Kitano said that shooting "Zatoichi" was the first time in his career that he had complete freedom. He is determined to realize the entertainment in his concept in this Japanese Western, naturally it is not a fragmented, shallow, "deadly" kind of entertainment, but always takes the audience to unexpected sensual and emotional places.
So in the film, we see the old peasants who are hoeing as if they are using labor as the background percussion to accompany the dance. Soon after, they actually dance in the rain. On the night of the decisive battle with thunder and lightning, this swordsman with stunts was affixed with paper-painted eyes... Unexpectedly, which of the nodes of sudden killing and knowing smile (or simply hilarious) will come first. The final dance of the celebration is interspersed with revenge, and it turns into a tap dance that combines East and West. Why didn't Kitano take part in the celebration at this moment? Because I opened my eyes, I couldn't see anything, and I stumbled... This is the cause and effect in the movie. Outside the movie, Takeshi Kitano paid tribute to the deceased master Chizaburo Fukami by practicing tap dancing. I once said that you will only go on stage if you think you have practiced tap dancing well enough.
The following full text is taken from the book "Takeshi Kitano's Autobiography". The black parts were compiled and written by interviewer Michelle Terman, and basically focused on the film itself or the background introduction. The gray part is Takeshi Kitano's self-report.
"Zatoichi" is Kitano Takeshi's first costume film and martial arts film. It successfully entered the historical drama genre and replaced the pistol with a samurai sword. The time is the Edo period (1603 - 1868), which was Japan that belonged to the samurai. Under the rule of the Tokugawa shogunate, the capital was Edo (the old name of Tokyo). Japan was not fully open to the world at that time.
The protagonist of the film, Aichi (Zatoichi), is a blind traveler who earns a living by working as a professional gambler and helping people with massages. Behind his disability lies an astonishing fact: he is actually a very good swordsman who can take on 15 gangsters at a time and take them out one by one. At this moment, he climbed over the mountain and came to a village controlled by the villain Ginzo and his henchmen. They not only carried out a reign of terror, but also extorted money from businessmen. In a small restaurant, Aichi encounters two geisha - Noko and younger sister Aqing - who exude an air of grace and danger, as they travel from village to village, looking for the murders they killed when they were young. enemies of parents. They only have one name as a clue: the grass rope boss. Ashi, armed with a cane sword, decides to help them and achieve justice by his own strength.
In this Japanese version of the spaghetti western, from the very beginning (without subtitles or captions), everyone is killing each other for their own benefit. The rebellious samurai we see in the film is exactly what the Japanese (and Westerners) have always expected. The dialogue in the film has been sculpted to be as sharp as Ashi's blade. The film was inspired by the novel of Hiroko Sawa, as well as the first "Zatoichi" film (1962) directed by Kenji Misumi. The character was played by Katsu Shintaro over the years (from 1962 to 1989). At that time, Akira Kurosawa made the Japanese samurai movie a big success at the box office with "Heart Stick".
Since its release on the big screen in 2003, Takeshi Kitano's "Zatoichi" has achieved considerable success in Japan or more than 20 other countries. The film was highly praised by Quentin Tarantino in the United States, as well as by most European critics, such as "Masterpiece", "Surprise" and "Perfect Control". The French media raved about the film. "Zatoichi" won the Silver Lion at the Venice Film Festival, the Audience's Choice Award at the Toronto Film Festival, and won nine of the Japan Academy Awards (the Japanese equivalent of the Cesar or the Academy Awards) nominations. When Kitano traveled to Venice for the film's European premiere in the fall of 2003, his presence elicited screams from a frenzy of fans.
In Japan, since I won the Golden Lion Award at the Venice Film Festival with "Hana" and later won the Silver Lion Award with "Zatoichi", only Japanese people remember: I am not only a TV presenter, but also a film director. These awards have changed a lot: many Japanese people are willing to go to see my movies, or go to video rental shops to borrow them to watch them again. From this point of view, "Zatoichi" has the effect of inspiring the audience. It is the result of my years of hard work.
It was a very special film to make, an intense, new experience. Because "Zatoichi" is a commissioned project. It was the first film I was asked to shoot, and I was willing to take it. I can't miss such an opportunity.
The producer's willingness was very strong, allowing me to successfully gain real decision-making power and freedom of shooting in this project, as a director, and even as an editor. With a huge production budget, of course the film has to act according to business logic. I brought in a group of outstanding actors, very talented actors and actresses. This film also made Taichi Saotome come to the fore. He is a veritable little genius from the theater, and he was only ten years old when he acted in this film.
Zatoichi gave me complete freedom for the first time in my career to realize my concept of an entertainment film - and with my credentials, I know exactly what that is! From the first minute of the movie, I wanted it to be seen as entertainment. Western film critics once said: This is a "Japanese Western". This comment is absolutely correct!
One thing is clear: it's a lot harder to make a movie than a comedy. On the stage, in the TV studio, being a comedian means doing your best to make the audience laugh, and there is nothing profound in the process. On the contrary, what I want to do on the big screen is to imagine all kinds of thought-provoking situations, with the aim of taking the audience to an unexpected place, while trying to immerse him in sensual and emotional in the ocean. I think "Zatoichi" did achieve that, and even surpassed my expectations.
Also, I was forced to accept the use of special effects, given the sizeable budget that the production team had put together. It's not by choice, because I've always had reservations about film special effects. I think special effects seem to spoil things—not to distort reality, because that's what special effects do, but to spoil the film itself, and even change the essence of the film. I can't be interested in some movies, like "Spartan 300", although this movie was very successful at the box office, but because it uses special effects and graphics, it is in my eyes a sci-fi movie... It may be very beautiful, but it feels fake any way you look at it, especially since it is very commercial and not really a historical work about the Spartans. Then again, that doesn't mean I don't appreciate certain sci-fi movies...
Back to "Zatoichi". Adapted from a highly regarded novel that is hugely popular in Japan, the film by Hiro Komo Sawa brings on stage an imaginary figure in Edo-era Japanese culture that was popular in the 60s and 70s. Numerous works adapted into film and television are very popular.
Until 1989, the character was played by Shintaro Katsu, but I was never a big fan of this 25-episode saga because of the way they presented it. I haven't even seen all the films, only the tapes of a few of them, and I have to say, that's enough. I always feel that the righteous man played by Katsu Shintaro is a bit too much. That's not how I feel about the character in my mind. So, I don't want to imitate him at all. Not to mention anything else, just in terms of appearance, my role has nothing to do with him at all. Six months before filming, I had dyed my hair blond and even appeared on TV studios just like that, so that the audience could get used to the new look and be influenced by my new identity as much as possible.
Still, the decision to commit to such an adventure and turn this ancient saga so beloved by a wide audience into a movie was not something that was decided in a day or two. Yes, it's a commissioned production, but if Saito's mother -- Chieko Saito -- hadn't been so insistent on me making it, maybe I wouldn't have taken the risk.
When the film was released in theaters, I had absolutely no idea that this original and rhythm adaptation, full of surprises and jokes--which still makes me worry--would be able to get such a big hit among young people The response is the same in Japan and overseas. I'd be lying if I said it didn't make me happy. The film was admired all over the world, even in Australia, New Zealand, and Turkey - "Zatoichi" filled theaters in Istanbul! It won a laurel in Venice and many other honors, including a Canadian award.
While the story was inspired by legends of yesteryear, I didn't revisit the "katana" and the most popular traditional martial arts moves. You may have noticed: there is no kung fu, no Thai boxing, and no Chinese boxing in my "Zatoichi". I didn't want to give myself any frame, so I didn't use any kind of sparring scenes. Most of the duels you see in the film come from my imagination and design. But that doesn't mean the preparations for these fight scenes are easier. exactly the opposite! The scenes were really nerve-wracking, long, complex, and tiring to shoot. The work of organizing and adapting is enormous. Every sword scene took a lot of effort to shoot.
The fight scene in "Zatoichi", like the long tap dance scene with music at the end, mostly comes from what my master Chizaburo Fukami taught me back then in Asakusa. However, if there's a sequel to Zatoichi, I'll probably look to more traditional fighting scenes for inspiration, whether Chinese or Japanese.
I've been thinking about making a sequel for a while now, but it's still just a plan. Many movie lovers in Japan and abroad have encouraged me to make a sequel that is more modern and possibly bloodier than the first episode. I'm thinking about it, but right now, I'm not serious about doing a second episode. I'm not ready, and seriously, the type of each new work depends on my mood at the moment. One thing's for sure, though: I'll keep making other violent movies.
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