13 Assassins - Review

By Evrim Ersoy May 8, 2011, 9:34 GMT

Takashi Miike\'s new film

  Chanbara movies hold a special place in Japanese cinema.  From Sanjuro to Zatoichi , they represent some of the most successful series ever brought on the screen. From their fledgling start in pre-war Japan to the fruitful results of the 1960’s, there’s an abundance of films within the Japanese cinematic history for the curious enquirer.

 Takashi Miike, on the other hand, is not a name one would immediately associate with this very classical form: whilst Miike has been known to reign himself in from time to time, his style is too quirky and weird to ever completely disappear.
So for him to remake the 1963 classic ‘Jusa-nin no shikaku’ was an unusual move to say the least. How would he approach the material? How would he update the screenplay?

 Well, with the release of ’13 Assassins’ this week on our screens we finally got to know - by not changing much at all.

 Perhaps representing the most classical film in the Miike cannon, ’13 Assassins’ is a beautiful entry into the jidaigeki genre.  Set during the end of Feudal Japan, the film focuses on a group of unemployed samurai who are given the task of assassinating a sadistic lord in order to prevent him from ascending to the throne. 

 However to simplify the plot so much is to do it immense injustice: Classic themes of the chanbara genre all here, presented through the relationship of the samurai:  bushido – the code of honour by which the samurai live their lives, the loyatly of a samurai to his master and even the responsibility of a samurai to Japan itself are all themes interwoven into the fabric of the story.

 Although ’13 Assassins’ is over two hours, there is no cause for complaint.  Miike’s clever decision to use all of the first hour to build relationship between the characters pays off later in the film once the action starts.  The intricate relationship between the samurai and the suicidal nature of the mission are drummed into the viewer with a steady hand so much so that once the samurai set off on their journey, there is a sense of expectation.

 And the action? Well the action is something to behold. Once Miike unleashes the samurai upon the retainers of the Shogun, the screen is awash with blood. Miike shoots the sword fighting scenes without resorting to any flash camerawork allowing the fights to speak for themselves.  And although the fights are spectacular and bloody what’s even more impressive is the set Miike has built and utilizez for the last act: he manages to scour and use every inch of this village, creating unexpected and delightful sequences in even the smallest corner.

 Koji  Yakusho is perfectly cast as Shinzaemon Shimada but the real stand-out performance of the film is Goro Inagaki as Lord Narigutsu Matsudaira who plays the lord as a somewhat otherworldly man who is constantly testing the limits of both his power and his capacity for cruelty.

 There are no praises high enough to recommend a film like ’13 Assassins’. In this day and age of cookie-cutter action films with too-fast editing and not enough substance, it represents a breath of fresh air from the cinema of yesterday. The rumor has it that Takashi Miike has finished yet another chanbara epic since making 13 Assassins – I, for one, can hardly wait.