The chances of anyone on these shores ever having the chance to see Japanese cult director Takashi Miike's new stage version of blind swordsman story Zatoichi - starring Show Aikawa - are rather slim. It's not impossible, Miike's earlier stage production Demon Pond is receiving a DVD release and this is a higher profile title, but it seems rather unlikely. But if you're wondering what it's going to look like, the good folk at Nippon Cinema are pointing the way to a TV spot that ran in Japan promoting the live performances. You'll find the spot in the Twitch Video Player below the break.
I saw it in Tokyo this January! Huge theater only half-full. Very big lights/props/staging. Solid cast will lots of big names from TV and film. Sho did a decent job in the lead role. The plot twists and finale were pretty dark. Audience kept applauding until the whole cast had come out for bows 3-5 times.
Pretty interesting to see Miike working in stage, where he can't use editing to assemble the story. The pace reminded me of his films.... lots happens, and he lets things take as long as they need to. The lighting was very strong, and often pointed directly at audience's eyes, helping obscure parts of the stage in glare during scene changes etc. Not a lot of action until the finale, when the stage explodes with swordsmen and the theater itself seems to come crashing down in flames.
This looks/sounds awesome. I hope that Cinema Epoch (the ones releasing Demon Pond) gets their hands on this.
With all the Zatoichi remakes/reimaginings that seem to be hitting Japan these days, I'd love to see Miike do a film version.
... Respectfully, I must state that Shintaro Katsu was the only 'true' Zatoichi - everyone else strives to reach his epoch (good luck to them). On a related note, IFC needs to get off their lazy, udon-munching behinds and start showing "Zatoichi" on Saturday mornings again (seriously)..! ;) ...
I think that the clip is an advertisement for a TV broadcast of the stage show. If you notice the final part of the clip, there's a small "HV" below and to the right of the kanji for "Zatoichi". "HV" stands for "High Vision" or HDTV so it's likely that one of the cable networks like WOWOW is broadcasting one of the performances. Partially from lblisters comment above, I'm pretty sure this show has been playing since last October or November.