Zatoichi At Large (1972), the 23rd installment of the Zatoichi series, has a veteran director, Kazuo Mori, in charge. It calls to mind an earlier film, Fight, Zatoichi, Fight, in that we have Zatoichi (Shintaro Katsu) taking care of a baby again after helping a dying woman give birth after she was robbed on her travels. Once again we have Rentaro Mikuni playing a Yakuza boss, Testugoro, who is fixed on taking over a crime-free village. There are several cases of mistaking Zartoichi for the killer of a couple innocent victims: starting with the pregnant woman and later with the slayed village constable, Tobei (Hisaya Morishige). The son of the slayed woman follows Zatoichi pelting him with rocks whenever given the chance. The carnage comes late in the film and the final showdown with the master swordsman feels like an afterthought. But there's plenty of entertainment, for example, there's a comedy troupe with performing monkeys and a cast of comedic performing actors. As always, Zatoichi performs skillful sword tricks and exposes cheating in gambling while raising stakes for his charitable deeds.
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