The following review is an extract from the book "Shintaro Katsu´s Zatoichi: Complete guide to all movies", which is now available on Amazon.
"At the beginning of this film, as a filmic preface, we see how Ichi plays a game of dice (or something similar) with a small group of dishonest opponents. The latter, despite having lost, are not willing to accept defeat, but before they can react, Zatoichi makes them reluctant to even try any hostility against him. With a lightning fast movement of his shikomizue, he cuts a candle that illuminated the room vertically, leaving his opponents astonished, and leaving the room shortly afterwards in the dark (and therefore in relative equality of conditions with others who are able to see). "Darkness is my ally..." says Zatoichi again sheathing his sword in the reed.
The massive duel between the two groups of yakuza recalls by its atmosphere and stylistic characteristics the great Italo-westerns, where a solitary gunman (like Clint Eastwood in Sergio Leone's "Dollar trilogy") must face several enemies at the same time. Leone and other western masters were profusely inspired by the Japanese chambara. The equivalence and parallels between samurais or ronins and solitary cowboys or outlaws are undeniable."
