Zatoichi and the One-Armed Swordsman
Original title: Shin Zatôichi: Yabure! Tôjin-ken
IMDb RATING
7.1/10
1.8K
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Two of Japan and China's greatest heroic swordsman find themselves caught in a plot to protect a young child. But will national distrust and simple misunderstanding keep the two kindred spir... Read allTwo of Japan and China's greatest heroic swordsman find themselves caught in a plot to protect a young child. But will national distrust and simple misunderstanding keep the two kindred spirits apart?Two of Japan and China's greatest heroic swordsman find themselves caught in a plot to protect a young child. But will national distrust and simple misunderstanding keep the two kindred spirits apart?
- Awards
- 1 win total
Jimmy Wang Yu
- Wang Kong
- (as Yu Wang)
- …
- Director
- Writers
- All cast & crew
- Production, box office & more at IMDbPro
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaThe first Zatoichi film made after the Daiei Motion Picture Company went bankrupt, and the Toho Company took over distribution of the films for the remainder of the decade.
- Alternate versionsChinese version has an extra fight scene between a priest and the one armed swordsman. The outcome of the final duel is also different.
- ConnectionsFeatured in WatchMojo: Top 10 Movie Crossovers (2014)
Featured review
An interesting meeting of action film genres at a time when one was ebbing into the twilight and the other just starting to go. It would be only a few more years before the chambara genre peters out (but not before some more great films are made) and mostly moves to television. The wuxia (swordplay) genre (where the One Armed Swordsman comes from) split off into the kung fu genre which hits it's stride with the coming of Bruce Lee's "Big Boss" and Wang Yu's self-directed "One Armed Boxer" (no relation to the swordsman), the same year this Zatoichi film is released. The great years of kung fu cinema were just around the corner.
Wang Kong (the One-Armed Swordsman) arrives in Japan to find a temple where a Japanese monk has invited Wang Kong to live. Unable to speak Japanese at all, Wang Kong chances upon a traveling Chinese family of entertainers who have made Japan their home. A husband, wife and young boy, they like Japan better then China. Accompanying Wang Kong to the temple the four encounter a procession of samurai transporting specially prepared abalone destined for the Shogun. Everyone must get off the road and let the procession pass or suffer dire consequences. Unfortunately, the little Chinese boy runs after a kite and is set upon by a sword swinging samurai. The mother protects her child but at the cost of her life, the father is killed too. Agast at the cruelty of the samurai, Wang Kong jumps in and kills a number of them. The little boy runs off and is separated from Wang Kong who retreats from further battle. The samurai decide to kill all the innocent people who witnessed the scene and blame the carnage on the "crazed Chinaman". Zatoichi comes upon the frightened child and decides to take care of him. Later the fugitive Wang Kong meets Zatoichi but the two have a really hard time communicating and Wang Kong is very suspicious of Zatoichi's motives. Of course this being a Zatoichi film, an evil yakuza gang gets involved and you know what's going to happen to them.
The first thing that strikes me is how different the One-Armed Swordman films were from the Zatoichi films in terms of sophistication. The HK films of the time were still very stagy in look and acting where the Japanese films were well versed in film techniques and acted in a more natural manner. I am not a great fan of Chang Cheh's "One Armed Swordsman" but many people really like it and it deserves it's significance in film history. It was also apparently very popular in Japan.
This particular outing with the character is arguably the best produced One-Armed Swordsman film with actor Wang Yu as the character. There are a few issues with the film, the most serious is that the producers assumed that you already know Wang Kong is missing an arm and fights with a broken sword. Anyone unfamiliar with the backstory is going to be confused but the film will still be watchable. Second, the highly refined and excellent sword choreography for Zatoichi really makes the faithful but stagy non-weapon kung fu for Wang Kong look not so good. The kung fu sword work comes off fine however. The Japanese producers were very respectful to the One-Armed Swordman mythos and kept the character true to the original film.
The film, while not the absolute best of the Zatoichi series, is very good and touches on a number of issues. There are colorful characters the liven up the film and you will not be wasting your time watching. Recommended.
Wang Kong (the One-Armed Swordsman) arrives in Japan to find a temple where a Japanese monk has invited Wang Kong to live. Unable to speak Japanese at all, Wang Kong chances upon a traveling Chinese family of entertainers who have made Japan their home. A husband, wife and young boy, they like Japan better then China. Accompanying Wang Kong to the temple the four encounter a procession of samurai transporting specially prepared abalone destined for the Shogun. Everyone must get off the road and let the procession pass or suffer dire consequences. Unfortunately, the little Chinese boy runs after a kite and is set upon by a sword swinging samurai. The mother protects her child but at the cost of her life, the father is killed too. Agast at the cruelty of the samurai, Wang Kong jumps in and kills a number of them. The little boy runs off and is separated from Wang Kong who retreats from further battle. The samurai decide to kill all the innocent people who witnessed the scene and blame the carnage on the "crazed Chinaman". Zatoichi comes upon the frightened child and decides to take care of him. Later the fugitive Wang Kong meets Zatoichi but the two have a really hard time communicating and Wang Kong is very suspicious of Zatoichi's motives. Of course this being a Zatoichi film, an evil yakuza gang gets involved and you know what's going to happen to them.
The first thing that strikes me is how different the One-Armed Swordman films were from the Zatoichi films in terms of sophistication. The HK films of the time were still very stagy in look and acting where the Japanese films were well versed in film techniques and acted in a more natural manner. I am not a great fan of Chang Cheh's "One Armed Swordsman" but many people really like it and it deserves it's significance in film history. It was also apparently very popular in Japan.
This particular outing with the character is arguably the best produced One-Armed Swordsman film with actor Wang Yu as the character. There are a few issues with the film, the most serious is that the producers assumed that you already know Wang Kong is missing an arm and fights with a broken sword. Anyone unfamiliar with the backstory is going to be confused but the film will still be watchable. Second, the highly refined and excellent sword choreography for Zatoichi really makes the faithful but stagy non-weapon kung fu for Wang Kong look not so good. The kung fu sword work comes off fine however. The Japanese producers were very respectful to the One-Armed Swordman mythos and kept the character true to the original film.
The film, while not the absolute best of the Zatoichi series, is very good and touches on a number of issues. There are colorful characters the liven up the film and you will not be wasting your time watching. Recommended.
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Details
- Release date
- Countries of origin
- Languages
- Also known as
- Затоічі зустрічає Однорукого мечника
- Production companies
- See more company credits at IMDbPro
- Runtime1 hour 34 minutes
- Aspect ratio
- 2.35 : 1
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By what name was Zatoichi and the One-Armed Swordsman (1971) officially released in India in English?
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