Zatôichi to Yôjinbô

Plot synopsis:
In the middle of a rainstorm, Zatoichi witnesses (more likely, overhears) a man being killed by a group and then dragged off into the brush. Tired of wandering, he decides to visit his hometown not noticing until later that the townspeople are living in fear of a local yakuza gang. At a teahouse, he meets Umeno, a former love interest. In the meantime, the boss's eldest son returns from university expecting a large sum of money to be paid to him, but the boss refuses. The youngest son, who is also wanting the money, hires Yojimbo (Toshiro Mifune) to assassinate him as he is the boss's top enforcer. Yojimbo, however, is more than happy to bide his time drinking and making him wait.
Eventually, another ronin armed with a double barreled pistol wanders into town, wanting the bounty on Zatoichi's head. While Zatoichi makes short work of him, eventually the boy grows tired of his father's apparent unwillingness to hand over the gold and begins to build an army to combat him. Caught up in the middle of the conflict, Zatoichi battles both sides until every one falls dead. Taking his opportunity, Yojimbo catches the weary Zatoichi and fights a quick duel, which he wins by slicing him across the back.

Tags: cult

Review:
1st of two films that unite Katsu and Mifune - worth the watch.
Of course Mifune and Katsu together were guaranteed to draw a lot of attention when the film was released in 1970.Zatoichi is tired of killing and remembers a beautiful, peaceful village up in the mountains.
The village is not the same and several bad characters plot to make themselves rich at the expense of the locals (and the Japanese Treasury in this case).The repertoire between Zatoichi and the Yojimbo (Sasa) is entertaining and funny.
At first these are hateful terms, but over the course of the film, they come to respect one another, and continue to use the same names for each other.This is the longest film in the Zatoichi series (116 minutes) and it needn't be.
The first hour works well, but the next 30 minutes or so sees the story meandering along with the introduction of another government spy (turned bad) that adds nothing to the main story.The sword work in this film is only good, not great.
This film brings together two of the greatest characters created in Japanese cinema.
Zatoichi (Shintaro Katsu) is the blind swordsman who goes back to a village that he remembers as peaceful and tranquil.
As a result, the village is torn between the two men as the son seeks his father's gold (which may or may not exist).As the blind masseur becomes involved in the midst of this feud, the son's hired bodyguard (Toshiro Mifune) is introduced.
Mifune ever-so-slightly reprises his role from the Akira Kurosawa films, Yojimbo and Sanjuro.
As the Yojimbo discovers just who Zatoichi is and the price on his head, the two banter back and forth with threats and insults and even a few sword fights as the plot thickens.The film keeps you guessing until the very end as to whether or not these two samurai masters will end up friends or foes.
All the while, Shintaro Katsu and Toshiro Mifune give master performances in their roles as usual.
What Toshiro Mifune brings to this long running series of films is a stark contrast to Shintaro Katsu's simple and quiet Zatoichi.
I cannot recommend it enough to fans of Japanese period films, Zatoichi fans, or Toshiro Mifune fans.
This is also a great entry into the Zatoichi films.
This marks the 20th film of the Shintaro Katsu Zatoichi films.
As one of the other reviews mentioned, you should really start with the original "Yojimbo" to fully appreciate the Mifune character here.
However, this was my first Zatoichi story, and I enjoyed it immensely.The two characters have a great repertoire, an uneasy adversarial partnership, further complicated by the appearance of a third mystery agent, and the various dealings of Mifune and his boss.This particular storyline allows Mifune especially some time to explore the farther corners of his Yojimbo/Sanjuro character.
The ending even makes sense, in a strange way, providing a possible closure on the character's fate.Ichi and Sanjuro are funny together, and their chemistry is really entertaining.
The subtitling was superb as well, using different colors to denote who was talking.I highly reccomend this movie for fans of chambara, and especially for fans of Mifune and Shintaro!
this may not be the best zatoichi title, hindered by a complicated plot and an unusually long runtime (116 mins), but it's easily an 8/10 compared to other zatoichi films (1989's 'zatoichi' being the worst and a 1 out of 10).
if you're a zatoichi fan you are not allowed to miss this one or you're out of the club.shintaro katsu and toshiro mifune are in excellent form and their presence alone makes it worth seeing.
of course yojimbo is a better film, but this is every bit as funny and entertaining..
This is probably the best of zatoichi's films not just because of mifune but the story and craftsmanship of the film as well.
The two stars work well together, although the yojimbo character is more p***ed off then the previous two films.
I could be wrong but I think we find out who mifune's yojimbo is really working for which would explain why he acts like a scoundrel but in the end serves justice.
Zatoichi Meets Yojimbo was good as a throwaway movie-of-the-night to watch with friends (friends who were into Zatoichi and old samurai movies), but in the sense of it being something worthy of its stature, it didn't quite deliver.
A big chunk of the problem, as many of reviewers as well as author Stuart Galbraith, was Toshrio Mifune wasn't really playing the character really as he was in the Kurosawa films.
In the original Yojimbo and Sanjuro, Mifune crafted a true anti-hero bad-mutha samurai, who was grungy with his scratches, but also very cunning in how he could play both sides or act a little uncouth in his manipulations.
Truth be told, it's meant more for Zatoichi fans- he was a HUGE title character, as played by its star Shintaro Katsu.
But the problem there as well is that there have been better Zatoichi movies (I haven't even seen many, but the few I've seen, and as repetitive as they can get, aren't shoehorned plot-wise like so).
And this isn't totally to put the movie down, as a cash-in flick it does attempt at making some entertaining segments (and I do like how the two of them decide at first to combine forces, so to speak).
Zatoichi Meets Mifune.
In making my way through the Zatoichi films, I was both trepidatious and excited to arrive at 'Zatoichi Meets Yojimbo'.
On the other hand, how can you go wrong with a film that unites Katsu and Mifune?
And besides, after nineteen instalments there has yet to be one I thought was less than great; the series hasn't shown any sign of slowing down yet.Alas, though, I think this is the first Zatoichi film I thought was merely 'good'.The movie sees Zatoichi returning to his home town, a town that looks very similar to the one in Yojimbo, and here he meets the titular bodyguard.
For a while at the beginning I was trying to figure out if this was in fact supposed to be the town from Yojimbo, if the old man in this movie was supposed to be the same old man from that film, and just what the hell Mifune's yojimbo was doing still there considering the ending of that film.
Mifune's character also seemed quite different from his character in that film, despite some surface similarities; here he plays kind of a drunken bastard.
I soon realized, the best way to approach this film is, it's a different town, and Mifune plays a different character: it's just another Zatoichi adventure, with no connection to Kurosawa's film save a few nods here and there.Really, this is what I was hoping for.
At nearly two hours this is, I believe, the longest Zatoichi film, but it just lacks the storytelling economy that makes the other entries so enjoyable; this one seems over-complicated and uncompelling by comparison.Further, there were other little things that bothered me about this movie.
This film continues the trend of the last few entries towards a darker side of the character, but Zatoichi's aspiration to becoming a 'villain', and simultaneous contempt towards 'spies' just seemed kind of random.
And as much as I love Mifune, his performance here really didn't impress me.There are good points to the film though.
Funnily enough a few years ago I wrote this (...BUT): First things first, for those that are concerned (and I'm sure you will be as I was), Toshiro Mifune is NOT playing the Yojimbo character from the Kurosawa movies.
The only other film I know of where Mifune genuinely plays the Yojimbo character is "Ambush at Blood Pass" which was the film the both actors completed after this one.In all respects, this is a bad film sadly.
In all honesty, I know little about the Zatoichi character, but imagine that the original film must be far superior to this.
I couldn't really recommend this film to anyone unless you're a hardcore fan of Japanese Cinema or of the two actors.
"Zatoichi versus Yojimbo", like many Japanese films of the time seems confused over what audience its aiming at.
As said, I don't know much about Zatoichi, but I would imagine the original and early films are better than this one and worth the effort.
It must be stressed that it is NOT "Yojimbo" from the Kurosawa films but taking the point that this film is purely "entertainment" then it really is a good film, I watched it with harsh critical eyes when I wrote this and I was wrong!
The Zatoichi films vary a great deal in quality, and the character has grown on me a great deal since seeing the recent Takishi film.
So I guess I should now say, if you want a high-art samurai flick, then you'll still be disappointed as with my previous comments; but if you want to see a good, well structured, entertaining film with a very good insight into human nature than I would certainly say give it a whirl..
Zatoichi Meets Yojimbo is the twentieth film in the Japanese franchise about the blind masseur, skilled swordsman and lowly yakuza.
Yojimbo's character is inspired by Akira Korusawa's critically acclaimed Yojimbo and even played by famous actor Toshiro Mifune.
Zatoichi's and Yojimbo's interests, paths and swords cross multiple times until a dramatic showdown during a storm.Zatoichi Meets Yojimbo looks great on paper but turns out being the weakest film in the franchise so far.
The addition of odd comic relief in certain scenes also drags this movie down and makes characters like the younger boss look ridiculous.
Yojimbo is a one-dimensional character in this film who is busy swearing, sleeping and drinking.
Even the usually sympathetic Zatoichi isn't quite convincing as he aimlessly walks around, occasionally cooperates with dumb thugs and often swears and drinks in his ambiguous relationship with Yojimbo.There are only very few redeeming qualities in this movie.
The story line is more developed than usual but also confusing at times.To be honest, Zatoichi Meets Yojimbo is the movie in the franchise that I've enjoyed the least so far.
I would neither recommend this film to fans of the brilliant Zatoichi franchise nor to those who loved Korusawa's Yojimbo.
Zatoichi Meets Yojimbo (1970).
There's not many movies left in the original run, and this one in particular is interesting because, as the title indicates, it's a crossover between Zatoichi (Shintaro Katsu) and Yojimbo (Toshiro Mifune).Now, I don't really know if this is even the same Yojimbo (bodyguard) character as in the two Kurosawa films, but if he is, then he's under a different name here.
Anyway, not only is Toshiro Mifune present, but the film happens to be directed by Kihachi Okamoto (who made The Sword of Doom) and there's also a role by Ayako Wakao, the notable actress from many a Yasuzo Masumura New Wave film.Unfortunately, this movie isn't anything to write home about.
There's a town that got taken over by bad guys, there's an old flame of Zatoichi's (just how many towns across Japan does he have an ex-lover in?), there's Zatoichi briefly ruminating on his violent ways, there's a mysterious thug wearing a black kimono, there's a Chō- Han gambling game again, some comical moments, and finally a duel.The one thing that sets this apart from the rest (besides Mifune) is the 2-hour long runtime.
Certainly excessive for a Zatoichi film, especially when the plot is so convoluted such as in this one.
The music is pretty good in this one, too.Highlight of the film: the duel between Zatoichi and Yojimbo, naturally..
See Yojimbo and/or a Zatoichi film first..
It's important to see Yojimbo or a Zatoichi film before viewing this stinker.
Zatoichi films are the mold for the current Xena and Hercules series.
It may possibly be the worst film featuring Zatoichi.
The surprising thing is that Katsu and Mifune reprise their roles from the original.
I originally got this movie before I saw any other Zatoichi movie, whereas with the Yojimbo movies I know very well.
By this point I am very glad I did watch the Zatoichi movie I did but it seems like this Yojimbo character is a completely different character to the character you will see in the Kurosawa movies, that and Zatoichi is the hero of the movie.The plot is that Zatoichi decides to spontaneously go to a village he hasn't been to for three years, This kind of puzzles me - How does he know where he is for point of reference?
Zatoichi helps the gang lead by the father and a nameless gangster who's Yojimbo to the son and sensei (who's also a secret agent) tries to kill Zatoichi for 200ryo.The biggest problem is the seemingly false advertising you get.
After I watched the Zatoichi movie I thought "So this movie is going to be a crossover of what is at the time 2 of the most beloved samurai movies of all time?
Even if it was the same character though, why couldn't he just ask Ichi to go out of town where nobody will see or hear them and say what his intention's are.So people who enjoyed Yojimbo, if they want to see the character again may seem disappointed (although to be fair, as typical of Toshiro Mifune, his acting is excellent).
So if you watch a Zatoichi movie and like that then the question is "Will I get my fill on that?"...
Yes. It almost seems to me that the writers wanted to go about and make a Zatoichi movie but thought because there's a bodyguard who also fights for good and they got Mifune they thought "screw it, we got Toshiro Mifune - one of the greatest Japanese actors of all time, lets slap 'Yojimbo' on the title to give the producers more money".Aside from that I'll go onto the points that didn't disappoint me.
It kind of goes without saying but the acting from all involved is great, the father-son struggle is good even if they down-play it a little and the love relationship between Mifune and Umeno is also something I liked.
The action is really fun to watch and the cinematography is so much better than the other movies now that it's in colour among other things like the final scene when the wind is blowing during the sword-fight between gangs.So, at the end, this is just another Zatoichi movie.
I am really sorry if you guys sat down and watched this expecting another movie with the character in Yojimbo.
Zatoichi films a genre unto themselves.
A drunken Mifune plunges his sword into Zatoichi only to find that he has actually returned it to it's sheath.
Somewhat friendly enemies, constantly harassing each other and both on the fringe of lawlessness these two oblique characters defeat the bad guys, Mifune gets the girl and Zatoichi staggers off into the sunset.
Mifune and Katsu in a Fun Bloody Chambara Flick..
A classic of Japanese cinema, Zatoichi Meets Yojimbo, is an all around good time, with great performances, bloody samurai action, and a plot reminiscent of Kurosawa's original Yojimbo.Zatoichi, tiring of life on the road, returns to a village of which he has fond memories.
Eboshiya's son Masagoro has enlisted the aide of a money grubbing Yojimbo named Sasa (Mifune) to find out the town's secret of the hidden gold.
A secret only Eboshiya knows, a secret everyone is dying (literally) to find out.Zatoichi Meets Yojimbo features two legendary Japanese actors in two of their greatest (recurring) roles.
Zatoichi played by Shintaro Katsu and Yojimbo played by Toshiro Mifune.
Mifune plays his standard swaggering, drunken, sheisty Yojimbo, while Katsu utilizes his traditional sputtering, honorable, blind swordsman.
One of the strenght's of the film is that both characters stay true to the previous works of the same characters, and the interaction between Mifune and Katsu is the stuff of cinematic legend.
Although, Mifune's Yojimbo is a little more jaded than in the original Kurosawa flicks, but considering the life of the fictional character...
this difference is understandable.As I've mentioned the plot resembles that of the original Yojimbo; two gangs, one town, and scandalous samurai playing the clans against each other.
Only in Zatoichi Meets Yojimbo, it's two samurai, who not only are working the gangs but each other as well.
ZMY also adds the element of a third assassin named Kuzuryu (played devilishly by Shin Kishida) a man who helps to stir the proverbial pot.Of Course, Zatoichi is loaded with awesome chambara action, the kind that was exclusive to the mid 1960's, an era in Japanese cinema when samurai films were still making the transition from the black and white samurai epics of Kurosawa's days, to the exploitational samurai films of the 70's (such as Lone Wolf and Cub).
Ayako Wakao is great as Umeno, a beautiful prostitute who falls in love with Yojimbo, but her role is underdeveloped, thus the romantic aspect of the film kinda falls flat on its face.
Other than that, the ending is abrupt and jarring but these are minor issues for this type of film.Bottom Line- This film should be seen just for Mifune's and Katsu's brilliant acting.
The blind swordsman Zatoichi (Shintaro Katsu), whom real man is Ichi.
He acts as the son's Yojimbo (bodyguard).
What misleading by the title is that Toshiro character isn't the one from the original Kurosawa movie, yet the film tries to make homage to those films.
Ichi meets the son's yojimbo.
The film misused the time by adding too much local plot points with Eboshiya Yasuke's two sons.
From all the Zatoichi films, it's not too bad, just not that great.
All of this is a setup for Mifune and Katsu to go at each other hammer and tongs, each playing serious mind-games with the other, culminating in one serious bad-ass sword fight.