If not exceptional, a good and sometimes strange entry in the Zatôichi series.

After two successive unusual and in part unrelated beginnings, we enter truly familiar territories. The planned and promising pilgrimage to 88 shrines to find somehow the "meaning of death", suddenly stops at 18:10 when Ichi, following a horse, approaches a town of abused villagers.

Of course, Zatôichi is ready (ready?) to protect them, perhaps with a little less enthusiasm than in other occasions. There's tiredness in Zatoichi's aim, a sensation that pervades the complete film until the final long and very good fight.

No humor, not a scene of dice playing in this one! Not even the pilgrimage of the title! But we learn that the good man can swim with extraordinary lack of style or grace...

Master Ichi (Shintaro Katsu), the blind masseur, expert gambler, and master swordsman, goes on a pilgrimage to visit 88 shrines to atone for all the people that he's killed in the previous 13 movies. But wouldn't you know it, not long after visiting the first temple he gets caught up in a small village's drama, as they are being menaced by gangster and horse trader Tohachi (Isao Yamagata) and his cronies.

Ichi also begins a chaste romance with local girl Kichi (Michiyo Yasuda). Also featuring Masao Mishima, and Hisashi Igawa.

I liked that the script (co-written by Kaneto Shindo & Kan Shimozawa) addresses the mental toll that Ichi's character deals with as a good guy driven to violent resolutions. I was impressed with Yasuda as the plucky Kichi, who refuses to back down from the villains. I've read that she was a big star in Japan in the latter half of the decade, so I'd be interested in tracking down more of her work. This film's finale is also noteworthy, as it shows Ichi struggling a bit, which is quite a contrast to some of the earlier films that show him as an unstoppable force of nature.

The general standard for Zatoichi films is fairly high - though you can expect the same motifs and themes from one movie to the next. Zatoichi's Pilgrimage brings the series to a new level. Our blind swordsman (Kintaro Katsu) is troubled by his violent past, and vows to visit a circuit of shrines until the gods give him an answer to his spiritual quest. This quest brings him into contact with a group of brigands who all but rule the area, and he's left with little choice but to reassess his spiritual quest.

The screenplay is especially intriguing. Zatoichi's pilgrimage begins as a sea voyage, and the water theme repeatedly makes its way into the plot. In the hope of realizing his quest, a rider- less horse follows the blind swordsman to where he's most needed - suggesting that Zatoichi may have already found his destiny. An assured storytelling makes this one of the more satisfying of the long series.