Zatoichi the Fugitive

Last updated
Zatoichi the Fugitive
Zatoichi-the-fugitive.jpg
Directed by Tokuzō Tanaka
Written by Minoru Inuzuka
Seiji Hoshikawa
Produced by Masaichi Nagata
Starring Shintaro Katsu
Miwa Takada
Sachiko Murase
CinematographyChishi Makiura
Music by Akira Ifukube
Release date
  • August 10, 1963 (1963-08-10)
Running time
86 minutes
CountryJapan
LanguageJapanese

Zatoichi: The Fugitive (座頭市兇状旅, Zatōichi Kyōjō tabi) is a 1963 Japanese Chambara film directed by Tokuzō Tanaka starring Shintaro Katsu as the blind masseur Zatoichi, originally released by the Daiei Motion Picture Company (now known as Kadokawa Pictures). Zatoichi: The Fugitive is the fourth episode in the 26 part film series devoted to the character of Zatoichi.

Contents

Plot

Ichi (which is the main character's name, Zato being the lowest rank in the Todoza) travels by foot and enters a local sumo match to earn prize money. Ichi defeats five sighted opponents to win. He is later alone and is attacked by Kisuke, a young yakuza man he has never met. Kisuke is easily dispatched and Ichi berates him for being no match for Ichi and asks why he attacked him. Kisuke tells Ichi that he did it to get ten Ryō reward for killing Ichi. Before dying Kisuke reveals to Ichi that his mother is also yakuza but dies before revealing who placed the bounty on Ichi's head. Ichi travels to the local yakuza house of the Shimonida yakuza family. Just prior to Ichi's arrival Maki, the mother of Kisuke and a grandmother figure to the yakuza is with several visiting yakuza family bosses and the young new heir to the Shimonida yakuza family, Sakichi. The bosses are meeting during a local festival. Ichi meets Maki and confessing to the death of Kisuke and asks Maki's forgiveness. He tells that he killed Kisuke in a fair fight according to the yakuza code. This comforts Maki and she recognizes Ichi as honorable. Ichi gives her ten Ryō which he claims Kisuke asked him to give to her.

Meanwhile, Ichi stays at an inn in the town and comes across a woman he carried passionate feelings for, and possibly still does, by the name of Otane (whom Ichi affectionately calls Tane). Tane is not married to a carpenter, as she planned when last seen in a film, but to a quick-tempered ronin named Tanakura. She tells Ichi that she and her husband have done many bad things. The inn keeper's adopted daughter Nobu is in love with Sakichi but her father Shimazo does not approve of him. One of the visiting yakuza, Boss Yagiri sees the Sakichi as a weak boss and wishes to move in on the territory and demands that Ichi be killed or the Sakichi will lose his position. Yagiri plots with innkeeper Shimazo to have Sakichi and Ichi killed. It is later revealed that Shimazo is motivated to eliminate Sakichi because when his father was boss he took away a yakuza gambling house that Shimazo ran.

In front of the yakuza leaders during their celebration which Ichi interrupts Tanakura, displaying his prowess but also as an act of showing Tane belonging to him, cuts Ichi's tea cup in half. In response, Ichi cuts a sake bottle in half while it is still being held. Tanakura admits defeat and establishes himself as Ichi's "rival" in this film [1] because of his act.

Sakichi tells Ichi that the yakuza have taken Tane hostage. He rushes to the old abandoned inn where Nobu grew up as a child and sees that Tane is safe and well. The yakuza surround the inn and attack. One of the men uses a rifle to fire 3 shots (which all miss) with the inheritor, Nobu, and Ichi still inside. Tane goes outside and pleads with her husband not to attack, that she loves him and that she wants him to stay alive which will not happen if he faces Ichi. However, Tanakura is determined to claim the now 300 Ryō bounty on Ichi's head and to dispatch the rival to his wife's affection. Tane mistakenly partly draws his sword and he kills her instantly. Nobu sees this and tells Ichi. The news sends Ichi into a rage, he bursts outside, slaughters most of the several dozen yakuza then faces Tanakura in what is one of the most critically revered duels in the Zatoichi series. [2] [3] During the battle Ichi's sword is broken but he stabs Tanakura with a dagger hidden in the sword's handle. As he dies Tanakura says that Ichi did not know Tane but only had a romanticized image of her, that the ambush was actually her idea to get the reward.

The film concludes with Maki wishing that Ichi was her son, Ichi calling her mother and Ichi placing Nobu's hand in the hand of Sakichi before he again wanders away alone.

Cast

Production

Related Research Articles

<i>Zatoichi Meets Yojimbo</i> 1970 Japanese film

Zatoichi Meets Yojimbo (座頭市と用心棒) is a 1970 Japanese drama film directed by Kihachi Okamoto.

<i>The Tale of Zatoichi</i> 1962 Japanese film

The Tale of Zatoichi is a 1962 Japanese chanbara film directed by Kenji Misumi and based on the 1948 essay of the same name by Kan Shimozawa. It is the first installment in a long-running jidaigeki film series starring Shintaro Katsu as the blind swordsman Zatoichi.

Zatoichi: On the Road is a 1963 Japanese Chambara film directed by Kimiyoshi Yasuda starring Shintaro Katsu as the blind masseur Zatoichi, originally released by the Daiei Motion Picture Company. Zatoichi: On the Road is the fifth episode in the 26 part film series devoted to the character of Zatoichi.

<i>The Tale of Zatoichi Continues</i> 1962 Japanese film

The Tale of Zatoichi Continues is a 1962 Japanese film directed by Kazuo Mori and starring Shintaro Katsu as Zatōichi the blind swordsman, a character created by Kan Shimozawa. The Tale of Zatoichi Continues is the second entry in the popular, long-running Zatoichi series.

<i>The New Tale of Zatoichi</i> 1963 film by Tokuzō Tanaka

The New Tale of Zatoichi is a 1963 Japanese film and the third entry from the popular Zatoichi series completing the trilogy. The film is the first Zatoichi film to be in colour.

<i>Zatoichi and the One-Armed Swordsman</i> 1971 Japanese film

Zatoichi and the One-Armed Swordsman, also known as Zatoichi Meets the One-Armed Swordsman and The Blind Swordsman Meets His Equal, is a 1971 Japanese-Hong Kong chambara / wuxia crossover by Japanese film director Kimiyoshi Yasuda and Chinese film director Hsu Tseng Hung. The film stars Shintaro Katsu as the blind swordsman Zatoichi and Jimmy Wang Yu as the "One-Armed Swordsman" Wang Kang. It is a crossover of the long-running Zatoichi series and the One-Armed Swordsman film series.

<i>Zatoichi and the Chest of Gold</i> 1964 Japanese film

Zatoichi and the Chest of Gold is a 1964 Japanese Chambara film directed by Kazuo Ikehiro starring Shintaro Katsu as the blind masseur Zatoichi, originally released by the Daiei Motion Picture Company. It also stars Tomisaburo Wakayama who would later play the lead in the Lone Wolf and Cub series.

Fight, Zatoichi, Fight is a 1964 Japanese chambara film directed by Kenji Misumi and starring Shintaro Katsu as the blind masseur Zatoichi. It was originally released by the Daiei Motion Picture Company.

Adventures of Zatoichi is a 1964 Japanese chambara film directed by Kimiyoshi Yasuda and starring Shintaro Katsu as the blind masseur Zatoichi. It was originally released by the Daiei Motion Picture Company.

Zatoichi's Revenge is a 1965 Japanese chambara film directed by Akira Inoue and starring Shintaro Katsu as the blind masseur Zatoichi. It was originally released by the Daiei Motion Picture Company.

Zatoichi and the Doomed Man is a 1965 Japanese chambara film directed by Kazuo Mori and starring Shintaro Katsu as the blind masseur Zatoichi. It was originally released by the Daiei Motion Picture Company.

Zatoichi and the Chess Expert is a 1965 Japanese chambara film directed by Kenji Misumi and starring Shintaro Katsu as the blind masseur Zatoichi. It was originally released by the Daiei Motion Picture Company.

Zatoichi's Vengeance is a 1966 Japanese chambara film directed by Tokuzō Tanaka and starring Shintaro Katsu as the blind masseur Zatoichi. It was originally released by the Daiei Motion Picture Company.

Zatoichi's Cane Sword is a 1967 Japanese chambara film directed by Kimiyoshi Yasuda and starring Shintaro Katsu as the blind masseur Zatoichi. It was originally released by the Daiei Motion Picture Company.

Zatoichi Challenged is a 1967 Japanese chambara film directed by Kenji Misumi and starring Shintaro Katsu as the blind masseur Zatoichi. It was originally released by the Daiei Motion Picture Company.

Zatoichi and the Fugitives is a 1968 Japanese chambara film directed by Kimiyoshi Yasuda and starring Shintaro Katsu as the blind masseur Zatoichi. It was originally released by the Daiei Motion Picture Company.

<i>Zatoichi Goes to the Fire Festival</i> 1970 Japanese film

Zatoichi Goes to the Fire Festival (座頭市あばれ火祭り) is a 1970 Japanese Chambara film directed by Kenji Misumi and starring Shintaro Katsu, who also produced and co-wrote the script. It is the twenty-first of a series of films featuring the blind swordsman Zatoichi. The protagonist, who works as a masseur during the late Edo period, was created by novelist Kan Shimozawa.

Zatoichi at Large is a 1972 Japanese film directed by Kazuo Mori. The film stars Shintaro Katsu as Zatoichi, a blind swordsman and masseur who helps deliver a baby and transport it to its relatives after its mother dies. It was the 23rd film in the Zatoichi film series and the first distributed by Toho, while all others were distributed by Daiei.

Zatôichi (座頭市), also known as Zatoichi: Darkness Is His Ally, Zatoichi: The Blind Swordsman and Shintaro Katsu's Zatoichi, is a 1989 Japanese Chambara film directed by and starring Shintaro Katsu, who also produced and co-wrote the screenplay. It is the twenty-sixth entry in a series of films featuring the blind swordsman Zatoichi, released 16 years after the twenty-fifth film in the series Zatoichi's Conspiracy (1973). The main character is based on a fictional character, a blind masseur and swordmaster created by novelist Kan Shimozawa and set during the late Edo period.

<i>Zatoichi</i> (2008 film) Filmed stage play by Takashi Miike

Miike Takashi × Aikawa Show: Zatoichi, also known as Zatoichi Live, is a filmed stage production of Zatoichi, a play co-written by Takashi Miike and Masa Nakamura based on the character created by Kan Shimozawa. It was Miike's second filmed stage production, following Demon Pond in 2005. The stage production was performed and filmed on December 12, 2007, and the DVD was released on May 30, 2008.

References

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.