The Chinese film, THE ONE ARMED SWORDSMAN, might just be the greatest martial arts film of all-time. It certainly impressed me and I was brilliantly choreographed throughout. In a very, very odd merging of genres, this Shaw Brothers creation from Hong Kong now meets Zatoichi--the star of almost 30 adventure films. While these two characters were similar with their prowess with the sword, who would have thought of taking characters from two places so far apart as Hong Kong and Japan (a distance of about 1800 miles plus a journey across the Sea of Japan)?! And, not surprisingly, Wang Kong (the one-armed swordsman) speaks Chinese throughout the film--with Japanese subtitles on the side. How he and a blind Japanese man will meet and interact sure intrigued me--I'm just surprised that I saved this strange film to be the final Zatoichi film I would watch and review. Talk about a weird plot!
The film begins with Wang Kong (also called 'Wang Kang' in the film) meeting a fellow Chinese man and his family in Japan. Both are surprised to see a countryman in this far-off land. In a problem caused by a cultural misunderstanding, when a high Japanese official and his entourage pass, the family didn't know they were supposed to grovel on the ground (Japanese custom for all peasants) as they passed. Instead, when the little boy's kite gets away from him, he runs towards the procession and his mother and father are cut down like dogs--and the one-armed man kills several in the procession before he escapes. A bit later, Ichi happens upon the victims of this assault. There he finds the little boy and he brings him to town. However, the people in the town are looking for the one-armed man--or anyone who is Chinese, so it's up to Ichi to protect the child's identity. Fortunately, the Chinese boy DOES understand Japanese but he made for a really lousy interpreter.
Much of the film consists of the baddies trying to capture and kill both the child and the one-armed man to teach everyone a lesson in obedience. Additionally, because of the language barrier and the child being essentially stupid, the good guys kept assuming that Ichi was a traitor and was helping the forces of evil to capture these Chinese people. Only late in the film is the truth known--but still, for some odd reason, there is the requisite battle between Ichi and the one-armed man.
Overall, there isn't that much fighting by the one-armed man until late in the film. Additionally, the choreography and skills demonstrated aren't up to the standards of the original one-armed man film. Still, it's a nice diversion and offers a lot of new material in an aging martial arts series. Not great, but very good.
By the way, as you watch the ending, note the background music and style--it's pure Spaghetti Western, as is Ichi's playing the whistle like Charles Bronson did in ONCE UPON A TIME IN THE WEST.
The film begins with Wang Kong (also called 'Wang Kang' in the film) meeting a fellow Chinese man and his family in Japan. Both are surprised to see a countryman in this far-off land. In a problem caused by a cultural misunderstanding, when a high Japanese official and his entourage pass, the family didn't know they were supposed to grovel on the ground (Japanese custom for all peasants) as they passed. Instead, when the little boy's kite gets away from him, he runs towards the procession and his mother and father are cut down like dogs--and the one-armed man kills several in the procession before he escapes. A bit later, Ichi happens upon the victims of this assault. There he finds the little boy and he brings him to town. However, the people in the town are looking for the one-armed man--or anyone who is Chinese, so it's up to Ichi to protect the child's identity. Fortunately, the Chinese boy DOES understand Japanese but he made for a really lousy interpreter.
Much of the film consists of the baddies trying to capture and kill both the child and the one-armed man to teach everyone a lesson in obedience. Additionally, because of the language barrier and the child being essentially stupid, the good guys kept assuming that Ichi was a traitor and was helping the forces of evil to capture these Chinese people. Only late in the film is the truth known--but still, for some odd reason, there is the requisite battle between Ichi and the one-armed man.
Overall, there isn't that much fighting by the one-armed man until late in the film. Additionally, the choreography and skills demonstrated aren't up to the standards of the original one-armed man film. Still, it's a nice diversion and offers a lot of new material in an aging martial arts series. Not great, but very good.
By the way, as you watch the ending, note the background music and style--it's pure Spaghetti Western, as is Ichi's playing the whistle like Charles Bronson did in ONCE UPON A TIME IN THE WEST.