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 he itinerant blind swordsman/masseur/compulsive
gambler Zatôichi
is something of a cinematic institution in Japan. The meek, blind masseuse defending the helpless from
evil (using a samurai sword hidden in his walking stick with preternatural
skill) and putting the smack down at the local gambling hall (using his
acute hearing to "see" the dice) became the functional equivalent
of Hollywood's "Man With No Name" during the 1960's and '70s. The character, first played by Shintarô
Katsu, and more recently by 'Beat' Takeshi in the "Zatoichi"
remake, has been the subject of no less than 27 feature-length films as well
as a TV series.
"The Life and Opinion of
Masseur Ichi" is the first of the 27 films, and introduces us to the
pudgy, unassuming Ichi (Katsu), a wandering vagabond who shambles across the
countryside trying his best not to fall off of bridges that he comes across.
Released only a year after Akira Kurosawa's seminal "Yojimbo",
"Life and Opinion" can't help but share a similar plot. The movie
follows Ichi as he wanders into a town seeking a past acquaintance in order
to get a place to stay. As the film progresses, we learn that the
acquaintance is in fact a local mob boss who is gearing up for a showdown
with a rival mob boss in town.
Familiar with Ichi's skill with a sword, the
friend-cum-mob boss takes the opportunity to try to hire Ichi to fight
with him. However, these plans are thrown asunder when Ichi befriends
another ronin (a masterless samurai of ancient Japan) who may have been
hired by the opposing boss. There are also several side stories where Ichi
manages to get himself involved in the affairs of some of the gang
members, righting their wrongs and bringing peace through lightning-quick
swordplay.
Actually, the plot synopsis above provides the
framework for pretty much every Zatôichi
film to follow. Ichi is rarely the main character, but rather the catalyst
for bringing out the seedy secrets of the people he finds himself with.
Ichi is often the moral center, bringing order from the evil and chaos
around him. This defines the character, but unfortunately it also keeps
the viewer from ever really getting to know who Ichi really is aside from
the deadly sword skills and the penchant for gambling. Admittedly, I've
only seen five or six of the Zatôichi
films, but none of them have ever shed much light on Ichi's past, except
little hints that the history of our blind hero was not a very pleasant
one.
Aside from being the first in a series of movies,
"Life and Opinion" also has a very episodic feel to it, often
coming across as more of a pilot for a TV series rather than a
feature-length film. The movie is also very deliberately pace, and Ichi
doesn't even unsheathe his sword till nearly halfway through. However, the
final showdown between the two gangs is surprisingly violent, with the
smaller gang's members being mercilessly cut down in some intense close
quarter melee combat.
Unfortunately the gruesome battle comes a bit late,
with the exposition leading up to the showdown much too pedestrian. Too
much time is spent on the peripheral characters and their soap opera-esque
problems rather than on Ichi, where the focus should be since, after all,
this is his movie. The other Zatôichi
films I've seen seems to have remedied this somewhat by keeping the movie
focused on only one or two characters, instead of spreading the running
time too thin.
In
"Life and Opinion" we have the gang conflict, the ronin's story,
and a philandering gangster and his sister's abusive boyfriend. And into
this mess of personality comes Ichi, who summarily gets involved with all
of them in various ways. With a running time of only 95 minutes, there
isn't enough time for a satisfactory exploration of all these various
vignettes, let alone a satisfying conclusion that rewards all the time
we've spent with them.
"Life
and Opinion" ends with a traditional Japanese ending, involving
corny, melodramatic monologue ruminating about honor among thieves and
morality among amoral people. All potent stuff, to be sure, but they do
tend to ring somewhat false, since these great lines are being uttered by
blood-splattered killers.
Overall,
"Life and Opinion" is a decent start for the Zatôichi series.
It's engaging enough to hold your attention for its running length, but
not as interesting as many of the later installments. On its own merit,
"Life and Opinion" is an average chanbara movie, but fortunately
it's not alone, and has the rest of the Zatôichi cannon to back it up.
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