Zatoichi Challenged (1967)

Not rated, and weirdly less intense than its predecessor, Zatoichi the Outlaw​.  That's kind of surprising, because that movie was gory and sexual.  This one has a little bit of blood and drawn nudity, but no actual nudity or sexuality in this one.  Sure, we have to be reminded that Zatoichi is just slaughtering dude after dude who comes after him.  But since they got rid of all the blood, it somehow makes it more palatable.  Not rated.

DIRECTOR: Kenji Misumi

See, I normally don't write any film blogs on weekend.  Here I am, writing two separate Zatoichi blogs in the same weekend.  I stand by my choices.  This one, I don't necessarily have anxiety about writing.  Besides the idea that I have to knock this out before I'm given some kind of job that distracts me from writing, I don't really have anxiety.  Do you know why?

This might be the best Zatoichi movie.  I know that I still have a healthy amount of Zatoichi movies after this.  Normally, after you say that you've watched seventeen movies in the same franchise, you'd have to assume that I'm near the end.  Spoiler alert:  I still have a billion more movies to go.  But I never thought that the franchise would find its glorious moment with film seventeen.  Now, I keep writing this over and over, so I apologize to those happy few who have stuck through the Zatoichi blog entries time and again.  The biggest complaint that this franchise has is a complete lack of creativity. Once they figured out their format, they were so afraid of deviating from that formula that these movies became a straight up burden.  Yeah, I would have purchased this box set regardless, even knowing that they get pretty boring.  I love me a pretty Criterion box set.  

But Zatoichi Challenged did the smartest thing ever.  It still fits in the tone and aesthetics of a Zatoichi movie, but it actually simplified the plot to something that is fundamentally character driven.  Add to the fact that someone really cared what this movie looked like, I can't help but be more than a little impressed by this movie. For the first time since watching the first movie in the box (which I will have to return to one day), I was actually invested in one of these movies.  Part of that came from the fact that we had a concrete plot that could easily be understood.  For those who really want to know why Challenged works, it's because Zatoichi has a concrete goal.  After a boy's mother dies, he's tasked with returning a six-year-old to his father, who is unaware of his existence.  It's not like Challenged doesn't have any of the Zatoichi trappings.  There are still local lords and bosses who make Zatoichi's life miserable.  Of course, there are going to be conflicts, some of which I'll lack the cultural context to completely understand and relate to.  But this is fundamentally a story that should have been named Zatoichi and Son.  To give credit where credit is due, we kind of got a better version of this with Lone Wolf and Cub. But those movies wouldn't start showing up until 1972.  I couldn't tell you when the manga was written.

While I dig the Zatoichi versus a million dudes sequences, those moments get old.  Instead, when Zatoichi is playful (beyond his standard "messing with people trying to trick him at dice" bit), that's when I really like the movies.  The back and forth between the kid and Zatoichi is honestly priceless.  One thing that it brought to my attention that, for all of Zatoichi's charm, he's kind of a grumpus.   It's kind of like Captain Picard (I'm really expanding my coolness base with these Zatoichi and Picard references!).  We kind of forget that he's kind of a grumpy mess most of the time when he's juxtaposed to children. Zatoichi knows how to chat with everyone and have a good time, but his disdain for children gives him room to grow.  And the thing is, Zatoichi actually goes through character growth because of his time with the kid.  We're even given the Shane ending, with the kid chasing after him as he leaves the boy to bond with his father.  (If you yell at me about spoilers, come on.  You knew where this was going.)  But unlike the Shane ending, we actually get to experience the growth of the character from the eponymous perspective. It's really good.

Also, can I tell you how much I enjoy something that others might not think ages very well.  This is another Zatoichi film from 1967.  They were really cranking them out that year, huh?  Anyway, it's nice to see that the franchise embraces the cultural changes that are happening throughout the world.  I thought the same thing when Bond started addressing that they should start changing for the times.  It's not all the way throughout the movie, but there is this cool hippie moment where there's a music number that feels way to poppy than feudal Japan would offer.  I don't know.  It just feels so light for most of the movie.  Now, as I'm writing this, I realize that Zatoichi Challenged is unfortunately in that subgenre of film where a barbarian hangs out with a baby, like The Pacifier.  But this movie nails the feel of what this movie should be.  Because it's movie number 17, we are more in touch with Zatoichi as a character than something like The Pacifier, which ultimately relies on archetypes and shortcuts to develop character.  We know who Zatoichi is.  We know his moral code and all of the things that he stands for.  When this kid is added to the story, there's an understanding that whatever choices that Zatoichi makes has to stay true to his character.  It's pretty rad.

And, as much as I'm praising the dynamic between Zatoichi and the kid, there's this whole other plot that we don't really have a read on.  Okay, I should have been more concrete about the fact that the samurai and Zatoichi were going to have to fight by the end.  I knew that it was a possibility, but I refused to commit to it.  But there's this whole B-plot of this noble ronin who befriends the wandering Zatoichi and child.  We get the idea that they're going to be partners in goodness coming from different places in life.  But then the samurai starts doing all of these morally dubious acts and the film just goes to another level.  The final sequence in these movies tends to be the moment that a lot of people are waiting for.  I mentioned that they stopped really knocking my socks off a while ago, but this one absolutely slaps.  Yeah, I know.  Snow shouldn't make things look artsy.  But guess what?  That duel in the snow is one of the coolest samurai sequences I've seen in a while.  

Also, they made that moment flipping worth it.  So worth it.  There is an understanding that Zatoichi is constantly putting his life at risk for the greater good.  But that was always balanced with the concept that Zatoichi was always so skilled that there was no scenario where he'd really get beaten.  With Zatoichi's Cane Sword, another Zatoichi movie that I really dug for taking some risks, we got that Zatoichi kind of risked his life knowing that the next hit would have destroyed his weapon of choice.  That was more out of his hands.  Instead, there's this amazing duel with two guys who don't want to kill each other (although Zatoichi's comment about samurais being so full of themselves was pretty great) leads to Zatoichi full on surrendering his life by getting rid of his sword to save Shokichi.   He's there, ready to be slain for this man he just met, but really for this child who has a chance at happiness.  Just there, kneeling in the snow...it's all perfect.  Such a good dismount. 

It's been so long since I've been excited for this franchise and I never thought that there would be good entries past the original.  It's weird, because I'd almost recommend this as a movie to start with if you wanted a good Zatoichi movie.