 In Zatoichi & the Chest of Gold (Zatoichi sen-ryu kubi, 1964), our famous blind swordsman & humble masseur returns to a village where he wrongly killed a man, to pay apologetic respects at his graveside, while the man's sister seeks revenge against him.
 When gold collected by villagers to pay their taxes is stolen, the angry young woman insinuates that Ichi may have something to do with it, though Ichi being a blind wanderer had no idea he had been seen sitting on the very chest in question.
The villagers set upon Ichi beating him. He does not want to harm them & he agrees the sister's desire for vengeance is justified, so he dare not fight back in his ultimate manner. Thus his canesword remains sheathed.
 Soon Ichi is caught up trying to clear his name of the theft, as well as helping to clear the name of the other chief suspect, the famed wandering gang boss Chuji of Kunisada, a famous character featured in many films from the silent era on, & who was previously met in the fourth Zatoichi feature film, Zatoichi the Fugitive (Zatoichi kyojo-tabi, 1963).
Katsu's brother Tomisaburo Wakayma guest stars as Jushiro, the evil magistrate's yojimbo who fights with bullwhip as well as sword, & who despises "lowly worms" like Ichi who think they have mastered the sword.
Kurosawa's cinematographer Kazuo Miyagawa provides a classic elegance to the film. He would return for many other episodes, sustaining a high level of visual beauty for the series.
 From the very first episode on, there was a mythic quality to Ichi, who could smile so winningly & was so very humble & well meaning, but whose face could suddenly go dark & gloomy with the highest degree of menace.
In Chest of Gold the bloodiness of the swordplay action increased in intensity, & Ichi's capacity to transform from sweet blind guy to whirlwind of reverse-draw death was amped up, as it would remain through much of the long-running series from this point on.
Fight choreography is simply amazing, but the action never expunges the depth of Ichi's character & his relationslhips to other figures in the tale.
There is action throughout, with a spectacularly brutal finale showcasing Ichi's capacity for relentless carnage. This is one of the finest episodes of a series that knew few duds.
copyright © by Paghat the Ratgirl
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