In which I am disrespectful to a blind man

Just back from the NWFF where I saw Zatoichi the Fugitive. I realize I didn't mention I saw another one last Monday--completely forgot, two days after seeing it. That was New Adventure of Zatoichi. One week later, I can remember nothing about it--exactly why I'm trying to write about everything I see. I can't say I'm a big fan of Zatoichi. Saw Zatoichi vs Yojimbo with the Climate Change Expert a couple of decades ago; saw, um, maybe Zatoichi on the Road? which Te Amo Azul rented for us to watch on New Year's a few year's back: the first annoyed me, the second was pleasant, but I think I'd had some liquor. Checked out a few discs from the library but couldn't work up the enthusiasm to watch more than the trailers for the other movies in the series. But I had a fine time at Fugitive tonight. A visual rhyme with Labyrinth in an early scene, shot from above, of a dozen hands full of dirt over an open grave, one by one depositing their burdens on the coffin. This immediately had me flash on the best scene from Labyrinth, which I inexplicably didn't recount in my previous post: the Helping Hands, large hands that slowly lower Jennifer Connelly down a well into an oubliette--the hands forming faces, fists for eyes, knuckles for teeth, lips of fingers. Absolutely brilliant--matching the grotesque beauty of Svankmajer. Beyond the hands over the coffin, the sort of grace note I don't expect to find in a series picture, Fugitive was predictable: Masseur Ichi meets a lost love, and she's dead by the final reel--I'm sure Joe Mannix, Jim Rockford, and Crockett and Tubbs would all share his pain. But it moved well, and even has a dance scene at the end, Ichi dancing to keep from crying (doesn't work) which leads to the
Final shot: Close-up of his somber face--completely unexpected (going down the road overhead shot, I would have put money on).
Packed house again. Glad to see it.