We just finished watching the first five Blind Swordsman films in movie club — The Tale of Zatoichi (1962), The Tale of Zatoichi Continues (1962), New Tale of Zatoichi (1963), Zatoichi the Fugitive (1963) and Zatoichi on the Road (1963). Zatoichi is one of the most popular characters in Japanese cinema: a good-natured blind masseur, who travels ancient Japan giving back rubs, playing dice, breaking hearts and cutting fools to bits with his cane sword. A must-see for samurai fans. We only had these five, but Criterion just released a 25-film collection for serious Ichi fans.
