Kitano at Toronto

[Aaron Gerow]

SOME SPOILERS

>I think it`s also important to say how the tap dance sequence in ZATOICHI 
>is
>used, along with the other seqences in the film that use the rythmic
>assemblage of "rural" sounds produced from hoes and stomping in mud: as a
>celebration of a community spirit closely connected to the "earth"/land.

As I wrote about in my Daily Yomiuri review, I found the film to be a 
somewhat concerted effort on Kitano's part to (re)associate himself with the 
popular/folk/mass, bringing back the tapdancing of his Asakusa youth while 
also having Zatoichi go out of his way to protect folk icons like the 
farmer's totem. The narrative itself is partially centered on questions of 
class and hierarchy and Zatoichi's final statement is precisely an 
affirmation of the need to "be with the people."

I would say this is less a celebration of the earth or rural, than a 
distinctly hybrid conception of the folk/masses (witness the blonde 
Zatoichi!). As with his recent films, there are some disturbing aspects of 
nationality here, but this is a more radical, if not carnivalesque vision, 
which you don't really see in Kawase. Kawase, however, has been criticized 
for being too concentrated on "tradition," which is why it is interesting 
that the festival in Shara soju is a recent creation.

Aaron Gerow
YNU

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