ZATOICHI: THE BLIND SWORDSMAN
An epic era ends as Zatoichi picks up his sword for the final time...
Starring – as well as being written, directed and produced by – Shintaro Katsu, the 26th and final film in the Zatoichi series, ZATOICHI: THE BLIND SWORDSMAN plays out like a cinematic collection of the legendary swordsman's "greatest hits", accelerating breathlessly from one blood-spurting set-piece to another as the blind hero finds himself caught up in a deadly feud between rival Yakuza clans.
Now entering his twilight years, but still a wandering loner, the blind, peace-loving masseur with the spectacular sword-wielding skills begins his ultimate adventure incarcerated in prison and suffering a beating for committing a petty crime. Released from prison, Ichi seeks a quiet life living alongside the gentle Edo Period villagers. Unfortunately, there is no escaping his past. With his reputation as a deadly defender of the innocent preceding him, conflict with the local Yakuza gangs is inevitable and he soon becomes inadvertently involved in a dispute between two clans, one of which has obtained a supply of firearms from a corrupt government official.
More grittily realistic in tone than previous entries in the series, but still retaining plenty of humour, ZATOICHI: THE BLIND SWORDSMAN is a visual feast, beautifully shot in totally natural lighting and boasting flashily choreographed and extremely bloody swordfight sequences.
Taking the opportunity to once again showcase his dazzling cane sword technique, Shintaro Katsu gives a mesmerizing performance as the wandering 19th century Japanense swordsman in what is, in every sense, the Zatoichi film to end them all.
ZATOICHI: THE BLIND SWORDSMAN (cert. 18) will be released on DVD (£15.99) by Arrow Films on 14th May 2007.
Check out some film clips:
Just can't get the help anymore
TOKYO DECADENCE
"Provocative, explicit and occasionally even thoughtful." – channel4.com
Written and directed by acclaimed Japanese novelist and film director, Ryu Murakami (the genius mind behind Takashi Miike's AUDITION), TOKYO DECADENCE takes the viewer on a journey to the seedy, secretive side of modern Japanese society as seen through the eyes of a young call girl who specializes in sadomasochistic acts of bondage, domination and submission.
Miho Nikaido (the real-life wife of US indie director Hal Hartley and the star of several of his films, including HENRY FOOL, FLIRT and the forthcoming FAY GRIM) stars as Ai, a young Japanese prostitute whose unrequited love for a former celebrity client draws her ever deeper into the dark underworld of gangsters, drugs and subversive sex as she tries desperately to win his affection.
Catering to Yakuza captains, salarymen and ostensibly "respectable" heads of industry, Ai witnesses and experiences sexual degradation, confusion and despair through her encounters with various clients who include a tycoon and his girlfriend who insist on humiliating her, a crazed drug fiend with a strangulation fixation, a submissive businessman known only as "Turtlehead" and a wine connoisseur with a disturbing taste for necrophilia.
Sexually graphic without being gratuitous, brilliant and honest, TOKYO DECADENCE is an unforgettable film that never shies away from exposing the realities of a world that is devoid of humanity and feeling. Boasting a music score by Academy Award winning composer Ryuichi Sakamoto (THE LAST EMPEROR) and a brave, subtly sympathetic, soul-baring central performance by Miho Nikaido, it presents a searing, disturbing and extremely graphic indictment of the hypocrisies of excessive materialism and sexual puritanism.
TOKYO DECADENCE (cert. 18) will be released on DVD (£15.99) by Arrow Films on 11th June 2007.
Until then, here's some film clips:
