Music from the Films of Takeshi Kitano: Dolls & Zatoichi (座頭市)

As most of us learn in life, most good things don't last forever and after a decade long working relationship, Kitano and Hisaishi parted ways after the completion of 2002's Dolls. Apparently the two had a argument concerning the films soundtrack and that may be the reason why there are only five tracks present. Dolls is a fantastic art film and it was a new beginning for Kitano in a way. While many of his films were building up to this, Dolls really set the tone for the second phase of his directorial career in the 2000's. This was slightly subdued in his revamp of the popular blind swordsman film series, Zatoichi (座頭市), however Kitano, like in A Scene at the Sea, played off his characters disability intriguingly with sound. Musician Keiichi Suzuki of Moonriders fame took the role of composer and the two created an interesting world together. Both men have eclectic ways of crafting their art and much of this film is synchronized to the soundtrack. This is my favorite aspect of the film and while I did not love as much as Dolls and his works from the 90's, I did find it greatly entertaining. Unfortunately, this will be the last of his film soundtracks but I will continue post the randomness that I usually do. Check the films, check the soundtracks and enjoy!

Dolls (2002) Joe Hisaishi

1. Sakura

2. Pure White

3. Mad

4. Feel

5. Dolls

Zatoichi (座頭市) (2003) Keiichi Suzuki

1. A road to a post-town

2. Firewood-chopping and a farmer who wants to be a samurai

3. Ginzo's first command

4. The Naruto-ya rice merchant massacre

5. The gambling house massacre

6. The wasteland massacre and the reminiscence of Geisha

7. A house on fire and massacres all over

8. Constructors

9. O-kagura

10. Zatoichi showdown

11. Festivo

12. A road to a post-town - alternate mix

13. Ginzo's first command - alternate mix

14. A house on fire and massacres all aver - alternate mix

15. Trailer