game-show host" and "eccentric art-house director" at the same time.
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I thought it had real heart to it in the depiction of the two orphaned kids, some beautiful landscapes and individual shots, and of course Takeshi's own peculiar screen presence. Point of fact, I wouldn't mind watching it again right now.
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He's definitely a strange one, but in a good, subversive way. Knowing a little about Japanese culture (I work with Sony sometimes and have good friends from there), I feel like he must really disorient his Japanese audiences more than his fans in other cultures. God, I realize that was a lousy, unintended pun.
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