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‘I will do this deed with magnificence.’
And so Shizaemon (Koji Yakusho), our Samurai leader, takes to his mission. Yet, it’s a phrase that that might well be applied to Takashi Miike’s directing, for this is certainly not his traditional style of filmmaking. Although there are many clear signs linking it to the filmmaker’s earlier work, it is not the same sort of shocking cinema we have come to expect from the creator of the brilliantly brutal Audition or the weird and wacky comic sensibility of films like The Happiness of the Katakuris. But this is a definitely not a bad thing, as the result is quite magnificent.
In 1844, Japan is has been at peace for a while and yet when this is threatened by the evil Lord Naritsugu, a band of Samurais form to eliminate him. The result, one might expect, will be a meaningless bloodbath, involving gore thrown around with needless abandon, yet this is not true. Although the film has more than its fair share of blood and guts, they definitely have a point, as the film looks brilliantly at the decaying system of the Samurai. As is its last practitioners are vanishing into history, it is their desire to give it and themselves an honourable send off. These ideas and the tension caused by this fraying way of life become increasingly apparent as the film continues, particularly in the character Hanbei (Masachika Ichimura) whose honour obliges him to fight, and if necessary die, to protect someone he knows will bring ruin to the nation. It is this sense of out-of-date ideas and their obsession with honour which the gives the film its strange sense of meaning, power and even indeed tragedy. All of which is demonstrated with an excellent cast who manage, despite the nature of the story and the script, to bring it all too vivid life.
That said, though, the second half of the film is indeed the gore we might expect in the intense and prolonged battle inside a village in which the warriors attempt to eliminate Naritsugu and his 200 guards. All of this is done brilliantly; it’s a fast intense gruelling brutal in just the way it should be with the fighting and indeed madness characterised extremely well. Despite the ridiculous nature of the odds, it never feels silly as there are clear glimpses in amongst this of the pain and suffering which clearly comes as part and parcel of the Samurai’s life.
Admittedly, 13 Assassins is certainly no Seven Samurai but, let’s face it, to match that high water mark is practically impossible. What the film is, though, is an intelligent and extremely well made film about honour and dying ideals that is never in the least bit dull and offers a truly spectacular action sequence taking up the last forty minutes of the film. Whether you want something intelligent or just an entertaining action movie, this demands to be seen.
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