Movielogr

Rating: 7 stars

Tags

Japan Criterion ronin blind swordfight siege sequel yakuza showdown

All movies seen on 03/13/2024

View on: IMDb | TMDb

Zatoichi the Fugitive (1963)

Directed by Tokuzô Tanaka

Drama | Action

Overview

After arriving in the town of Shimonita, Ichi finds that a price has been put on his head by a local yakuza boss. He’s drawn into a trap, but after hearing of the slaying of a former love, Ichi furiously fights his way through the entire clan to face the killer, a hired ronin.

Length 86 minutes

Actors

Shintarō Katsu | Miwa Takada | Masayo Banri | Katsuhiko Kobayashi | Jun'ichirô Narita | Tôru Abe | San'emon Arashi | Yûji Hamada | Sumao Ishihara | Jun Katsumura | Kôichi Mizuhara | Yasuhiro Mizukami | Sachiko Murase | Hiroshi Nawa | Tokio Oki | Mitsusaburô Ramon | Ikkei Tamaki | Yôko Wakasugi | Teruko Omi | Jutarô Hojo

Viewing History (seen 1 time)

Viewing Notes

Fourth film in the Zatoichi series should’ve been called Zatoichi in Color. This is the first one released in color and it takes some getting used to after viewing the first three b&w films.

Here Zatoichi accepts that he’ll always be on the wrong side of the law but gets sentimental when he reunites with an old love interest who has since become a comfort woman for a ronin rival.

There’s a terrific scene where Zatoichi upstages the ronin amidst a group of yakuza with a simple dice and sword trick.

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