New Tale of Zatoichi (1963)

The blind swordsman's 3rd film is called 'New Tale' but it’s really a continuation of the previous two. It’s the first of the series to be in colour and it’s a beautiful sight. The story gives Shintarô the opportunity to show just how damn good he really is; so much so that when Ichi was happy it made me happy, and when he’s forced to sacrifice happiness it almost made me weep for real. All he wanted was some inner peace, but when your past catches up with you…
It’s true what they say, you can never go back home.
It was Tokuzô Tanaka’s first Zatoichi film, but he’d come from good stock, he was Kurosawa’s AD on Rashomon (1950).

4½ hidden talents out of 5