Hi, this is Kana!

I haven't seen this movie yet. Is that the one Takeshi Kitano is in or he directed?

"Zatoichi" used to be a TV series long time ago and I vaguely remember the movie was made once (might be a few times, I'm not sure). I don't know it is still playing in the theatres or not but will definitely check it out later.

Hi, Craig here!

I finally was able to watch Zatoichi: The Blind Swordsman a few weeks ago. What a TREAT.

It is a fantastic movie. It is the one by Takeshi "Beat" Kitano. Zatoichi is a very famous Samurai film legend in Japan. There have been like 37 Zatoichi movies or something like that. :D Zatoichi is like the Japanese James Bond.

There are some very interesting things in Kitano's version. First Kitano's use of colour is absolutely legendary, but sometimes his stories suffer because of it. Not so in Zatoichi, his use of colour only serves to enhance the story. Second, the use of the rhythm group "The Stripes" from Tokyo in the movie is genius. They show up as rice farmers...and the music seems to match their movements, soon you realize though that the sound effects are actually coming from the farmers and they are performing it....you have to see it to believe it. And of course the final scene (which I won't give away) is just...WOW!

If you are looking for something a bit unique and different on a Friday night, you would be hard pressed to do better that Beat Kitano's Zatoichi The Blind Swordsman.

You can read a proper review here:
http://www.midnighteye.com/reviews/zatoichi.shtml Check it out!