Word: zatoichi
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Dates: during 2003-2003
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...ARTS Film: Takeshi Kitano's Zatoichi Meet the Beat: Filmography...
...challenge. With each movie in his ultra-violent oeuvre, the 56-year-old Kitano has raised the critical stakes to become one of Japan's best filmmakers. Along the way, he's defined an original film persona, that of "Beat" Takeshi, the artful gangster. But in his newest movie, Zatoichi, a don't-call-it-a-remake of one of the country's longest-running and best-loved film series, and which opened last Saturday in Japan, Kitano is facing the biggest challenge of his moviemaking life: stepping into the shoes of an actor who is every inch the celluloid...
...ARTS Film: Takeshi Kitano's Zatoichi Meet the Beat: Filmography...
...After a visit with Kitano to Katsu's grave, Saito popped her question: Would Kitano be interested in doing a new Zatoichi film? Like a victim in one of his films, the cinematic tough guy never saw it coming. "He was really surprised," says Saito. "He even became speechless." At first, Kitano turned her down, thinking the only person who could ever play Zatoichi was gone. That didn't matter to Saito. "Takeshi-san said, 'Even if I say no, you're just going to keep asking me, aren't you?'" she recalls. "It's not like I was asking...
...long after Katsu's death, Saito decided that a new Zatoichi film had to be made, both to honor the actor and because she had a claim on the Zatoichi copyright. "Everyone knows I did a lot for Shintaro Katsu," she says now. "I deserve the right to do anything." She already had someone in mind, the only actor and director she believed had the toughness to play Zatoichi and the clout to turn the blind swordsman into an international name: Takeshi Kitano...