This is probably the best Zatoichi there is. Opening right out the gates with a stylistic depiction of Zatoichi’s skills, Zatoichi and the Chest of Gold showcases Kazuo Ikehiro’s visual flair. There’s just a lot in the way of strong visuals that liven up the Zatoichi series here while still remaining true to a lot of the series’ hallmarks up to this point. With so many films produced in such a short time, simplicity is the name of the game for the stories here, making it easier for a script to be passed around and for filming to continue uninterrupted between productions, allowing for several Zatoichi films to be released per year. One might assume that this would end up producing slop, but a lot of the films just keep getting better and better, one-note as the character may usually be.
Zatoichi may be flat, but an unchanging protagonist allows for their effect on the world around them to be felt more strongly. His kindness and understanding towards other people gives them an opportunity to pay it back in kind and this film exemplifies that. Zatoichi does not fight those who are justifiably angry, only those with a clear bloodlust in them that cause them to do harm to others, whether out of greed or out of sheer wrath. The macguffin of the gold chest allows us to see Zatoichi in more of an unfavorable position without threat of assassins coming after him and a bounty being put on his head. Having to clear his name along with that of a friend, Zatoichi has to act humbly and even play up his disability in order to curry the favor needed to properly enact justice.
Just visually stunning too. I will never forget the paper lantern scene as long as I live
This is probably the best Zatoichi there is. Opening right out the gates with a stylistic depiction of Zatoichi’s skills, Zatoichi and the Chest of Gold showcases Kazuo Ikehiro’s visual flair. There’s just a lot in the way of strong visuals that liven up the Zatoichi series here while still remaining true to a lot of the series’ hallmarks up to this point. With so many films produced in such a short time, simplicity is the name of the game for the stories here, making it easier for a script to be passed around and for filming to continue uninterrupted between productions, allowing for several Zatoichi films to be released per year. One might assume that this would end up producing slop, but a lot of the films just keep getting better and better, one-note as the character may usually be.
Zatoichi may be flat, but an unchanging protagonist allows for their effect on the world around them to be felt more strongly. His kindness and understanding towards other people gives them an opportunity to pay it back in kind and this film exemplifies that. Zatoichi does not fight those who are justifiably angry, only those with a clear bloodlust in them that cause them to do harm to others, whether out of greed or out of sheer wrath. The macguffin of the gold chest allows us to see Zatoichi in more of an unfavorable position without threat of assassins coming after him and a bounty being put on his head. Having to clear his name along with that of a friend, Zatoichi has to act humbly and even play up his disability in order to curry the favor needed to properly enact justice.
Just visually stunning too. I will never forget the paper lantern scene as long as I live
