Episode 38 – Spotlight on... Zatoichi

This time Jonathan Wroot, senior lecturer in film studies, joins James and Andy to chat in detail about the topic of his new book, Zatoichi! As well as the various influences and successors. And yes, we chat Rutger Hauer too! This episode’s handy timecodes 00:00:44 - Episode introduction00:02:12 - Before we start, how did our guest get into Asian film?00:06:05 - Kitano's Zatoichi, was it a remake?00:13:10 - Let's go back to the start 00:17:08 - How star Shintaro Katsu's previous work fed into the film series00:20:22 - Zatoichi begins00:25:05 - A minor diversion on Shintaro Katsu's brother00:29:09 - Something for everyone, the Daiei way00:30:23 - How wacky did the films get?00:32:46 - Are there roots to disabled swordsmen?00:38:14 - The Marvel connection00:40:45 - Good ol' Westerns00:45:34 - Zatoichi The Last00:47:54 - The female versions00:52:13 - Let's talk about Rutger (and other influences)01:07:26 - Recommendations on where to start01:15:43 - Outro Jonathan's book, The Paths of Zatoichi, is available now from rowman.com/lexington. Use discount code LXFANDF30 and get 30% off! Music played on the show: Zatoichi’s Lullaby, sung by Shintaro Katsu. The most commonly known version of the Zatoichi theme song, which first turned up in Zatoichi and the Fugitives (#18). Festivo – the musical number from the end of Zatoichi 2003, written and composed by Keiichi Suzuki.