| Language: Japanese Director: Fumihiko Sori Running time: 120 min Release year: 2008 |
| Cast: Haruka Ayase, Takao Osawa, Shido Nakamura, Yosuke Kubozuka, Akira Emoto, Riki Takeuchi, Go Riju, Mayumi Sada, Ryosuke Shima |
Movie Review:
“Ichi” is another Japanese film that reprises the old (Edo era Japan), but adds a new twist or two. The film doesn’t make as wide of a departure as say “Azumi” or “Sakuran” in stylistic terms, but you will notice one very attractive lead actress (Haruka Ayase) playing a deadly swordswoman who is also blind. Ichi also marks the long awaited second live action pic from Fumihiko Sori, the director of the incredibly hyper-kinetic 2002 film “Ping Pong.”
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Ichi (Haruka Ayase) is a blind entertainer that travels the countryside with her traditional Japanese guitar and walking stick. She’s in search of the kind man that brought her up as a child, but because of her beauty she encounters problems every step of the way. Fortunately for Ichi, she is also a gifted swordswoman and carries a lethal blade within her walking stick.
One day, members of the notorious Ban-ki gang surround Ichi and prepare to rape her. A passerby then comes to defense of Ichi. The man’s name is Toma Fujihira (Takao Osawa) and although he seems terrified of the men, he still attempts to stand up for the seemingly defenseless blind woman. Once the Ban-ki members draw their swords on Toma Fujihira, Ichi now comes to the defense of the shaking man. After unleashing her blade, she methodically kills all of her attackers.
Ichi and Toma Fujihara then travel the countryside together developing a friendship that hints at romantic interests between the pair. When the couple arrive in the next town they are then confronted by other Ban-ki gang members who attempt to exact revenge on Ichi.
“Ichi”, produced by TV station TBS (Tokyo Broadcasting System), is oriented towards to the young and old and thus you’ll have to make do with its overtly commercial feel. If you can get past this and the obnoxiously over the top performances by the main villains ,then you can still have a lot fun with the film. Haruka Ayase, who probably got acclimated with action orientated scenes from her work in “Cyborg She,” does a fine a job as the blind swordswoman. Although she’s always dressed in rags, the film’s many close-ups of Haruka Ayase’s attractive profile makes you take notice of her presence. I didn’t completely buy Takao Osawa’s performance as the fearful swordsman. Towards the end of the film his trepidation got tiresome enough that I just wanted to blurt out “pull out the damn blade you idiot!”
For those wanting to know how “Ichi” stands up to Fumihiko Sori’s prior film “Ping Pong” … well it doesn’t. Fumihiko Sori brought along pals Yosuke Kubozuka & Shido Nakamura from “Ping Pong,” but both of their performances were sub par compared to their prior earlier film. The story of “Ichi” is also simplified to excessive degrees and lacks the undeniable charm of “Ping Pong”. The technical merits like F/X scenes are noticeably weaker than his first film. With that said, even though “Ichi” won’t be thought of as a memorable film in any sort of way, there is Haruka Ayase roaming around feudal era Japan, slicing and dicing evil foes while gazing down like a model in commercial advertisement. There’s a lot worse things one can sit through. |
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{ Recommended Japanese Movies } |
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Battle Royale (Batoru rowaiaru) |
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Director: Kinji Fukasaku; Cast: Takeshi Kitano, Shin Kusaka, Ren Matsuzawa, Gouki Nishimura, Shigehiro Yamaguchi, Taro Yamamoto |
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Princess Mononoke (Mononoke Hime): Animated feature film |
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Director: Hayao Miyazaki; Cast: Yôji Matsuda, Yuriko Ishida, Yûko Tanaka, Kaoru Kobayashi, Masahiko Nishimura |
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Cafe Isobe (Jun kissa Isobe) |
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Director: Keisuke Yoshida; Cast: Hiroyuki Miyasako, Riisa Naka, Kumiko Aso, Mari Hamada, Toshihiro Wada |
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Love Exposure (Ai no mukidashi) |
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Director: Sion Sono; Cast: Takahiro Nishijima, Hikari Mitsushima, Atsuro Watabe, Makiko Watanabe, Sakura Ando |
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Memories of Matsuko (Kiraware Matsuko no issho) |
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Director: Tetsuya Nakashima; Cast: Miki Nakatani, Eita, Yusuke Iseya, Teruyuki Kagawa, Mikako Ichikawa, Asuka Kurosawa |
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Still Walking (Aruitemo aruitemo) |
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Director: Keisuke Yoshida; Cast: Hiroshi Abe, Yui Natsukawa, You, Kazuya Takahashi, Shohei Tanaka, Kirin Kiki |
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Tokyo Sonata |
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Director: Kiyoshi Kurosawa; Cast: Teruyuki Kagawa, Kyoko Koizumi, Yu Koyanagi, Inowaki Kai, Haruka Igawa |
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