Zatoichi in Desperation (1972)

Of the Zatoichi films I’ve watched so far, Desperation, the 24th in the series, was perhaps the least enjoyable. I’d like to be able to say otherwise because it’s directed by Shintarô Katsu himself, but too many shots had the image obscured by scenery and there were too many unnecessary close-ups, which made it hard to follow the action. If you have a full 2.35:1 frame then you should strive to make the best use of it at all times.
He did his best to emphasise the difficult decision making the character has to face up to, but his methodology rubbed me the wrong way. It’s also very bleak with little room for laughter.

2½ wayward winds out of 5