This was my first exposure to Zatoichi series, which I think numbers 27 movies. My biggest problem was that the movie deposits you into the story without any explanation. My disorientation could be because I am unfamiliar with the Japanese culture and Zatoichi could be well-known there. Anyhow, after the first ten minutes, the movie is pretty easy to follow because it has the same structure as the classical western: stranger comes to a town with a problem, rids the town of the problem and then leaves. There are twists that aren't surprising and one that is. I have to say that the sword fights are very different than what I was expecting. Each fight lasted approximately five seconds. Even the fight with a really good swordsman lasted only 30 seconds, if that. The tactic of the vanquished standing very still for a little while until he collapses, was a good one and managed to be effective throughout the whole movie. The best fight was when Zatoichi prevented three thugs from ascending a staircase by pretending to be just a clumsy blind man. The fact that the film is very short, helps out a lot but in the end the movie only seems like an episode in a TV series. I guess I will have to see more of the series to really understand it.
