Ichi Img 02.jpg
  • Film

Ichi

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Time Out says

This limp femme take on Japan’s popular ‘Zatoichi’ franchise – in which a ruddy-clothed blind woman (Ayase Haruka) wanders the countryside trying to find her old master, but in the meantime dispatches an army of toothless goons with a sword concealed in her walking stick – has precious little to recommend it. With its hokey, flashback-heavy plotting, unadventurous camera use and a clutch of cloyingly earnest performances, it comes across like an irony-free, mid-season episode of ‘Xena: Warrior Princess’, but with added fountains of DayGlo blood. Pathos, excitement and drama are mild at best, and anyone sniffing potential girl-power credentials in the set-up will be saddened to hear it’s the bumbling male cohort that ends up saving the day, with Ichi half slain at the mid-point. If any of this sounds appealing, you might prefer Takeshi Kitano’s superior, tongue-in-cheek ‘Zatoichi’ from 2003.

Release Details

  • Rated:15
  • Release date:Friday 10 July 2009
  • Duration:120 mins

Cast and crew

  • Director:Fumihiko Sori
  • Screenwriter:Kan Shimosawa
  • Cast:
    • Haruka Ayase
    • Shido Nakamura
    • Yôsuke Kubozuka
    • Takao Osawa
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