Crimson Bat, the Blind Swordswoman (1969) (1969)
March 16, 2024 8:09 AM - Subscribe
A young blind girl is abandoned by her mother. When her guardian is killed, she learns to wield a sword from a traveling Ronin. She travels to seek her mother and her revenge.
Yoko Matsuyama stars as Oichi, the blind swordswoman, who spends her time basically finding trouble and killing at the drop of a geta. Artful sets, gorgeous lighting, moody music, and a singular focus on Matsuyama's fascinating face make this an enjoyable movie. It was followed by three sequels. Here is an archive.org link to this movie, and another link to all four films. In Japanese with English subtitles.
Yoko Matsuyama stars as Oichi, the blind swordswoman, who spends her time basically finding trouble and killing at the drop of a geta. Artful sets, gorgeous lighting, moody music, and a singular focus on Matsuyama's fascinating face make this an enjoyable movie. It was followed by three sequels. Here is an archive.org link to this movie, and another link to all four films. In Japanese with English subtitles.
Same here. I have a very uneasy relationship with FanFare, because it tends towards negativity which I don't like. But just one post like this-- a movie I'd never heard of that I can dive into, and suddenly the whole place is temporarily redeemed.
It was good! And it shouldn't have been. I think Jabah really hits on the elements that work in the description. And this article on Girls With Guns sheds more light on how this was a quickly thrown-together fairly low-budget film to copy another "blind swordsman" movie that was popular, and they literally just hired the writer's wife to play Oichi-- but it works. This is the only Japanese action film with a female protagonist that has had more than one sequel.
We are apparently lucky to have a good set of English subtitles on this one, too. Apparently that didn't exist for 50 years, and I'd like to learn how it happened. Anyway, I'm definitely going to watch the next three in the series.
posted by seasparrow at 6:40 PM on March 17 [2 favorites]
It was good! And it shouldn't have been. I think Jabah really hits on the elements that work in the description. And this article on Girls With Guns sheds more light on how this was a quickly thrown-together fairly low-budget film to copy another "blind swordsman" movie that was popular, and they literally just hired the writer's wife to play Oichi-- but it works. This is the only Japanese action film with a female protagonist that has had more than one sequel.
We are apparently lucky to have a good set of English subtitles on this one, too. Apparently that didn't exist for 50 years, and I'd like to learn how it happened. Anyway, I'm definitely going to watch the next three in the series.
posted by seasparrow at 6:40 PM on March 17 [2 favorites]
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posted by mrgroweler at 9:40 AM on March 17 [2 favorites]