In a Nutshell. Mini reviews of movies old and new. No fuss. No spoilers. And often no sleep.

Monday, 15 July 2013

Zatoichi The Fugitive (1963)

The blind swordsman's 4th film was also Dir. Tokuzô Tanaka’s second; he did such a fine job on the previous entry that I was glad to see him back at the helm. He has the ability to shift effortlessly from quiet moments to action scenes; even when he has a lot of visual elements in the frame he manages to keep what’s important as the focal point.
The story is a tragic one. Ichi has a price on his head, meaning his hope to avoid violence is once again shattered. Events spiral out of control and the usually calm swordsman gets angry, with good reason.

3½ farewells out of 5

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