A blind swordsman walks into a bar... wait, wrong Katsu. This one's got GOOFY chaos and arterial spray.
The second film in the "Suruga yukyoden" series, in which Shintaro Katsu plays Jirocho Shimizu. The film features Omasa, Komasa, Ocho, who will become Jirocho's wife, as well as other members of his future family. There is a particularly great swordfight near the end where Katsu and cronies attack the rival villainous yakuza clan to rescue their ailing, elderly boss. The action choreography, cinematography and editing of this sequence is quite brilliant, treading a difficult tightrope act between genuinely goofy antics and exhilirating, bloody violence.
Editing
The rescue sequence cuts between slapstick and slaughter like it's NOTHING.
Acting
Katsu balancing clown prince and cold killer in one smirk.
Director
Tokuzō Tanaka
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
Jirocho Shimizu was a real 19th-century gambling boss turned folk hero, like a Japanese Robin Hood with worse PR. The Suruga series mythologized him into pure cinema swagger.
This came out the same year as Zatoichi: The Fugitive—Katsu was playing TWO iconic blind/barely-sighted swordsmen simultaneously while building this entire yakuza franchise. The man never slept.
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