13 Assassins

I'm a little wary of films from Takashi Miike as, although they are generally received as good, my experience of them has been that they are bloody and very odd. Thirteen Assassins though seemed a bit more accessible in terms of being more straightforward, which in some ways then makes the violence a little easier to watch. The plot here sees the amoral behaviour of Lord Naritsugu infuriate a small group of men who, led by veteran samurai Shinzaemon, set out to trap him and his 100+ entourage of guards (led by samurai Hanbei) in order to kill him and end his rise to power for the greater good.

This plot essentially cuts the film in half. The first half of the film is the setup and is mostly dialogue driven. It is slow and patient but not dull as the main thing it does is to turn the main character (and the audience) against Naritsugu by virtue of the terrible things he has done. This is brutal and quite shocking in regards some of the things we see, half-see or view the aftermath of. At the same time it gives us some time to get to know the thirteen main characters; although there is an air of honour to all of them, the characters do have traits of humour, weakness, anger and so on, which mark them out but also add some colour to the telling. The second half of the film begins when the trap is sprung and a small village becomes a contained killing field soon to be filled with bodies and blood.

I had wondered how I would find this because there was always the potential that action involving this size of a crowd would just be a mess of flailing and blood and that it wouldn't have any tension or flow to it. To a certain extent, this is a bit of a problem at times but mostly Miike overcomes it by splitting up the characters across the village and mixing smaller conflicts with bigger ones. You do still need to buy the sight of tired individual men cutting through a stream of 20 men but the narrative sort of makes this easy (it is a time of peace with a lower standard of samurai) but also it isn't all this type of action. It is bloody but without being overly gory for the sake of it. The delivery manages to make me believe the concept of the honourable death (not something I do normally) because of how dishonourable Naritsugu is and how likable Shinzaemon is throughout. The cast do well in this regard not only to make characters but also to remain distinguishable in the midst of the chaos and blood. Yakusho is strong in the lead and he contrasts well with Ichimura and Inagaki well; both of whom are also good even if Inagaki has a bit of an open goal in regards doing a simple amoral character. The supporting cast are good and mix their characters well with my favourite being Iseya who is fun and funny even if what his character represents sort of doesn't work for my western viewpoint.

Overall though, Thirteen Assassins is an engaging film that has good build-up which explodes into chaos and violence for the second half. I don't think it is perfect but in fairness some of the problems I had with it came with the plot and the territory, so they are not failings so much as just part of the film.

In feudal Japan, the heir to the current Shogun, Lord Naritsugu, is a sadistic devil, raping and murdering at will – doesn't matter if it's peasants, samurai families or anywhere in-between – and because of his standing, nobody will stand up to him. Until samurai Shinzaemon (Koji Yakusho) gathers together a dozen intrepid samurai, and picks up one very odd peasant hunter to make 13 assassins, determined to stop Naritsugu at all costs. Doing so means buying a village and rigging it up as a death trap, and being completely prepared to die horribly, as long as the mission is accomplished. Will the 13 assassins manage to win against all odds? Will the evil Lord Naritsugu see his comeuppance finally? Well, you'll have to see the movie to find out....

At FantAsia 2011, we were treated to the Director's Cut of this film, the director being Takashi Miike, who can sometimes be uneven in his work, but here he does an extraordinary job. The last hour of the film is essentially an extended fight scene and even I, someone who doesn't feel a need for a lot of fight scenes in a film, didn't get tired of it or bored – it was just amazing to watch. The actors are all terrific, and the film takes the time for the audience to get to know the characters, to admire the brave samurai who are all fighting for various reasons but mainly for love of honour, and to roundly despise and hate the evil Naritsugu (played marvellously as a bored aristocrat by Goro Inagaki); the viewer is invested in these characters, and that makes this film truly remarkable. I don't know if Japanese mythology has a Trickster God similar to Coyote in some Native American traditions, but the indestructible peasant the samurai meet in the forest is very much a Coyote character, who adds immeasurably to the humour of the piece as well. Recommended.

Taksshi Mike gives a new face to the 1963 classic '13 Assassins' and he has executed it at grandeur level portraying an event which took place in Japans feudal era.

When an evil and sadistic lord is bringing horror to countrymen, few Samurais who were once loyal to the throne foresee a greater danger. If this Lord Naritsugu Matsudaira plunges himself to the throne in near future the country will be devastated and torn with war. Thus these brave set of men creates a silent and elite secret force in order to assassinate the lord. Gathering only 13 men to their force they fearlessly goes head to head against an army of 200 to fulfill their goal. Brutal and merciless Samurai swords speak for themselves.

This movie is a wonder of its own creation. It brings out ancient lifestyle of Japan in to light with details. And more than that the spirit of the brave Samurais are making the plot truly strong and when they fall and die one by one still they keep the heads high and hearts strong. Courage and determination of a worrier may not seem this strong in any recent movie which I recall.

However be warned that 13 Assassins is not an easy movie to digest. It has blood and gore in great volumes and violence sometimes you might not really expect. Yet they are important in order make the story run to your blood stream. And once the war hits the screen after a long and silent slow momentum, it goes right until the end which is nearly 30-40 mts. So you might actually lose the count of killing.

My reviews at flickshout.tk

This film was a dark-edged delight from beginning to end when I saw it at the 2010 edition of TIFF. The audience there loved it too, breaking out into spontaneous applause during several scenes.

Solid direction by Miike, great characters, beautifully shot and simply some of the best and most intense action sequences put on film - ever! It does have it's obvious influences, such as Kurosawa's "Seven Samurai", but damn, this one kicks ass mightily! You've never seen Shogun like this! And something else to point out: the sound on this film was thundering, shaking and stellar! THIS is the kind of film that reminds us why we go to a movie theatre to enjoy a film on a big screen, why we turn off our cell phones and immerse ourselves in the experience of cinema-going, as opposed to staying home on our couches.

I'll go see it again on the big screen when it hopefully returns to town - you can bet on that!

If you've never seen anything by director Miike Takashi then be prepared for a no-holds barred film. I've been a bit of a fan for many years having watched some of his best known films (e.g. Audtion and The Dear or Alive trilogy) and have quite liked his style. It may disturb as much as it amazes, but you will have to acknowledge some great film-making.

The énfant terrible of Asian film-making world (according to one review I read) here he takes a complete sidestep with this take on the traditional samurai tale. A group of samurai are brought together to bring down a sadistic Lord who is expected in time to be elevated to higher levels of authority. As a foil to the group is another senior samurai figure who is hell-bent on protecting the Lord in belief that it is their duty not to take politics in their own hands but to serve.

Some very violent scenes, the story is excellent and builds up to a long battle scene which sees our heavily outnumbered group battle to complete their mission. The fight scenes are incredibly well choreographed and paced excellently, and very violent also as you would expect.

It's not just the action that is the crux of the film, but actually the story is well done and the acting is exceptional. One added member of the group (admittedly not a samurai) adds some comic relief which helps to ease the tension at times, and is a nice touch.

The settings are exceptional and the dialogue is excellent. It can be difficult to follow early on as you try to figure out the political world and the figures that are relevant in this world, but you will capture the gist of what is to be taken from it all.

I thoroughly enjoyed it and if you are into old Samurai tales then this is one for watch. Very engrossing and will likely be one for repeat viewing.