Criterion Review #7: The Adventures of Zatoichi

The Adventures of Zatoichi (1964)

Like many good samurai movies, this one starts with our hero coming into town.  At first, Zatoichi seems to be a kind, harmless blind man.  His off-hand joke in the first scene of the movie lets us know he has a sense of humor about his disability, as does his interaction with the children whose kite falls in his face.  Perhaps this slight disturbance serves as foreshadowing for the event that follows: a suspicious man asks him to deliver a note into town.  At once we sense that this will send our protagonist into harm's way and entangle him in a web of danger.

However, if, like the corrupt town authorities he will eventually face, we underestimated Zatoichi, he soon surprises us with his swift movements and adept swordsmanship.  Secretly we knew he would be this good, but Zatoichi's disarming manner brought down our defenses.  The movie carefully reveals Zatoichi's capabilities, building to his frightening and merciless killings at the end of the film.

Though Zatoichi is clearly a good and virtuous person, as evidenced by his selfless desire to help a young woman in trouble, he has a weakness for sake and gambling.  In one tense scene, we first glimpse the skill which Zatoichi has the power to wield.  As he plays a game of dice, he quickly unsheathes his sword as the dice come down.  The dealer lifts his cup to find the dice split in two, and then Zatoichi swiftly chops off the man's tuft of hair.  He takes the man's tuft, fishes around, and finds the real dice which the dealer had swapped.

The movie is constantly surprising and pleasurable to watch.  Though it seems inevitable that Zatoichi will upend any dangerous situation which comes his way, the film and the main actor likewise upend our expectations of how it will happen.  The popular screenwriting phrase "surprising, yet inevitable" comes to mind... we know the genre, we know the tropes, we know the arc.  Watching it unfold remains an indelible experience.