13 Assassins [2010]

The Shogun’s younger brother is an evil man with hate and cruelty in his heart. When the depth of his evil becomes apparent to a senior government official he hires the samurai Shinzaemon to assassinate him before he can ascend in power. Shinzaemon goes on recruit 11 more samurai for the mission – who are joined on their journey by a hunter – making it the tale of the 13 assassins.

This is a remake of a film of the same name and though I can’t find the original to rent and compare – it seems moot as it’s the exact plot of SEVEN SAMURAI – with the main differences being the number of characters – and the threat is from the government rather than bandits. Let me remind you – Rule #1 – originality is overrated. You’ve seen this movie before – I promise you – but the story is compelling never-the-less.

Given the nature of the heroes of this film are samurai – and samurai are not normally known for being expressive – that leads to what can be perceived as little character development – that perception is mostly reality. This lack of character development though – does not lead to any less desire to wanting to see them succeed with every ounce of your being. The majority of the real character depth is with the villain – and he is such a wonderfully evil villain. With his apparent evil and condescending above the law nature – you wouldn’t care if smurfs were after him – as long as someone was.

The villain’s character development is a major triumph for this film – because if you consider giving 13 characters a personal sense of purpose – goals – motivations – and the like would be exhausting and make the film 4 hours long – much like SEVEN SAMURAI (which is one of my top 5 favorite films of all time – so I’m not knocking it). But if you give the bulk of the character development to the villain – you come to accept the assassins as being in the right even if you don’t know them – and it makes each of their deaths equally sad.

The film – in the cut that was released to Blu-Ray in America is roughly 2 hours – with the final 50 minutes of the film being essentially a bloodbath. Not once through the final battle did I think that it was taking too long or getting boring. I saw it as less of an extended action scene and more of a dramatic scene that kept me engaged throughout. There was no music playing over the bulk of the battle – as to not falsify the emotion and give you the traditional movie triggers to tell you to care. The clangs of the swords, the screams and shouts and the visuals of the mud and blood – was enough to jar me into caring and kind of leave me dumbstruck.

That’s not to say the film was essentially a build up to the action scene – as the assassin’s quest prior to the battle was an interesting story. There wasn’t a cheap scene in the build-up – which is just strong storytelling. The conclusion of the story was extremely satisfying – and even a little bit of a twist that didn’t exactly fit in with the exact nature of the story – but it was pitch perfect to resolve the film (though I interpreted it one way – and considered it the only solution – I guess some could want to believe the other).

For some, I can see how the lack of character development could lead to a lack of recognition while they fought and died muddied and bloodied – but with such beautiful noble samurai deaths – it didn’t phase me. Several of the assassins were given a small bit of this or that that allowed me to recognize them upon their demise – several were not and I didn’t recognize them as being X or Y – but like I said – it didn’t worry me.

I guess I found a few small instances of new technology a tiny bit distracting – but it was used so few and far between that it didn’t impact me that much. I would say for the most part – a lot of old school directing techniques and action sequences helped sell me.

Netflix refused to send this movie to me for a while – though it sat on the top of my rental queue with no wait – which brought up my excitement – and could have easily made the presumptive disparity hard to overcome – but it met and exceeded my expectations. This is not just a renter – but a movie I want to own and kind of wish I didn’t already returned it because I want to watch it again already – I highly recommend it.

* I apologize for lack of pictures – I like to use them to break-up the text – but it appears that once I Googled some up most have been removed due to the US Digital Millennium Copyright Act – which is a shame it’s a visually stunning film and would like to showcase it in my review

Bohachi Bushido: Code of the Forgotten Eight [1973]

Despite the fact that notorious assassin Shino rejects the ways of the Bohachi clan – instead of being handed over to the authorities – Shino works as the lead assassin to help the Bohachi clan seize power in the region by eliminating their competition.


I’ve defined pinky violence – as women in the lead aggressor role who assume power over men/authority, which are usually corrupted, by using sex and violence. From the “expert” interview on the DVD – pinky violence is defined as being women’s sexuality enticing men to violence. (The expert was sitting in his basement with fast food wrappers around him – so his credentials have taken a hit by his presentation) So, by either definition this film WAS NOT pinky violence (though it’s marketed as one) – it is a period drama/samurai film – with tons and TONS of nudity.


No complaints about the nudity. None.
I wasn’t enthusiastic about the sets – it looked very studio and fake – but as the film progressed I began to really like how they were being used to add contrast. As the film unfolded – and a psychedelic element was introduced the sets made more sense – and it worked so much better and became something I really liked instead of cringed at. I think the directing was solid – and though the film dragged a bit in parts – the filmmakers knew what they were doing in making a very good film.


I liked Shino – though his character didn’t make as much sense to me. The beginning of the film – he flat out rejected the ways of the Bohachi clan – and I assumed that this is where the main conflict would come from. He would play the clan and the authorities against each other – and it would be Yojimbo / A Fistful of Dollars kind of story. Instead he seemed to go along with the flow of the clan way too much and became less of a strong figure and more of a lapdog. I kept wondering when he’d show his hand – and honestly – I’m not sure if he did.


The main contradiction of Shino – was he tries to kill himself pontificating “If death is hell – how does it compare to the hell that is life?” He is rescued – but is obviously fearless of his own demise. So, why does he care if he’s turned over to the authorities? Isn’t it honorable to die in battle against the many Bohachi or the army of authorities? The film tries to play that he is fearless and that’s what makes him unstoppable – so why bend your morals, Shino? Fucking fight everyone!
The Code of the Forgotten Eight sounds really fucking cool – and you think that Shino will be the last of his clan of eight samurai and he was going to uphold his code all over the Bohachi clan’s asses! You learn pretty early though – that the Bohachi are the ones who have decided to “forget” the eight “virtues” – which essentially boils down that they have allowed themselves to become chauvinist pigs. They freely torture and rape women into submission – and when you think that the women will rise up against them – (especially five women in particular) – they just play submissive to the clan and let them use them to hold power by ruling through their brothels.


Wasn’t that in SCARFACE; once you have the women – then you get the power?


Unfortunately, with Shino becoming the Bohachi’s lapdog – and the mysterious ninja clan not being much of a major factor – and the women happy to be dominated – and a run time of 81 minutes – the film doesn’t hold up to what should’ve been. Meaning – without telling you the ending - there was no real conclusion – there were a few great fight sequences – and a pretty cool “ending” – but there was no sense of justice done or tragically left undone.


I wish this was the first or second film of a series and I can turn to the sequel – and continue the story – as this felt like a solid middle part of a pretty epic story. I recommend this film only hesitantly – for the style, direction, fight sequences and ridiculous amount of nudity – but not for the story.

S is for... [part 2]

Unanimously hailed as one of the greatest masterpieces in the history of the motion picture, Seven Samurai has inspired countless films modeled after its basic premise. But Akira Kurosawa's classic 1954 action drama has never been surpassed in terms of sheer power of emotion, kinetic energy, and dynamic character development. The story is set in the 1600s, when the residents of a small Japanese village are seeking protection against repeated attacks by a band of marauding thieves. Offering mere handfuls of rice as payment, they hire seven unemployed "ronin" (masterless samurai), including a boastful swordsman (Toshiro Mifune) who is actually a farmer's son desperately seeking glory and acceptance. The samurai get acquainted with but remain distant from the villagers, knowing that their assignment may prove to be fatal. The climactic battle with the raiding thieves remains one of the most breathtaking sequences ever filmed. It's poetry in hyperactive motion and one of Kurosawa's crowning cinematic achievements. This is not a film that can be well served by any synopsis; it must be seen to be appreciated (accept nothing less than its complete 203-minute version) and belongs on the short list of any definitive home-video library. (synopsis provided by Amazon.com)

released 1954

directed by Akira Kurosawa