It is Tempo-era Japan in the nineteenth century. Zatoichi is on his travels again. They will bring him to a village where the Boss of All Bosses, Yamikubo, holds sway, a man known as the Prince of Darkness. This is a place where women can be bought at auction… and if the bidder is unlucky enough to purchase the wife of one .. Read more
| Starring | Shintaro Katsu, Tatsuya Nakadai |
|---|---|
| Director | Kenji Misumi |
| Genres | Action/Adventure, World Cinema |
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It is Tempo-era Japan in the nineteenth century. Zatoichi is on his travels again. They will bring him to a village where the Boss of All Bosses, Yamikubo, holds sway, a man known as the Prince of Darkness. This is a place where women can be bought at auction… and if the bidder is unlucky enough to purchase the wife of one particular nameless samurai, the commission on the sale is his life. It is a town where fate introduces Zatoichi to another blind man, the Boss of All Bosses, who proceeds to unravel the ways of destiny for him and illuminates the duty of the blind. Here Zatoichi teaches Umeji, a boy who is a pimp, the way to be a man… and nearly loses his second virginity in the process. It is back to this place that he is invited by his newfound guru, the blind boss. And at this party the father of his female companion, Okiyo, is to take Yamikubo's place as the Boss of All Bosses. This is a party where human flesh will fuel the flames, in an incandescent night where love and hate are seen to be the same thing, observed from a distance by the shadowy figure of the masterless samurai.
| Starring | Shintaro Katsu, Tatsuya Nakadai |
|---|---|
| Director | Kenji Misumi |
| Run time | DVD: 1 hr 36 mins |
| Certificate | |
| Genres | Action/Adventure, World Cinema |
| Released | DVD: 03 Feb 2003 Production year: 1970 |
| Format | DVD |
Rambling narrative that involves Zatoichi in a domestic dispute, a confrontation with another blind gangster, and an attempt by a gay pimp to seduce him; a couple of action sequences, notably an ambush in a bath-house, prevent torpor setting in.
This film has echoes of the TV series Monkey. Like Monkey It is OK for a while because it is fun but after a while the novelty wears of and it becomes a little irritating.
Although I prefer Kitano Takeshi's remake of Zatoichi, this isn't a bad film, a classic blind masseur good guy versus the bad crime lord tale, with some surprizingly good fight scenes and acting by the main character.
It's little slow by today's standards, but if you're a fan of classic cinema then it's worth seeing, just to see a character who is hugely famous in Japan.
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