Review of Zatoichi's Flashing Sword (1964) by Chris B — 17 Aug 2009

Zatoichi's back and this time he's bringing along some of the most memorable moments from the series so far. Flashing Sword took it's time in drawing me in. This was probably because of the, mostly, comical beginning.

Surprisingly the film has the darkest ending and a genuinely unnerving final shot. Zatoichi really cuts loose, and the film seems to suggest he becomes some kind of demon of darkness. I wouldn't be surprised to find out that this is a favorite film of Park Chan-Wook, as it has many familiar scenes from his films.

Most notably the underwater slicing scene and a single take fight sequence. Like Oldboy, the camera travels along parallel to the action (this time from above), with a seemingly endless swarm of attackers approaching the hero.

This is a very memorable film for individual sequences, even if the story isn't as strong.