Zatoichi - kitano takeshi . com

a film by
Takeshi Kitano
Venice Film Festival 2003 In Competition
Bandai Visual, To k yo FM, Dentsu, TV Asahi, Saito Entertainment
and Office Kitano
pr e s e n t
a film by
Takeshi Kitano
starring
Beat Takeshi
and
Tadanobu Asano
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2 0 03 - Japan - 116' - Color - 35mm - 1:85 - Dolby SRD
Not onl y is ZATOICHI my first peri od piece,
but i t's al so the first time si nce my direct orial debut
VIOLENT CO P t hat I have made a film from an existing
idea conceived by someone el se.
I thought ZATOICHI was goi ng to be a tough
film to make because making a period pi ece is commonly
considered to be much more painstaki ng . It actually
t urned out to be quit e a fun film t o m ake. I found t he
whole process of making a period piece much more
fict it ious because I had to fabricate everythi ng. This
all owed me to do prepost erous t hings and explore new
areas I hadn't before. I can certainl y say t hat maki ng the
film has been one of the m ost arti sti call y and creat ively
sat isfying experiences of my career.
Takeshi Kitano
SYNOPSIS
1 9t h C e nt u ry J apan ... Za toichi is a blin d wand er er who make s a livin g b y
gamb ling and g ivin g massa ges . B ut beh ind h is hu mbl e fac a d e, Za toichi is a
m a ster sw ordsma n, g ift ed with light nin g-fa st dr aw an d st roke s o f brea th takin g
precision.
Za toi ch i d is co ver s a re mote mo un tain tow n at the mercy o f the Ginzo ga ng.
Th e r uth les s Ginz o dis po se of anyon e w ho gets in th eir w ay, qu icker th an
ev e r sin c e th ey r ecr uited Ha tto ri, the mi gh ty s amu rai ro n i n .
In a ga mblin g join t, Za to ic hi an d tr u stwor th y yo un g f rie nd Sh in kic hi mee t u p
w i th a cou ple of ge ishas. As dan ger ous a s they ar e be au tif u l, O kin u and h er
s i ster Osei have come to town to aven ge th eir p arents ' mu rd e r. With t heir
on ly clu e bein g the my steri ous n ame Ku china wa, the g eish a sist ers ha ve lo ts
o f tricks u p the ir sleev e s.
S i n i ste r h en ch me n ar e soo n hu nti ng d own Za to ichi. With hi s le ge nd ar y ca ne
s w o rd at his s ide, Za to ich i's path is d est ined for many v iolen t s how dow ns ...
ATA K E S H I K I TA N O
O N Z AT O I C H I
THE ZATOICHI LEG E N D
Za toichi is one of the most popular heroes in Japanese period drama. I think
e v e rybody over 30 in Japan knows Za toichi. Because it's been over 10 years since
a film about him was made, now there are younge r Japanese who aren't familiar
with him. I hope my film gives them the opport unity to get to k now him.
ORIGIN OF THE PR OJ EC T
This project was proposed to me quite unexpectedly by Madame Chieko Saito,
one of my mentors during my Asakusa period. She was a ver y good friend of
the late ac tor Mr. Shintaro Katsu, who starred in the original episodes of the
Za toichi series on film and TV (from 1962 to 1989). A few years ago, she asked
me if I would make a Za toichi sequel. It sounded interesting because I had never
directed a period piece. When she asked me she also wanted me to play the
lead charac t e r, I panicked. There was no way I was going to replace Mr. Kats u !
I politely declined, but Madame Saito wouldn't take no for an answe r. I finally
gave in on one condition : I would have to be allowed to make the film the way
I wanted as lo ng as the main character remained a blind masseur name d Za to i c h i
who is also a master swordsman and a dice-gambling genius. Everything else
would have to be entirely my own creation.
THE NEW ZATO I C H I
My screenplay was not based on a sto ry from any of Mr. Katsu's ZATOICHI films.
I also saw no point in trying to impersonate his version of Za toichi. I set out to
create a new version that would be as different as possible both physically and
p sy c h o l o g i c a l l y. Mr. Katsu's Za toichi had dark hair, dressed in a plain-co l o r e d
kimono and carried a brown cane sword. Although this worked well in his time,
I thought I wo uld make my Za toichi conspicuously different visually. My Za to i c h i
is ac tually a pretty ecce ntric person. He has platinum blond hair and a bloo d- r e d
cane sword. Al s o, in terms of mentality, my Za toichi is far more emotio nally
d e t ached from the other characters. Mr. Katsu's Za toichi was more about an
a l m o st heart-warming relationships he made with the good and meek
to w n s p e o p l e. Mine doesn't fully mingle with the good guys. He just keeps slaying
bad guys!
ZATOICHI BAFFL ES
Za toichi is practically invincible. He can take
anybo dy on. The question is how? He is blind, so
he shouldn’t be that st ro ng not seeing his
o p p o n e n ts. I finally decided the secret to Za to i c h i ' s
strength is "This is a film!" I even played with the
notion of Zatoichi's blindness at the end of the film :
maybe Za toichi isn’t blind after all... Za toichi baffles
you, but that’s his ro l e.
ZATOICHI'S C ANE SWO RD
I thought red for the cane would be the natu ra l
c h o i c e. It would have looked un-cool if Za to i c h i
used an unpainted wood cane. It would have been
too down-to-earth and might have made the film to o
much of a he art-warming sto ry about ord i n a ry
to w n s p e o p l e. I thought that if Za toichi was blond
and carried a red lacquered cane, the othe r
c h a racters would be a little wary of him and nobody
would want to get involved with him too much.
PERIOD PIEC E S
One would expe ct that period pieces impose
gre ater restrictions than co n t e m p o ra ry films,
because of the co stumes and locations having to
be faithful to historical fac ts, etc. On the co n t ra ry,
I felt greater creative freedom, because basically
you can fabricate everything in a period piece.
E v e ry detail -- the looks of the charac t e r s ,
locations, etc. -- is ac tually more fictitious than in
a co n t e m p o ra ry piece since everything is being
recreated. For example, almost all ac tors have to
wear hairpieces to replicate the styles that
s u g g e st old times. As to the language, my choice
went for modern Japanese as the film’s essence
is not of a classic period dra m a .
CO M PUTER GRAPH I C S
More and more films are beginning to rely on
computer graphics and visual ef fe c ts, but most l y
in modern pieces. I have not felt co m fo r t a b l e
using them in my films in the past. But t u use it
in a period piece, it can give the film an almost
c a r toon-like to n e, which is mo re suitable. We
m o stly use d computer graphics to show cuts and
wounds. In the old times, you could get away with
not showing blood gushing out nor showing the
wound. But times have changed. So, we tried to
show the wound s whenever possi ble more
g ra p h i c a l l y.
S WO RD AT MY SIDE AT ALL TI M E S
I didn't want to re ly on computer graphics and
visual ef fe c ts for the action scenes. I wanted to
do my own swordplay stu n ts as much as possible because I love doing it! In the sto ry
and original films, Za toichi holds his cane sword in a backhand grip when he unsheathes
it. This imposed co n s i d e rable restrictions on how I used the sword. I only had a fe w
choices in terms of action -- swinging it up, downward or sideways. In order to captu r e
s w o rd movements on film in visually composed ways, I had to do those scenes in
physically unnat u ral postures. There was a lot of painful twisting of my wrists, elbows
and shoulders. It definitely required some prac t i c e.
D I F F I C U LTIES OF PL AYING BLIND
It was even more difficult to perform the sword movements with my eyes closed when
the came ra was facing me. Sometimes I didn't know where I was swinging my sword! It
was very di sorienting to have to do ever ything wit h my eyes closed. Even just walking
st raight was hard. Even with ground marks, I had my share of stumbles and falls. I
couldn't tell what was the space between me and my co - stars. I couldn't see their
e x pressions or actions w hen acting with them. It was tougher than I expected. When yo u
act with your eyes open, you can indirectly get the feeling of how to make your moves
and say your lines even though you can't physically see yo u r s e l f.
Z ATOIC HI'S MOVE S
We had a sword fighting cho reo grapher on the set, but I ended up choreogra p h i n g
a l m o st all the sword-fighting scenes myself except the one with the two geishas
versus Ginzo's henchmen at Ogi's residence. I didn't want the sw ord fighting scene s
to resemble those in past films where you can tell the same combinations are being
used. I tried to do something different than the well-known past fight sequence s
c h o r e o g raphed by t he experts. I hate duels w here the sword dictates every t h i n g ,
resulting in a lot of clinking and clanking. Luckily, Za toichi usually strikes with just
o ne st ro k e, so I was able to avoid that type of sword-fighting. In co n t ra st, I let ac to r
Tadanobu Asano (as the ronin bodyguard Hattori) perform trickier stuff that I had
accumulated over the years. C oming from Asakusa's comedy scene, I had done a
fair amount of training in sword fighting, which was co m p u l s o ry for any comic in
those days. We often adopted sword fighting in our sketches on st a g e. My co m e d y
m a ster would first show us basic movements and then we rearranged it to make it
look funnier. Ever since then, I had quite a few ideas in the back of my mind fo r
tricky sword-fighting choreogra p h y, which I had always w anted to use in a period
film if ever I would make one.
THE AC TOR RECEIVIN G THE BLOW S
S w o rd fighting in film is not about how good the fighter is, but how good the ac to r
receiving the blows is. If the opponent is not skilled, the timing will be wrong and
the scene will look unnatu ral. I didn't want to see ac tors receiving blow s then
collapsing facing the camera.
FILMIN G SWO RD FIGHTS
S w o rd fights are all about timing. You can't be slow. I had to be fast. Sometimes
the sword st ro ke practically flew by. But this is co n t ra sted with the opponents' slowe r
m o v e m e n ts. To capture the swift sword movements, we used both a high speed and
regular camera. The advantage of using two cameras simultaneously is that if one
c a m e ra doesn’t catch a certain moment, you have to rely on the other. Sometimes
a camera didn’t film the sword at all, so I had to count on the other camera to
c a tch the action on film.
THE KURO S AWA WAY
K u rosawa usually did numerous takes of a
well-planned out sword fight, which I think
has a treme ndous impact. It takes a lot of
stamina
to
film
th e K uros awa
way.
ZATOICHI's rain sequence is my homage to
K u ro s a w a’s SEVEN SAMURAI... Incidentally,
while shooting that scene, not only was it
cold, but the smell of the rain changed at
some point. Apparently, water from a carp
pond was used because there wasn’t enough
tank water. It really stunk. It felt like we had
carp pouring down on us.
GUN S VS. SWO RD S
The bam! of a pistol and the zunk! of a sword have different meanings. When it
comes to filming a gunfight, not very many cameras are needed. There are times
when the gun isn't even filmed. Al s o, when the gun goes of f, there really isn’t
much else the guy who was shot can do. But with sword fights, you don’t know
what the next movement is going to be. When the blow is st ruck, the sword
fighter must then attack his opponent's unguarded area. At times, he can’t st r i k e.
Even after repeating the same thing several times in rehearsal, it comes down to
r eflex and agility in the filming.
AT TITUDE ON EDITI N G
I had to use more cuts in ZATOICHI than in my previo us films. I ne eded to take
s e v e ral shots to hide imperfections, since the ac to rs wear hairpieces and
kimonos and every detail has to be in plac e. Using short shots is a norm,
especially if there are a lot of camera movements. A period drama without
moving the camera would look like a silent movie.
AT Y P I CAL HAP PY ENDING
I used to make fun of Japanese period dramas, which
all had identical endings. For example, when the hero
leaves town and walks on a road alo ng a rice field,
the farmers plowing the fields suddenly started singing
and dancing while they worked. When it came time fo r
me to direct my first period piece, I thought, "Why no t
do my own rendition of a typical happy ending in a
period drama!" I felt it would be bo ring to repro d u c e
t raditional Japanese folk dancing with a bunch of
amateurs, which isn't too exciting visually and sonically.
Then it st r uck me, "Why not let them tap dance?!" I
figured that the basic premise of the Za toichi sto ry -a blind masseur cum master swo rdsman who can dra w
his secret sword cane at the speed of lightning -- was
in itself pr e p o st e rous enough for me to set out to
make an all-out entertainment mo vie. So I did my
modernize d rendition of typical fe stival dancing scenes
in a period piece. I let Japan's top tap dancers,
appe aring as farmers and carpenters, dressed in
t raditional kimonos, wooden clogs and st raw sandals,
do the latest style of tap dancing backed by hip-hop
rhythms.
TAP DA N C I N G
A great entertaine r should be able to do all kinds of
things. I did some tap dancing but I found it to be a
bit plain, no pizzazz. I didn’t like the Gene Kelly type
of tap dancing. But when I discovered the type of tap
dancing Gregory Hines performs without music, I
thought it was amazing. A few years ago, I became
acquainted with the Japanese tap dancing team called
"The Stripes." I saw their show and was co m p l e t e l y
fascinated by their dancing. I was awe st ruck as to how
d i f ferent their style was from the traditional style in
which I was trained. That's how I came to use "T he
Stripes" in ZATOICHI.
H U M O ROUS TO U C H E S
I wanted a sense of balance to the film. I didn't
want to have just action scenes throughout the
film. I wanted to add some humor to lighten up
the film. The character of Ogi (played by
S a b u ro Ishikura) was supposed to be a very
bad guy, but he joked around so much I
decided to k eep it. So, he’s kind of a funny
bad guy. The funny good guy, Shinkichi,
Za toichi's sidekick, is played by one of my
o l d e st comedy protégés, Guadalcanal Ta k a .
TA K E S H I
K I TA N O
FILMMAKER
AC TO R
For his 11th film as a writer-director, Takeshi Kitano also stars, reviving the cult action
anti-hero Zatoichi. ZATOICHI marks the first time Kitano directs a period piece, and he
exchanges his trademark yakuza guns for a cane sword of lightning-fast speed.
2 0 03
Since the extraordinary success of 1997's HANA-BI, Kitano has been recognized as a
leading figure of international cinema. Among its numerous awards, HANA-BI won
Venice's Golden Lion and was named Best Non-European Film by the European Film
Academy. HANA-BI was cited on numerous «Best Films of the Year» lists, often in the
premiere position.
2000
2 0 03
2 0 03
2001
2000
1999
In 2000, Kitano made BROTHER, his first film shot outside of his native Japan. Like
BROTHER, Kitano-directed films such as his debut VIOLENT COP (1989), BOILING POINT
(1990) and SONATINE (1993) centered around yakuza gangster characters. The filmmaker
contrasted the violence and action of those films with comedy or tenderness in films
like A SCENE AT THE SEA (1991), GETTING ANY? (1995), KIDS RETURN (1996), KIKUJIRO
(1999) and DOLLS (2002).
1996
2 0 02
1999
1997
1995
1993
1991
As an actor, Kitano has also appeared in films which he has not directed himself. He
won international attention for his role in Nagisa Oshima’s MERRY CHRISTMAS, MR.
LAWRENCE (1983). He collaborated again with Oshima in 1999's samurai epic TABOO
(GOHATTO). He can currently be seen in Kenta and Kinji Fukasaku's BATTLE ROYALE II,
after having appeared in Kinji Fukasaku's controversial 2001 Japanese box-office smash
BATTLE ROYALE. His credits in films directed by non-Japanese filmmakers include include
Robert Longo’s JOHNNY MNEMONIC (US, 1995) and Jean-Pierre Limosin's TOKYO EYES
(France, 1998).
Kitano was born in Tokyo in 1947 and entered show business in 1972 as «Beat» Takeshi,
the stage name he continues to use today as a performer. As part of the comic duo
Two Beats, Kitano was one of the leading figures in the manzai (stand-up comedy) boom
in the late 1970s. With his distinctive art of speech and his idiosyncratic perspective,
Kitano became one of the most popular entertainers in the country during the 1980s.
After an incredibly prolific and diverse 25-year career, Kitano continues to be one of the
foremost personalities in Japan. He participates in weekly TV programs, as well as several
TV films and specials per year. He has written a number of novels and collections of
short stories, essays and poetry. Also an accomplished cartoonist and painter, Kitano’s
artwork can be seen in HANA-BI and KIKUJIRO.
1990
1 9 89
ZATO I C H I
d i r e c to r, writer, edito r
D O L LS
d i r e c to r, writer, edito r
B R OT H E R
d i r e c to r, writer, edito r
KI K UJ I R O
d i r e c to r, writer, edito r
H A N A-BI (FIREWO R K S )
d i r e c to r, writer, edito r
KIDS RETURN
d i r e c to r, writer, edito r
G E T TING ANY?
d i r e c to r, writer, edito r
S O N ATI N E
d i r e c to r, writer, edito r
A SCENE AT THE SEA
d i r e c to r, writer, edito r
BOILING POINT
d i r e c to r, writer, edito r
VIOLENT COP
d i r e c to r
1999
1998
1997
1995
1995
1994
1993
1993
1990
1 9 89
1983
ZATO I C H I
B ATTLE ROYALE II (Kenta & Kinji Fu k a s a k u )
B AT TLE ROYALE (Kinji Fu k a s a k u )
B R OT H E R
TABOO (G O H AT TO )
(Nagisa Oshima)
KI K UJ I R O
TO KYO EYES
(Jean-Pierre Limosin)
H A N A-BI (FIREWO R K S )
FIVE OF THEM (G O N I N )
( Takashi Ishii)
G E T TING ANY?
JOHNNY MNEMONIC (Robert Longo)
S O N ATI N E
MANY HAPPY RETURNS
( KYOUSO TA N J O U )
( To s h i h i ro Te n m a )
BOILING POINT
VIOLENT COP
MERRY CHRIST M A S, MR. LAW R E N C E
(N agisa Oshima)
TA D A N O B U
ASANO
as
Hat tori
Tadano bu Asano is one of Japan's most popular young stars. He can currently be
seen in Cannes 2003 competition entry BRIGHT FUTURE (dir. Kiyoshi Kuro s a w a )
and T hai director Pen-Ek Ra t a n a ruang's LAST LIFE IN THE UNIVERSE (Ve n i c e
2 0 03, Upst r e a m ) .
Asano is perhaps best known to international audiences for his performances in
Takashi Miike's ICHI THE KI L L E R, Kats u h i to Ishii's SHARK SKIN MAN AND PEAC H
HIP GIRL and Nagisa Oshima's TA B O O, in which he co - starred with "Beat" Ta k e s h i
K i t a n o. H is o ther cr edits i nclu de Hiden ori S ugimori 's WOMAN OF WAT E R
( 2 0 02 Golden Alexander winner at the Thessaloniki Film Festival), Shinji Soomai's
K A ZA-HANA, C hristopher Doyle's AWAY WITH WO R D S, Hirokazu Ko r e - E d a ' s
Cannes 2001 competition entr y DISTANCE, 1995's MABOROSI, Shinya Ts u k a m o to ' s
GEMINI, Shunji Iwai's PICNIC (1996 Berliner Ze i tung Reader's Aw a rd at the Berlin
Film Festival) and three films by Sogo Ishii -- ELECTRIC DRAGON 80,000V, GOJ O E
and LABYRINTH OF DREAMS.
Asano be gan his career in Joji Matsuoka's 1990 film SWIMMING UPSTREAM. A
few films later, Asano rece ived a breakthrough starring role in Shinji Ao y a m a ' s
1996 crime drama HELPLESS.
Born in 1973 in Yo kohama, Asano is also a talented illust ra tor and an occasional
co m p o s e r / g u i t a r i st
T H E ST R I P E S
TA P D A N C E
CHOREOGRAPHY
THE STRIPES are a rhythm and tap performance group forme d and led by centra l
member Hideyuki (a.k.a. HIDEBOH). The group calls their unique dance style «funka- step» -- a fusion of clog dance, Af r i c a n - American st r e e t- style rhythm tap dancing,
club music and percussions using household items like buckets and frying pans.
Since their formation in 1998, they have entertained thousands in hundre ds of
p e r formances all over Japan.
K AT S U M I YA N A G I J I M A
C I N E M AT O G R A P H E R
ZATOICHI marks Katsumi Ya n a g i j i m a’s ninth co l l a b o ration with Takeshi Kitano.
Since 1990's BOILING POINT, Yanagishima has become one of Kitano's key crew
by working on A SCENE AT THE SEA, SONATINE, GETTING ANY?, KIDS RET URN,
KI K UJ I R O, BROTHER and DOLLS. Yanagijima made his debut as a cinemato g ra p h e r
on 1989's MOT TOMO ABUNAI DEKA (dir. To ru Kawashima). His other credits
include 1995's MARKS (dir. Yoichi Sai), 1998's IKINAI (dir. Hiroshi Shimizu), 2000's
B ATT LE ROYALE (dir. Kinji Fukasaku), 2001's GO (dir. Isao Yukisada) and 2003 ' s
MAKAI TENSHO (dir. Hideyuki Hira y a m a ) .
H I T O S H I TA K AYA
LIGHTING DESIGNER
H i tosh i Tak aya has worked on all 11 Takeshi Kitano-directed films. Takaya made
his debut in 1983's KAGI (dir. Aktaka Kimata). His other cre dits include 1985's
FI RE FESTI VAL (dir. Mitsuo Ya n a g i m achi), 1987's SARABA ITO S H I KI HITOYO (dir.
M a s a to Harad a), 1993's WE ARE N OT ALONE (dir. Yo j i ro Taki ta), 1998's IKI N A I
( d i r. Hiros hi Shimizu), 1999 's DEAD OR ALIVE: HANZA ISHA (dir. Takas hi Miike ),
2001's TAIGA NO IT T E KI (dir. S eishiro Koyama) and 2 001's GO (dir. Isao
Yu k i s a d a ) .
NORIHIR O ISO DA
PRODUCTION DESIGNER
KEIICHI SUZUKI
MUSIC
Keiichi Suzuki is be st kno wn as a solo artist and vocalist / g u i t a r i st / k e y b o a rd
player for the le gendary Japanese group Moon Riders. In 2001, Moon Riders
c e l e b rated 25 years without any me mber changes and over 15 studio albums.
Moon Riders evolved from Suzuki 's 1972 group Hac h i m i tsupai, one of the
pioneers of 'the Japanese rock movement.'
Suzuki co l l a b o rated with Ye l l o w
Magic Orc h e st ra's Yu k i h i ro Takahashi to create the duo The Beatniks, and he
also participated in the three-piece group Three Blind Moses.
Suzuki's "Satellite Serenade" has become an international club classic since
being trance-house mixed by Sasha and John Digweed for the "Northe rn
Exposure" album and by the Orb for the "Auntie Aubrey's Excursions Beyond the
Call of Duty" album.
In additio n to Ta kesh i Kitan o's ZATOICH I, Suzu ki has worked as
co m p o s e r / a r ranger on fe a ture films 2001's CHICKEN HEART (dir. Hiroshi Shimizu)
and 2000's UZUMAKI (WHIRLPOOL aka SPIRAL) (dir. Higuchinsky).
Bo rn in 1951, Suzuki is an important producer on t he Japanese pop music scene.
He has also composed music for co m m e rcials and video games, such as
Nintendo 's Earthbound, Mother and Mother 2. Suzuki has also occasionally
appeared as an ac to r, notably in Shuji Iwai's films LOVE LETTER and
S WA L LOW TA I L .
N o r i h i ro Isoda has co l l a b o rated with Takeshi Kitano on seven films: ZATO I C H I ,
D O L LS, BROT H E R, KI K UJ I R O, HANA-BI, KIDS RETURN and GETTING ANY?. Befo r e
cinema, Isoda worked several years as a graphic designer. His other film credits
include: 1993's MANY HAPPY RETURNS (dir. To s h i h i ro Tenma), 1995's TO KYO
KYO DAI (dir. Jun Ichikawa), 1998's FUKIGENN A KAJITSU (dir. Katsuo Naruse), 1998's
I KINAI (dir. Hiroshi Shimizu) and 1998's GIVE IT ALL (dir. Itsumichi Isomura ) .
SENJI HORIUCHI
SOUND DESIGNER
Senji Hor iuchi has wor ked on all 11 Takeshi Kitano-dire cted films. He made his
debut in 1988 as chief sound engineer on KAITO JIGOMA: ONG AKU-HEN (dir.
M a ko to Wad a). His oth er credits include 1989's ZATO-ICHI (dir. Shintaro Kats u ) ,
1993's WE ARE N OT ALONE (dir. Yo j i ro Taki ta), 1998's IKINAI (dir. Hiro s h i
Sh imizu), 2001's OTOGIRI-SO (d ir. Ten Shimoyama), 20 01's MIS UZU (dir. Ta k u m i
I g a rashi) and 2002's Japanese-Korean co - production T HROUGH THE NIG HT (di r.
Su jin Kim).
C AST
Beat Ta k e s h i
Tadanobu As a n o
M i c h i yo Ogusu
Yui Nats u k a w a
Guadalcanal Ta k a
Da i g o ro Tac h i b a n a
Yu ko Da i k e
I t toku Kishibe
S a b u ro Ishikura
A k i ra Emoto
Za to i c h i
H a t tori, the Bodyguard
Aunt Oume
H a t tori's Wife
Shinkichi
Osei, the Geisha
Okinu, the Geisha
Ginzo
Ogi
Tavern Owner
CREW
Written, Directed and Edited by
Executive Pro d u c e r
Based on a short sto ry by
Music
Tap Dance Choreography
C o stume Supervision
C i n e m a to g rapher
Lighting Designer
Production Designer
Sound Designer
C o stume Designer
F i r st As s i stant Directo r
C o - E d i to r
S c r i pt Superv i s o r
Production Manager
C a st i n g
Line Pro d u c e r
Pro d u c e r s
C o - pro d u c e r s
Takeshi Kitano
C h i e ko Saito
Kan Shimozawa
Keiichi Suzuki
The Stripes
Yohji Ya m a m o to
K a tsumi Ya n a g i s h i m a
H i toshi Takaya
N o r i h i ro Isoda
Senji Horiuchi
K a z u ko Kurosawa
Takashi Matsukawa
Yoshinori Ota
H a ru Shohara
Kensei Mori
Ta k efumi Yoshikawa
Shinji Komiya
Masayuki Mori & Tsunehisa Saito
Masanori Sanada & Takio Yoshida
a production of
Bandai Visual, To k yo FM, Dentsu, TV Asahi, Saito Entertainment and Office Kitano
world sales
celluloid Dreams
Venice Film Festival 2003
In Competition