Lead actor Shintaro Katsu sits in the director's chair for the penultimate movie of the original Zatoichi saga. Despite being the 24th in the franchise (you'd expect them to get worse over time), Zatoichi in Desperation is easily one of the best installments of the series.
The story itself is nothing new. Zatoichi tries to help people and gets into trouble with the local thugs. However, this movie is much darker than any other in the original series. Not only does Zatoichi accidentally cause an old woman's death by falling off of the bridge in the intro, but the remainder of the plot is unusually bleak for the series. There's not much humor either, besides one cum shot gag. One interesting thing about this movie (besides the uncharacteristically silent and black intro credits scene) is that Zatoichi doesn't get to be a savior of the situation at one point, leading to unsettling deaths, which is a cool little piece of subversion. There's also more sex than usual, giving the movie a rougher, exploitation vibe that I can't help but like.
The other thing that sticks out about this movie is how pleasing it is to look at. Not only is the setting a melancholic sandy beach town (not really a typical Zatoichi location), but the camera-work is so over the top and brings to mind some of the techniques from the Japanese New Wave. Sudden zoom-ins and outs, out-of-focus shots, free-wheeling shot composition, obstructions in the foreground, wacky color combos, crane shots, floor shots, silhouettes and dynamic editing. It surprisingly doesn't come across as a pretentious overkill that swallows the story; instead, it makes it a lot more interesting to watch than its predecessors just because it's so unlike the rest of them. The soundtrack has also been replaced by funk music, which oddly fits the movie.
Highlight of the film: Zatoichi gets his hands stabbed, so he ties his sword to his hand so he can fight.
The story itself is nothing new. Zatoichi tries to help people and gets into trouble with the local thugs. However, this movie is much darker than any other in the original series. Not only does Zatoichi accidentally cause an old woman's death by falling off of the bridge in the intro, but the remainder of the plot is unusually bleak for the series. There's not much humor either, besides one cum shot gag. One interesting thing about this movie (besides the uncharacteristically silent and black intro credits scene) is that Zatoichi doesn't get to be a savior of the situation at one point, leading to unsettling deaths, which is a cool little piece of subversion. There's also more sex than usual, giving the movie a rougher, exploitation vibe that I can't help but like.
The other thing that sticks out about this movie is how pleasing it is to look at. Not only is the setting a melancholic sandy beach town (not really a typical Zatoichi location), but the camera-work is so over the top and brings to mind some of the techniques from the Japanese New Wave. Sudden zoom-ins and outs, out-of-focus shots, free-wheeling shot composition, obstructions in the foreground, wacky color combos, crane shots, floor shots, silhouettes and dynamic editing. It surprisingly doesn't come across as a pretentious overkill that swallows the story; instead, it makes it a lot more interesting to watch than its predecessors just because it's so unlike the rest of them. The soundtrack has also been replaced by funk music, which oddly fits the movie.
Highlight of the film: Zatoichi gets his hands stabbed, so he ties his sword to his hand so he can fight.