One of the cool things about my high-def package is a channel that runs nothing but kung-fu flicks. My sweetie really likes the Zatoichi movies, so we've been checking a lot of them out lately. Ichi, a blind swordsman who'd really rather be a gambler and masseur but keeps getting dragged into gang conflicts, is hired by a gang leader who's worried about a possible showdown with another gang.
Gang number two has hired a honest-to-blog samurai to fight on their side, and gang number one's thugs won't be able to defeat him. Ichi can. Unfortnately, he meets the deathly ill samurai and the two forge a friendship. But you just know there's not going to be a happy ending.
As a kung fu flick, it's not the best. There's almost no fighting for three-fourths of the film and the camerawork is spotty at best. As a period drama, it's pretty good. You get a great portrait of the relucant mercenary. Ichi's scenes with a besotted woman and with the dying samurai are sincere without being sentimental. And even the gang members are given time and space to develop as more than sword fodder.
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