Zatoichi at the Fire Festival cover art

Zatoichi at the Fire Festival Details

1970 Certificate TBC
  • Rated:
  • 60
  • from 287 members

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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Zatoichi at the Fire Festival

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 Certificate TBC
Genres Action/Adventure, World Cinema
Released DVD: 03 Feb 2003
Production year: 1970
Format DVD
  • Critics' reviews of Zatoichi at the Fire Festival

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  • 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.

    • Halliwell's Film Guide
  • Most helpful member's review of Zatoichi at the Fire Festival

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  • 79 out of 86 people found this review helpful

    Rated - 2 stars [Highly rated reviewer]

    Too much Monkeying around

    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.

      • Rip from Manchester
  • Most recent members' review of Zatoichi at the Fire Festival

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  • 2 out of 2 people found this review helpful

    Rated - 3 stars

    A Good Samurai Flick.

    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.

      • Sean Wallace from molesey, surrey
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Rating breakdown

287 Member ratings
  • 100
18
  • 90
17
  • 80
53
  • 70
48
  • 60
54
  • 50
30
  • 40
23
  • 30
17
  • 20
17
  • 10
10

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