Zatoichi: Darkness Is His Ally (1989) on Netflix
Out of prison and back on the road, the blind masseur Ichi wanders. The village he settles in is under siege by the Yakuza lord Boss Goemon and a corrupt inspector.
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- Netflix3.3/5
- IMDb7.0/102,098 votes
- Rotten TomatoesNot available
Trailer
Plot summary
Ichi is a blind masseur and swordsman whom a short stay in prison has left free to wander again, older now, with a reputation as a defender of the innocent that still travels with him. Along the way he befriends a masterless samurai, and he decides to settle in a rural village. That village is caught in a struggle between Yakuza clans, and Boss Goemon, with a corrupt inspector at his side, holds the villagers' fate in his hands. Ichi wants only a quiet life, yet the danger hanging over the village draws him back to the sword he keeps at his side.
Cast
Did you know?!Facts and trivia about Zatoichi: Darkness Is His Ally (1989)
Can contain spoilers, watch the movie first.
- While shooting an action scene on 26 December 1988, Shintaro Katsu's 24-year-old son, who played Boss Goemon, struck actor Yukio Katô, 34, in the neck with a katana that was supposed to be a prop; Katô died of massive blood loss from the wound.
- Zatoichi is the last film in the original classic Zatoichi saga, which ran from 1962 to 1989, and the last time Shintaro Katsu played the blind swordsman on screen; it was also the second Zatoichi film he directed.
- The film did not resurrect Shintaro Katsu's career but redeemed an almost lost decade for him, and he went on to co-star in Kazuo Kuroki's mud-caked 1990 remake of the silent classic Roningai.
