| This visually stunning Japanese swordplay drama is an attempt at revising the venerable and exciting Zatoichi films and television series, which concern a blind masseur whose lowbrow nature concealed his deadly prowess with a blade. Here, the sightless hero is a woman (Ayase Haruka) in search of another blind man (the original Zatoichi, it is assumed) who taught her to defend herself before disappearing from her life. Unfortunately, the gender switch is the only real deviation from the tried and true Zatoichi format, which star and occasional director Shintaro Katsu perfected in 26 films and a television series between 1962 and 1989. Takeshi Kitano starred in and directed a more adventurous update in 2003 (complete with a musical number), so while Ichi is largely superfluous, it does feature a fine performance by Haruka, some lovely photography, and muscular and bloody combat choreographed by Kuze Hiroshi, who worked on several films for Akira Kurosawa. The DVD includes only a trailer for supplemental features. --Paul Gaita |
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 Breathtakingly beautiful, very moving, excellent lead actors ! |
| Review Date: March 25, 2010 |
| Reviewer: H. Reyes, Tarrytown, New York |
I just saw this movie last night on European television (ARTE), with French sub-titles. My knowledge of Japanese cinema is sadly limited to Akira Kurosawa, and I had never heard the story of the blind swordsman everyone else is referring to. So perhaps my few modest words are for those who, like me, discovered this "legendary tale" with the film Ichi.
The story is beautifully told, and beautifully filmed as well. You really feel, during the whole (almost) two hours, you are in a different world, and this sharpens the senses into catching every glance, movement, stare and of course every element of body language... Haruka Ayase is breathtakingly beautiful -- delicate and yet showing remarkable inner strength from the very beginning. Not to mention her fascinating ability with her blade. The "blackhearted" Banki leader is almost a caricature of villainy and his Phantom-of-the-Opera style adds to his dark nature, making the ending all the more gripping.
I heartily recommend this film, and can tell you I enjoyed every minute of it. The flashbacks are cunningly done and do not confuse the viewer as they sometimes tend to do. Ichi's resilience, so well portrayed by Haruka Ayase, shines throughout the film and her image will stay with all of you lucky enough to see this extraordinary film! I will certainly buy the DVD, when it comes hopefully with something more of a bonus than just the trailer. |
Zatoichi's Daughter
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| Review Date: December 22, 2009 |
| Reviewer: A Customer, L.A. |
| Blind babe swords and showgirl on the run is an odd thought and a great film. Production is aware of eastern and western elements. Like a Asian Spaghetti Eastern Western crossed with more 60s imagery. Sophisticated sense of humor with the proper gloss, grit and gore. Fantastic soundtrack includes Dead Can Dance's Lisa Gerrard. Good looking and sounding. Great Blu-ray |
Brilliant - amazing -superb
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| Review Date: December 27, 2009 |
| Reviewer: Anthony, Denmark |
| Ichi is a brilliant - amazing - superb - samurai flick . All the actors does a amazing job . Haruka Ayase is so gorgeous and a great actrees . A MUST SEE . 5 BIG STARS |
Cool little flic. NOT a Pinkie film.
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| Review Date: November 5, 2009 |
| Reviewer: Bill F. Armitage, Canada |
What a cool little flic, a valiant attempt at using the Zatoichi character as a woman/girl.
It is NOT a low grade pinkie film like Ninja Chicks, (just to show of some cutie doing sword fights), but a more serious film. |
Razor sharp and cutting edge
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| Review Date: October 21, 2009 |
| Reviewer: Ian Williams, Sunderland, UK |
Historical samurai dramas are the Japanese equivalent of the Western except that they still maintain their credibility. This is a reworking of the popular Zatoichi the blinds swordsman series, with a blind female musician trying to track down the person who may or may not be Zatoichi and who may or may not be her father.
I like the structure as more and more is revealed about the two main characters over the course of the film through the use of flashbacks which can, early on, sometimes be misleading. Toma, the samurai whom Ichi protects, at first appears to be nothing more than a coward but he is more than that and there are resonances which I don't want to spoil. The two leads are absolutely fine in their roles, the cute kid who helps Ichi is bearable, but the villains tend to be over the top. In particular the chief bad guy comes over like a psycho samurai Quentin Tarantino, whom he rather resembles.
It's attractively photographed with several striking snow scenes. There is a strong emotional content and lots of brooding silences, profundities, and deep thoughts -this is a samurai movie after all. There's even more blood, lashings and lashings of it as our heroine wades through the bad guys using her special backhanded slicing technique. The climax features even more blood and carnage with bad guys against good guys, hero against villain, heroine ag... ah, that would be telling.
I had a good time watching this. Sequel, please.
I have the UK edition. It's in Japanese with English subtitles. No extras apart from a trailer. |
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