REVIEW: 十三人の刺客 (三池崇史) – 13 Assassins (Miike Takashi)

First Thoughts

I’m a fan of Miike Takashi. Let me just put that out there first. I know many people, including Japanese associates, who cannot abide by his work, but I am indeed a fan. I am also an ~~obsessed~~ avid fan of samurai films, to the extent that I studied and conducted an independent study project on the genre in college. As a result, this movie was perhaps more up my alley from the get-go than other viewers. I will, however, try my best to be objective all things considered. So here goes.

13 Assassins is a remake of an older film (directed by Kudo Eiichi in 1963), which was in turn made in response to the original release of the Seven Samurai film. It is also supposedly based (very loosely) on actual events.

I watched 13 Assassins for the first time at the New York Asian Film Festival 2011, where we not only got to hear actor Yamada Takayuki speak, but we also got to see the original Japanese cut of the film.

When the film was released internationally, 15 minutes were omitted, so we got to see the movie as director Miike Takashi intended (I will get to what was different between the two cuts later).

Visual and Overall Style

For lack of a better description, 13 Assassins felt like a much grittier version of the Seven Samurai combined with action scenes that resembled 300.

I really liked the subdued tones throughout the film. How everything seemed a bit drained of color or in shadows. I know this was done deliberately, and I personally interpret this as Miike trying to pay tribute to the classic samurai film in 13 Assassins… until the end of course when he throws everything at the audience (more on that later as well).

Characters and Plot

Character-wise there are quite a few counterparts to characters found in the cast of Kurosawa Akira’s Seven Samurai film, most notably the Kyuzo and Kikuchiyo characters.

I was certainly surprised by how many faces I could recognize. From Saitoh Takumi (Prince of Tennis Musical), to Yakusho Koji (Shall We Dansu), to Iseya Yusuke (Live Action Casshern) and of course Yamada Takayuki… there were at least twelve actors/actresses I recognized. Japanese audiences will also note J-pop idol group SMAP’s Inagaki Goro playing the horribly villainous role of the feudal lord (and extremely well).

Although this knowledge helped me keep track of everyone’s faces, 13 Assassins suffers from what every entourage film faces: too many characters. There simply are too many characters to develop anyone fully, and unless the character has a notable talent/characteristic (or extremely vivid death/battle scene), many blend together in one’s memory. The one exception to this, in my opinion, is the villain. Inagaki Goro portrays perhaps one of the best villains I have encountered in film in a long time. One that the viewer can really hate, and yet he still manages to stay believable.

Thankfully, the plot is kept very simple so that the viewer can better enjoy the ride this film offers. Without going into too much detail, here is a brief summary:

The Story

Inagaki Goro plays the role of Matsudaira Naritsugu (his name isn’t really important), the sadistic half-brother of the Shogun, who is truly beyond evil.

It doesn’t take much imagination to foresee what will happen to the country if he were to ascend to a higher political position, and so a samurai named Shinzaemon (Yakusho Koji), who may remind viewers a bit of the character Kanbei from Seven Samurai, is secretly assigned to assassinate him.

To help him in this task, Shinzaemon recruits 11 more samurai, making a force of 12 men, plus a 13th man who they encounter along the way.

In the meantime, however, Naritsugu’s men hear of the plot to assassinate their lord, most notably a man named Hanbei, who studied swordsmanship with Shinzaemon when they were younger, and is the primary samurai in charge of protecting Matsudaira Naritsugu.

Although I previously criticized the lack of character development, I would like to emphasize that one of the things done very well in this film is that it still manages to have a lot of good characters. Characters that make you smile, characters that will make you cheer, characters that make you feel something when they die (maybe a little? Depends on how invested you get in films).

The last thing I want to call attention to in terms of character/plot refers directly to the original cut of the film. WARNING! SPOILERS AHEAD – IF YOU WOULD LIKE TO SKIP THE NEXT BIT AND JUMP STRAIGHT TO ACTION/CHOREOGRAPHY.

The 15 minutes that did not make it into the international release of 13 Assassins concern one sole character, and that is the role of Koyata (Iseya Yusuke), the counterpart to the Kikuchiyo character in Seven Samurai.

Like Kikuchiyo, Koyata is initially rejected by the 12 samurai, and is frustrated by the distinction of status between samurai and non-samurai. Unlike Kikuchiyo, however, Miike Takashi’s Koyata character is not just a non-samurai. He’s not even human. The scenes that hint at this, however, were omitted from the international release, resulting in much confusion from the audience when Koyata emerges from the aftermath alive, despite having been stabbed in the throat in an earlier scene.

According to a news article regarding the matter, some of the scenes were deemed inappropriate for international audiences (including a scene where Koyata exhausts the village of its…erm… sexual resources). But more importantly, the scenes were believed to be ones that only a Japanese audience might understand the context. Although this may be true, it makes things a bit confusing in the international release. If possible, I recommend trying to find the original Japanese release to get the full, or “true” 13 Assassins experience.

Action/Choreography

Miike Takashi has always been great at action, and he does not disappoint in 13 Assassins. He definitely restrains himself though until the very end, where he unleashes a 45-minute-long climax on the audience, throwing everything from exploding buildings to cows on fire.

45 minutes might seem like a long time, but it’s great fun to watch! It’s also well choreographed (even if some parts seem impractical), and makes for some great battle scenes that is complemented with a good soundtrack to further carry the action.

One of my favorite parts from the climax.

Final Thoughts

The gritty action and dark side of the film was well-balanced with choice moments of humor. Some scenes were a little out there, but that’s to be expected from Miike, who is prone to zaniness in his productions. In fact, for Miike, 13 Assassins is rather tame.

This is not a movie to watch for substance or an inspiring plot, or if you are a bit weak at heart when it comes to gore/violence. It’s a great film for those who like action, samurai, and is up for a rather wild ride.