Takeshi Kitano's offbeat samurai drama marks a personal triumph for the man himself and a notable entry for the genre. Kitano directs and stars as the blind samurai of Japanese pulp fiction; Zatôichi. He puts in a grand performance and really brings the character to life. His direction is superb also, and he succeeds in creating a foreboding and tension filled atmosphere that also captures the familiar Kurosawa-esque feel of the classic samurai movies. The story follows the fate of blind samurai master: Zatôichi. This master doesn't let a small thing like losing his sight get in the way, and in spite of being blind, the master is still the fastest man with a sword; as he proves on a number of occasions. The first thing you will notice about the fight scenes in this movie is that they are bloodthirsty! That's no bad thing, of course, especially since the second thing you will notice is that there's lots of them. The fight sequences are definitely the highlight of the movie, and they include some highlights in themselves; as we watch in delight as limbs fly and people get sliced and diced! The fights in this film make the likes of Kill Bill look even more ridiculous than it does already.

Takeshi Kitano creates his own world for the characters in the movie to inhabit, and he also seems keen to incorporate as many elements as possible into the plot, which is good in one way as it ensures that the movie is always intriguing and interesting, but it does get a little convoluted and, at times, makes you think "what's that there for?!". Still, the film does offer lots of interesting little tidbits, and it never gets so convoluted that it becomes boring. Well, it can't do; there's always another fight scene round the corner! The film is artistically played throughout, and you get the impression that Kitano has an obvious respect for the art of cinema, which is certainly no bad thing at all. Even though the plot is very familiar, and anyone that's seen more than a couple of samurai movies will have seen one with a plot like this one has; it's inventive enough to carve out a niche of it's own, and it draws it's originality from that fact. On the whole, this isn't a great samurai movie like the ones of yore; but it's encouraging that films like this are still being made, and it's easily one of the best movies of 2003. Recommended viewing!

Takeshi Kitano is one of my favorite directors and is one of the inspirations of my style of writing. . None of the quick over editing and shaky camera of most American productions, But also none of the fast hard hitting punchs of The Raid. Just elegant quick sword swipes. It's quite sight to watch.

The blind masseur and former samurai Zatôichi (Takeshi Kitano) is drifting and arrives in a small village dominated by three tyrannical lords, Inosuke Ginzo (Ittoku Kishibe), Tashichi Ogi (Saburo Ishikura) and Funahachi (Koji Koike). He helps an old woman and she lodges him at her home. Zatôichi gambles and the old lady's nephew, a complete loser, becomes close to him and Zatôichi helps him in the bets. They meet the geishas Seitaro 'Osei' Naruto (Daigorô Tachibana) and Okinu Naruto (Yuuko Daike), actually a brother and a sister that have been chasing the killers of their parents, Inosuke, Tashichi and Kuchinawa, for ten years seeking revenge. When the ronin Shinkichi (Gadarukanaru Taka) offers his service of bodyguard to Ginzo, the boss decide to destroy the Funachi gang and join to Ogi later. But Zatôichi decides to help the village and get rid off the criminals.

"Zatôichi" is a good movie of Takeshi Kitano visibly inspired in "Sanjuro", of Master Akira Kurosawa. The gore story has adventure, excellent choreography in the sword fights and lots of humor; there is a samurai without a master offering his services of bodyguard to a gang in a small town; and in the end, the gangs are destroyed; therefore there are many points very similar to Sanjuro. The parallel plots are well constructed and the cinematography is very beautiful, highlighting the blood in the sword fights. My vote is nine.

Title (Brazil): "Zatoichi"