A blonde American tourist comes to a sushi bar in Japan and makes a little awkward small talk with the cook. This is how a beautiful scene begins in Quentin Tarantino’s revenge thriller “Kill Bill”, which is especially funny because both initially conceal their identities: Uma Thurman is “the bride”, a killer who is trained in all martial arts. The chef is actually Hattori Hanzo, a legendary master of sword fighting and blacksmithing, whose priceless samurai blades cut through any opponent like butter in the summer sun. And the bride needs such a sword for her plans.
Sonny Chiba, himself a legend of the Japanese martial arts scene, gave this Hattori Hanzo his comedy and authority under Tarantino’s direction – and of course the scene was also intended as an homage to an entire life’s work, not just for young martial arts -Fan Tarantino has shaped. So you have the man right in front of your eyes when you hear the sad news that he died on Thursday at the age of 82, of complications as a result of a Covid-19 infection, such as Oricon News reported in Japan.
His first martial arts films were given X ratings for extreme violence – this is how Tarantino Chiba noticed
Born Sadaho Maeda in Fukuoka, Japan, in 1939, he actually developed his first mastery in martial arts. At the end of the fifties he studied under the karate champion Masutatsu “Mas” Oyama, whom he later embodied in a film trilogy when he himself was a master with numerous belts, in “Champion of Death,” “Karate Bearfighter” and ” Karate for Life “.
But first he became known as an actor on Japanese television, in superhero roles and in the thrillers of the director Kinji Fukasaku, with whom he has worked again and again. His first martial arts film didn’t come out until 1973, and the second, “The Street Fighter,” was already released by New Line Cinema in Grindhouse cinemas in the United States – with an X rating for extreme violence. This is how Tarantino became aware of Sonny Chiba, certainly long before he was formally old enough for it …
“The Bullet Train,” “The Storm Riders,” “Doberman Cop” and “Shogun’s Samurai” were other titles in Chiba’s sprawling oeuvre. Most recently, he had a bigger appearance when the accelerator junkies of the “Fast and the Furious” series stopped in Tokyo. He played a yakuza boss. To commemorate, however, it is best to look again at his question from Tarantino, how big the vermin is that the “bride” wants to kill with the fabulous blade that he is supposed to forge for her. And Uma Thurman replies: “Huge”.