Currently out on Blu Ray/DVD/VOD and other home entertainment outlets thanks to Magnet is Takeshi Miike’s most impressive work in recent years, 13 Assassins. It is still one of my favorite movies of 2011 and, after a second viewing, that decision has been strengthened even further.
13 Assassins tells the story of a sadistic lord, and half brother of the shogun, named Naritsugu Matsudaira (Gorô Inagaki), who goes around putting servants in their place through torture, rape and whatever means he feels is necessary to satisfy his cravings of punishment. To prevent his rise to the Shogun throne/council, an old and unemployed samurai by the name Shinzaemon Shimada (Kôji Yakusho) is hired to assassinate the lord before he is allowed to bring war to a nation currently at peace. As the end of the samurai era inches closer and closer, Shinzaemon decides that the lord must be taken out, not for the sake of the Shogunate officials that hired him, but for the common people who are bound to suffer the most by Naritsugu ruthless methods. As a result, Shinzaemon recruits 12 other men, all unemployed samurai but one, and together they devise a plot to trap and kill the lord.
Miike, well known for his cult work, ventures out of his shell with this jideaigeki action period piece and does so with much more poise then one would expect. Miike takes this story, one that isn’t necessarily the most original (it is a remake of a film from 1963), and makes it much more interesting than I had originally anticipated. The movie is set up in two distinct parts the first 70 minutes being all about character development, recruitment and plotting the assassination attempt. The remaining time is legitimately all action, a 50 minute battle scene with bits of dialogue woven throughout, more for clarification, drama and a hint of comedy.
In the special features there is an interview with Miike where he makes sure to highlight the fact that this film is not an action film, it is a drama about people who want to do the right thing. If you are able to see this film as such you’ll end up appreciating it for what it actually is. Originally, I called this film the Asian 300 but now I think of it as the Asian 300 that’s made in the style of Saving Private Ryan because, in the end, it’s not the action you care about, it’s the people and what they are fighting for. When you figure that out you’ll realize that this is a fantastic piece of jideaigeki cinema.
On a second viewing, the two part structure roped me in even more than it did the first time around. I wanted to see the samurai kick some ass and so my anticipation and excitement continually grew as the samurai prepared for battle. While the first part showcases the dramatic talent of the actors, it’s the second part that truly steals the show and where we see Miike’s directing truly flourish. He manages to keep the film honest by not glorifying anything, avoids making the kills overly dramatic, and staying true to the classic filmmaking principles of realism.
I’ve mentioned before how crazy the battle is and that was no exaggeration. When you have 13 Assassins against the 200 soldiers there clearly needs to be an excellent strategy in place if they want to succeed. When the fighting begins we witness calculated chaos on one of the most impressive battle sets I’ve seen that was made for a small scale battle. The methods the Samurai use to pick off the soldiers are fantastic, ranging from trapping handfuls of the soldiers in pits and shooting them with arrows to triggered explosions. The entire town where they camped was one massive maze/trap, constructed to optimize the skills of each samurai. Without telling you too much I’ll just say this, if you want a lesson in battle tactics watch the 50 minute battle from this film.
As for the dvd itself, I was hoping for a few more extra features on the disk. What we get is the theatrical trailer, a lot of deleted scenes with one really funny/awkward one that I’m glad didn’t make the final cut and an interview with Miike himself. The interview became interesting about halfway through because the interviewer just didn’t ask very good questions up until the halfway point where Miike just took over. Additionally, the movie itself looked really good on my screen so I’ve got no complaints about the quality of the transfer.
Overall, I absolutely loved 13 Assassins. Having a love for the samurai way of life and fighting style definitely added to my excitement but if you want to see some filmmaking at its finest then definitely check this out. The 50 minute long battle scene is impressive but it’s the set up and execution that will stand out the most…maybe having an awesome name helps too! To sum it all up, this is hands down one of the best action dramas of 2011.
DVD Rating: A must have film for people who love samurais, Miike, or excellent action dramas (8/10)
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