AxlReznor
Posts: 1095
Joined: 2/12/2010
From: Great Britain
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quote:
ORIGINAL: Phubbs
Think 'Seven Samurai' and you have this new modern film which not only equals that classic picture but in my mind it goes one step further and possibly betters it. Hard you may say, true, but this film captured me and didn't let go until the final Katana came slashing down.
Based on a supposed true incident set loosely around 1844 and a remake of the 1963 black n white film 'Jūsan-nin no shikaku', a senior government official hires twelve unemployed and poor Ronin to assassinate the Shogun's sadistic brother due to the fact he kills, rapes and maims innocent people at will. Not a terribly difficult plot to follow and none to original either, the source for many many film of this type and of course has its similarities to 'The Hidden Fortress' and 'Seven Samurai'.
The film is basically (for more than half of it) a dialog piece as Shinzaemon Shimada gets together his swordsman and plans his attack, we see how evil and careless Lord Naritsugu is as he 'plays' with peasants and we see the Samurai train for their assault. The film has subtitles for the Western audience and at first I admit I was becoming worried I may lose interest but unlike '7 Samurai' the dialog isn't too dull and the film doesn't crawl slowly, instead you have lively moments hinting at action to come. This of course is all seconded to the amazing scenery and costumes on display that truly bring 18Century Japan into your living room, the clothing worn by all looks drab and lifeless yet real, the sets are sparse and dark yet perfectly recreated (if you have been to Japan you will know) and the sparing on display is realistic and unlike your more common Hollywood fare. The film for allot of the time is a straight look at how Japanese people got along really, it shows life and hardship for most classes (Samurai were normally poor and homeless) and lets you in on the culture, if your not careful you could be fooled into thinking there will be no action hehe
As the film progresses all of the above I have mentioned simply gets better and more vivid as the Ronin make their way to the village they will turn into a blood bath, the film was shot in Northern Japan (Tsuruoka in the Yamagata Prefecture) and makes full use of the lush green countryside and woodlands, the village for the finale is slightly more your usual set affair which does lose some realistic momentum but never mind.
The final 40 min or so of the film is a relentless onslaught of flashing katana's and streams of blood as the Samurai take on Naritsugu's men with traps and skills that Sly Stallone and his 'Expendables' wished they had shown haha Yes the action is fast and hard to follow but most importantly it looks real, its muddy, messy and not pretty fancy moves...its Samurai warriors hacking their way through semi skilled soldiers all of whom both Samurai and soldier fight for honour.
As the heads roll and the Ronin run around I must say its hard to follow whats going as all the characters wear the same type of outfit in the same colours, as it would be, only certain members hair styles separate them. Alas with 13 men its hard to care for all and hard to make each member a valid part of the film, so when one dies you struggle to think who he was and thus you don't care so much, the only actor I recognise is Tsuyoshi Ihara and of course his character 'Hirayama' was the most fierce of the team so I followed him easily but other Ronin used different weapons so one or two were easily picked up on.
The best film of this genre I've seen ever I think...yes and that includes the more famous black n white films too. The last film I saw of the Samurai would have been 'The Last Samurai' with Cruise and Watanabe which was your typical Hollywood flashy view but a decent effort spoiled by the inclusion of a big ego like Cruise, '13 Samurai' is epic for its accuracy and look, there is nothing original here and at the same time nothing too over the top, accept afew scenes in the village at the end, in short its a damn fine film.
This! I'm not a fan of Miike. I feel a lot of the time he puts "extreme" things into his movies just for the sake of having them there. But 13 Assassins is a fantastic homage to classics of the past. There are a couple of things in there that are really quite disturbing, but because they are so rare they have a much stronger effect than the non-stop gorefest of the likes of Ichi The Killer.
The plot is paper thin, but when you think about it, so is the plot to Seven Samurai. Doesn't stop that being one of the greatest films of all time, and it doesn't stop this from being extremely enjoyable. The slow burn of the first two acts of the movie really helps you to feel something for the core members of the "13"... unfortunately at least half of them aren't really given much more to do than make up the numbers, but the other half are incredibly strong.
And when the third act kicks in, with 45 minutes of constant action, you can't help but be amazed at the stunningly realised action. It's possibly some of the best sword-fighting choreography ever captured on camera, and it all feels grounded (except for one section involving a wave of blood coming over a roof).
It's one of my favourite movies from last year. I haven't seen Miike's version of Hara-Kiri yet. I've heard it is nowhere near as good as this, but I still look forward to seeing it.
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"It's amazing how many supposed 'plot holes' turn out to now be plot holes if you'd just pay attention", Me
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