T  H  U  R  S  D  A  Y  ,    M  A  Y    6

FESTIVAL CLOSING NIGHT
Aratani/Japan America Theatre • 7:30 p.m.
 
ZATOICHI
(Japan, 2003) Dir./Scr.: Takeshi Kitano
Takeshi Kitano (FIREWORKS; SONATINE) brings to VC FILMFEST a classic Japanese character, Zatoichi, who has entertained audiences for three decades in more than 20 features and TV series but has not been represented on film since 1989. In Kitano’s installment, he plays the title role of the kindly, blind, traveling masseur who is actually a supreme swordsman. On entering a town in his usual unassuming manner, he finds it overrun with unsavory types. Zatoichi is pulled from his passive shell and is drawn into action helping the Naruto “sisters,” two unscrupulous geishas, avenge the death of their parents.
35mm, 120 min., color, Narrative, in Japanese w/Eng. subtitles
 

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