a brief opinion on Zatoichi

before the local reviews come out for Beat Takeshi‘s Zatoichi (its the opening film for Cinemanila), let me briefly say first that (obviously, i’ve seen it) its odd fare, but thoroughly satisfying.

predictably, one will easily come up with comparisons to the ultra-violence of Kill Bill, or the offbeat musical numbers of Dancer in the Dark: count me in, because i file myself under amateur film pundit, and that i should know better. however: 1) i’d credit Ichi the Killer than Kill Bill; 2) i know i should read more on the original Zatoichi TV series/films to get a better grasp of the movie’s backgrond, and 3) get my hands on more Kitano movies.

read a worthy review here.

TRIVIA: via IMDB:

The blood in the film has been described by many as being “too CGI”. Kitano did this intentionally, wanting to “soften the shock to the audience” due to the high body count. Kitano told the CGI artist he wanted the blood to “look like flowers blossoming across the screen.”