Zatoichi

[Drunk Monk]

The title describes this one succinctly. It is the grimmest installment. Katsu is clearly exhausted artistically with the character and heaps abuse on him psychologically and physically. Some old motifs are repeated again, like Ichi's scam to let one of the dice fall outside the cup a few times, and then to let them both fall, but then to reveal that it was the dice from his sleeve that were exposed and the true dice remain in the cup. There's some really dark stuff here - the rape of a mentally disabled boy, the brutal killing of another innocent boy, the suicide of a young virgin about to be deflowered in a brothel, the random death of an old woman, the rescue of a top prostitute from a brothel only to find she didn't want to leave - and most unpleasant is the fate of Ichi, crippling him for the most grisly fight so far. The choreography isn't as good in this one - a lot is obscured by dark scenes and quick cuts. The music is a funky 70s soundtrack - a rambling bass line with bongo drums reminiscent of Lalo Schifrin's iconic soundtrack for Enter the Dragon. There are some weird flashback hallucinatory scenes, too visual for a blind man. This one is pretty bloody too. If I had seen this film out of order, I would not have liked it. But in order, it makes a lot of sense. It's more about Katsu expressing his own frustration with being typecast as Ichi, a self-destructive urge played out on film.

The next one is the last one of the theatrical films. Hulu+ also has another outside the series made much later - I think it is from the TV show. And Hulu+ just released the female versions - later rip-offs of the idea. Crimson Bat which came soon after Zatoichi and runs some four films I think, and Ichi, which came much later. both feature female leads - blind swordswomen. I remember seeing one Crimson Bat back in the day and it was really exploitive. I've never seen Ichi but I recall reading a review that implied that she was Ichi's daughter. I'll probably explore those later. I'm pretty hooked to Ichi now and even though my obligatory Kung Fu flicks are starting to back up, I may stay in the blind chambara world for a little longer.