Zan is a solid, thought-provoking drama from director Shinya Tsukamoto.
After covering the likes of talented and unique directors that some might call zany such as Gakuryu Ishii and Takeshi Miike's work, I thought that covering another such director would be appropriate. In today's blog post, I will be covering a movie that was directed and written by Shinya Tsukamoto. For those unfamiliar with Tsukamoto, he has something of a cult-following and is known for the cyberpunk horror tokusatsu movie, Tetsuo: The Iron Man. Tetsuo is considered to be a defining movie in the Japanese cyberpunk genre and boy is it trippy! He has influenced the likes of Darren Aronofsky, David Fincher, Quention Tarantino and The Wachowskis. Much like Tarantino, he also isn't afraid to get in front of the camera and act, and the subject of today's blog post features him in a major role. Zan is not as bizarre as Tetsuo, but it is a unique take on the samurai movie genre.
Zan follows protagonist Mokunoshin Tsuzuki. Tsuzuki is a ronin, wandering around Japan and is on his way to Edo when he stops at a poor village. In exchange for lodging, he offers them protection and to help harvest the rice. Whilst staying in the village, he grows close with a young teenager named Ichisuke, the son of the family helping him stay. Tsuzuki spars with the eager Ichisuke, teaching him the ways of bushido whilst also keeping his own skills sharp.
Ichizuke's sister, Yu, watches the two spar and silently disapproves as she wishes for Tsuzuki, whom she feels attracted to, to settle down on the farm permanently. Everything changes when the trio witness an ageing ronin by the name of Sawamura cut down an opponent in a duel. The elder ronin recruits Tsuzuki for his mission to Edo, wherein they will serve the Shogun and maintain the peace. Complicating matters even further is the sudden appearance of a group of bandits led by Sezaemon Genda.
What I found fascinating about Zan is the differing ideals and ways of life between the characters, especially when comparing Tsuzuki to Sawamura and Genda. Tsuzuki is a man of peace who seeks whenever possible to live and let live. If there's the possibility of a peaceful resolution to any situation, he'd likely seek it. He seemingly enjoys the peaceful life of the village and would possibly settle down there if not for his mission in Edo. Just see the gripping action scene in which he takes on the bandits. He refuses to use his katana and instead resorts to beating them with a piece of wood. Naturally, this does end up being a bit detrimental as his opponents all use lethal weapons and he is unable to save poor Yu from being assaulted before Sawamura takes action. He came across as rather pathetic in that scene, but it was intriguing to see just how unable to kill he really is. In contrast, Sawamura is swift to unsheathe his sword and kills without hesitation. As soon as Ichisuke is beaten up by the bandits, he retaliates by killing all but one of them. This event sets off the cycle of violence as it leads to the bandits killing some of the villagers in turn before Sawamura puts an end to them. Having seen Tsuzuki's skilled swordsmanship in his sparring sessions with Ichisuke, Sawamura deems the younger ronin worthy of testing his skills against. He believes that Tsuzuki should prove his worth by killing and tells him that the first kill is the hardest. This conflict naturally leads into the final confrontation which is a fun watch.
Zan is a competently directed movie from a talented movie maker. Tsukamoto managed to craft a compelling and thought-provoking narrative with a tight, well-written script and a talented cast. He managed to get the most out of the cast and even put in a great performance himself. The camerawork however, is a very mixed bag in my humble opinion. There's a lot of shaky cam used throughout the movie and the opening scene almost made me stop watching as the shakiness was that bad. The opening sparring session is hard to follow at times in part due to the rough nature of the shaky cam. Thankfully that opening scene is the worst offender and the shakiness lessens as the movie progresses. I would like to point out that my favourite camerawork features in a later sparring session. In this sparring session, the camera tracks Ichisuke and Tsuzuki as they fight in a large open field next to a beautiful forest backdrop, the greenery is gorgeous as is the blue sky! I can also appreciate the new approach to filming sword fighting scenes in a samurai movie, even if I happen to not be particularly fond of it personally.
What really stood out about Zan was the performance of Sosuke Ikematsu. In a very difficult role as the conflicted ronin, Tsuzuki, he managed to really nail all of the right emotional beats and sell the tormented soul he became within his breakdown. It's hard to not empathise with the man in his desperate attempt to understand how to kill with him becoming an emotional wreck in front of stone-faced Sawamura. He also managed to showcase some great chemistry with Yu Aoi.
Yu Aoi was compelling in the role of the unfortunate Yu. She managed to convey the subtle and yet complex mixture of feelings of attraction and dislike she has for Tsuzuki commendably well. Her acting felt natural and powerful, especially in the scene in which she emotionally tells Tsuzuki to avenge her fallen brother.
Shinya Tsukamoto himself was terrific in the role of Sawamura. He put in a graceful, measured performance and subtly portrays more and more emotion as the movie progresses. His scenes in the forest during the course of the climax of the movie are rather fun to watch with him almost goading Tsuzuki into duelling him.
Overall, Zan was an interesting movie. I wouldn't put it up there with the all time great Samurai movies as it's let down by nauseating shaky cam and perhaps lacks a little something special. Nevertheless, I would still recommend it to fans of Tsukamoto's work as well as those looking for a different take on the samurai genre.
What I found fascinating about Zan is the differing ideals and ways of life between the characters, especially when comparing Tsuzuki to Sawamura and Genda. Tsuzuki is a man of peace who seeks whenever possible to live and let live. If there's the possibility of a peaceful resolution to any situation, he'd likely seek it. He seemingly enjoys the peaceful life of the village and would possibly settle down there if not for his mission in Edo. Just see the gripping action scene in which he takes on the bandits. He refuses to use his katana and instead resorts to beating them with a piece of wood. Naturally, this does end up being a bit detrimental as his opponents all use lethal weapons and he is unable to save poor Yu from being assaulted before Sawamura takes action. He came across as rather pathetic in that scene, but it was intriguing to see just how unable to kill he really is. In contrast, Sawamura is swift to unsheathe his sword and kills without hesitation. As soon as Ichisuke is beaten up by the bandits, he retaliates by killing all but one of them. This event sets off the cycle of violence as it leads to the bandits killing some of the villagers in turn before Sawamura puts an end to them. Having seen Tsuzuki's skilled swordsmanship in his sparring sessions with Ichisuke, Sawamura deems the younger ronin worthy of testing his skills against. He believes that Tsuzuki should prove his worth by killing and tells him that the first kill is the hardest. This conflict naturally leads into the final confrontation which is a fun watch.
Zan is a competently directed movie from a talented movie maker. Tsukamoto managed to craft a compelling and thought-provoking narrative with a tight, well-written script and a talented cast. He managed to get the most out of the cast and even put in a great performance himself. The camerawork however, is a very mixed bag in my humble opinion. There's a lot of shaky cam used throughout the movie and the opening scene almost made me stop watching as the shakiness was that bad. The opening sparring session is hard to follow at times in part due to the rough nature of the shaky cam. Thankfully that opening scene is the worst offender and the shakiness lessens as the movie progresses. I would like to point out that my favourite camerawork features in a later sparring session. In this sparring session, the camera tracks Ichisuke and Tsuzuki as they fight in a large open field next to a beautiful forest backdrop, the greenery is gorgeous as is the blue sky! I can also appreciate the new approach to filming sword fighting scenes in a samurai movie, even if I happen to not be particularly fond of it personally.
What really stood out about Zan was the performance of Sosuke Ikematsu. In a very difficult role as the conflicted ronin, Tsuzuki, he managed to really nail all of the right emotional beats and sell the tormented soul he became within his breakdown. It's hard to not empathise with the man in his desperate attempt to understand how to kill with him becoming an emotional wreck in front of stone-faced Sawamura. He also managed to showcase some great chemistry with Yu Aoi.
Yu Aoi was compelling in the role of the unfortunate Yu. She managed to convey the subtle and yet complex mixture of feelings of attraction and dislike she has for Tsuzuki commendably well. Her acting felt natural and powerful, especially in the scene in which she emotionally tells Tsuzuki to avenge her fallen brother.
Shinya Tsukamoto himself was terrific in the role of Sawamura. He put in a graceful, measured performance and subtly portrays more and more emotion as the movie progresses. His scenes in the forest during the course of the climax of the movie are rather fun to watch with him almost goading Tsuzuki into duelling him.
Overall, Zan was an interesting movie. I wouldn't put it up there with the all time great Samurai movies as it's let down by nauseating shaky cam and perhaps lacks a little something special. Nevertheless, I would still recommend it to fans of Tsukamoto's work as well as those looking for a different take on the samurai genre.
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