Ilker81x
08-04-2004, 08:07 AM
Like all good directors, Kitano "Beat" Takeshi has been hit-or-miss throughout his filmmaking career. Not everybody enjoyed Sonatine, while I thought it one of the most poetic films I'd ever seen, even if it was about gangsters. Even more so with Hana-Bi (Fireworks), which to me is a beautiful reaffirmation of the fragility of life and the essence of all that is worth living for and loving in this world. Sono Otoko, Kyobo Ni Tsuki (Violent Cop), on the other hand was his first film and seriously lacking in the style and substance that Kitano would become known for. Same with 3-4x Jugatsu (Boiling Point or The Third and Fourth of October). This is just my opinion, but those two movies did not interest me nearly as much as Sonatine and Hana-Bi. Brother was merely decent. Now Kitano brings us his adaptation of the classic blind samurai, Zatoichi.
I think this film is a brilliant retelling. Without sacrificing the elements that made the original so appealing, Kitano infuses his own sense of style into the film. It has good acting (especially from Asano Tadanobu, in what I think is one of his best roles yet), great camerawork, well-choreographed fight scenes (not in a Hong-Kong John Woo style, but just well orchestrated and executed), as well as some interesting dance sequences for good measure. Kitano actually pulls off the blond look pretty well too, and does an excellent job convincing the audience that he is actually blind and a master swordsman. Unlike the American films of Starsky and Hutch or Eye Spy (where the movies are punning and joking off the elements that made the original shows seem great back then, but tacky to today's audiences...they were probably tacky for back then too), Kitano manages to recreate the world of Zatoichi for a new audience without drastically altering the essence and of the story.
I'm glad to see that Zatoichi is getting the theatrical treatment it deserves in America. If Americans could get over their problem with subtitles and foreign films, they would see that many great movies are made outside of their own borders. Zatoichi is a movie that combines great action with a great story, something that is so lacking in today's American movie market. Get the substance first, then the action will be the icing on the cake. See Zatoichi. That's my two-cents.
I think this film is a brilliant retelling. Without sacrificing the elements that made the original so appealing, Kitano infuses his own sense of style into the film. It has good acting (especially from Asano Tadanobu, in what I think is one of his best roles yet), great camerawork, well-choreographed fight scenes (not in a Hong-Kong John Woo style, but just well orchestrated and executed), as well as some interesting dance sequences for good measure. Kitano actually pulls off the blond look pretty well too, and does an excellent job convincing the audience that he is actually blind and a master swordsman. Unlike the American films of Starsky and Hutch or Eye Spy (where the movies are punning and joking off the elements that made the original shows seem great back then, but tacky to today's audiences...they were probably tacky for back then too), Kitano manages to recreate the world of Zatoichi for a new audience without drastically altering the essence and of the story.
I'm glad to see that Zatoichi is getting the theatrical treatment it deserves in America. If Americans could get over their problem with subtitles and foreign films, they would see that many great movies are made outside of their own borders. Zatoichi is a movie that combines great action with a great story, something that is so lacking in today's American movie market. Get the substance first, then the action will be the icing on the cake. See Zatoichi. That's my two-cents.