PHENOMENALITY: *uncanny*
MYTHICITY: *fair*
FRYEAN MYTHOS: *adventure*
CAMPBELLIAN FUNCTIONS: *psychological, sociological*
Everyone’s favorite blind
samurai-masseuse made his ninth appearance in this amiable if
unremarkable melodrama.
The itinerant hero, journeying through
medieval Japan on his way to a sacred festival, meets a man who asks
the blind fellow to deliver a message. Zatoichi presumes that it’s
a love letter. In truth the young man is in hiding after having been
implicated in Yakuza business, and the recipient of the letter is the
fellow’s sister. Once Zatoichi knows the truth, he’s unable to
keep from involving himself in the young man’s troubles, even
though the local Yakuza have their own pet samurai.
There’s a second family-oriented
subplots, though they aren’t as persuasive as the main conflict, or
even a throwaway moment when Zatoichi reminisces about his being
abandoned by his father. Perhaps that’s why he travels around,
lending his talents to the needy-- not just out of altruism, but as a
deferred act of familial defense?
The only downside is that the blind
hero’s uncanny swordfights are usually over too quickly to prove
very impressive.
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