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| Illustration by Samuel Hiti |
This is the part where I let
you in on a little secret. Some time has passed since I saw this movie and am
writing this. This originally started as a quest to watch one Zatoichi movie
every day and ramble on about it on a forum where no one read it. Unlike here,
where I will ramble were no one listens, I just happen to be managing this
site. So my memories of this film are a bit sketchy, and I've lost all my first
impressions on if I liked it that much or not, but since I don't want to go
back three movies to watch it again, I'll make due.
Zatoichi: The Fugitive stars Shintaro Katsu, and frankly that's the last time I'm bringing that
up. He's in all these movies, and that's that. Director Tokuzo Tanaka returns.
In this entry we get some light heartedness in our opening moments were our
hero sumo-wrestles, and makes some money at it. This eventually turns bad when
a young yakuza tries to kill Ichi, which ends terribly of course, and Ichi will
go find the young man's mother to pay his respects. Our young madam for this
picture is Miwa Takada, playing Onobu, who for once isn't in love with Ichi,
but another man, and they are just sweet together.
The real crux of this film
though is the return of Otane, once more played by Masayo Banri. And for the
first time I've liked her. She's far more beaten down by life in this entry,
which makes me wonder how much time has passed between the second film and this
one, a year, maybe two. There isn't even a year's difference in the release
date of these films, how much time can we realistically put into these
characters. Otane is married, joined, something, with a drunkard of a Ronin
called Tanakura.
All this is in the background
of a young Yakuza boss wants to prove his worth, and a bad Yakuza boss wanting
to take land. This all leads to an abandoned farm house where Ichi fights his
way through waves of inept sword fighters and goes to challenge Tanakura. Many
things go wrong, and Ichi must leave the village once more, giving a brave face
to those who he is leaving behind.
I like this film less than The
New Tale of Zatoichi, but certainly more that The Tale of Zatoichi
Continues. Whether it is better than The Tale of Zatoichi, I don't
know, I like a lot more about this film, but the character of Hirate and his
relationship with Zatoichi is so compelling. If I had to list them...
The New
Tale of Zatoichi
Zatoichi:
The Fugitive
The Tale
of Zatoichi
The Tale
of Zatoichi Continues
Up Next we have ourselves a road picture, Zatoichi on the Road.
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