Zatoichi Challenged

Kenji Misumi's 1967 Japanese film begins with Zatoichi promising a dying woman to take her son to his father. The father is a potter forced by a local boss, over a gambling debt, to produce illegal prints; Ichi tries to get the boy and his father out of that arrangement. Misumi's entries in the series always stand out visually, and the snow sequences here are particularly well shot. The film's interest is in how the bond Ichi forms with a child shows him the possibility of a family, and why that is not possible. The duel in the snow near the end is among the most cited scenes in the series. The narrative shape resembles the other entries. Who it's for: viewers who like the Zatoichi series and Japanese period action. Who it's not for: anyone expecting the series to change, or uncomfortable with the passages about coerced production of obscene material.