13 Assassins (2010 film)
13 Assassins | |
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Directed by | Takashi Miike |
Screenplay by | Daisuke Tengan |
Story by | Shōichirō Ikemiya[1] |
Based on | 13 Assassins by Eiichi Kudo |
Produced by |
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Starring |
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Cinematography | Nobuyasu Kita[1] |
Edited by | Kenji Yamashita[1] |
Music by | Kōji Endō |
Production companies |
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Distributed by | Toho (Japan)[2] Artificial Eye (United Kingdom)[3][4] |
Release dates |
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Running time | 141 minutes |
Countries | United Kingdom[1] Japan[1] |
Language | Japanese |
Budget | $6 million[5] |
Box office | $17.5 million[6] |
13 Assassins (
The film marks the third collaboration in which Yamada and Takaoka co-starred, the first two being
Plot
In the year 1844 of the
Shinzaemon gathers twelve trusted samurai including Shinzaemon's nephew, Shinrokurō, who together plan to ambush Naritsugu on his official journey from Edo to his lands in Akashi. Just before they leave, Hanbei arrives and warns his old colleague that he will suffer grave consequences if he tries to kill Naritsugu.
The group, with the legal authority and financial assistance of Doi, buy the help of the town of Ochiai in order to create a trap. They also enlist the help of Makino, a feudal lord whose daughter-in-law was raped and son murdered by Naritsugu. With troops, Makino blocks the official highway, forcing Naritsugu to head into the trap; Makino then disembowels himself to conceal his own involvement in the conspiracy. During the assassins' journey to the town, they are attacked by rōnin who have been paid off by Hanbei to kill the plotters. The group decides to head through the mountains but end up getting lost. In the process they encounter a hunter named Kiga Koyata who becomes their guide and later the thirteenth assassin.
The town is converted into an elaborate maze of booby traps and camouflaged fortifications. When Naritsugu and his retinue arrive, their numbers have been augmented by additional troops. The 13 assassins are no longer facing 70 men-at-arms; now they face at least 200. A lengthy battle follows, with Naritsugu and his guards trapped inside the village and attacked on all sides by arrows, explosives, knives, and swords - with the exception of Koyata, who fights with rocks in slings and with sticks. In the midst of the carnage, the sadistic Naritsugu is aroused by the bloodshed of the battle. He tells Hanbei that when he ascends to the Shōgun's council he will bring back the wars of the
The assassins are killed one by one, but not before they kill nearly all of the Akashi forces. Eventually, Naritsugu and Hanbei, along with two retainers, are the last remaining of the Naritsugu's party, and are confronted by Shinzaemon and Shinrokurō. After Shinzaemon kills Hanbei, Naritsugu kicks his loyal retainer's head away, insulting the samurai who has given his life for him. Contemptuously, he announces that the people and the samurai have only one purpose: to serve their lords. Shinzaemon counters by telling Naritsugu that lords cannot live without the support of the people and that, if a lord abuses his power, the people will always rise up against him. Naritsugu and Shinzaemon mortally wound each other. Crying, crawling in the mud, and experiencing fear and pain for the first time, the lord thanks Shinzaemon for showing him excitement. Shinzaemon then decapitates him.
Shinrokurō wanders through the carnage and meets the hunter Koyata who, having suffered a fatal injury earlier, runs up to him with characteristic vigor, unharmed. They make their separate ways out of the town after they briefly discuss how they intend to live their lives from then onwards. An epilogue states that the Shōgun and his government covered up what really occurred, announcing that Naritsugu died of illness on the journey back to his lands. Twenty-three years later, the Tokugawa Shogunate would be overthrown during the Meiji Restoration.
Cast
- Gorō Inagaki as Lord Matsudaira Naritsugu:[7] The ruler of the Akashi Domain. His violent atrocities in his land have gone unpunished since he is protected by the Shōgun, who is his half-brother.
- Mikijirō Hira as Sir Doi Toshitsura:[7] The senior advisor to the Shogunate Council. Alarmed that Naritsugu has been considered by the Shōgun for a political position on the council, he hires Shinzaemon to kill Naritsugu beforehand.
- Kōji Yakusho as Shimada Shinzaemon:[7][8] A war-weary, decorated samurai who believes that there is more to Bushido than blind obedience. Convinced that there was no chance for an honorable death, he is deeply elated when hired to carry out the mission. He assembles a group of eleven samurai to plot an ambush on Naritsugu's annual journey from Edoto his land in Akashi.
- Seiji Rokkaku as Otake Mosuke
- Hiroki Matsukata as Kuranaga Saheita:[7] Second-in-command to Shinzaemon, another veteran samurai who volunteers his best and most trusted students for the mission
- Tsuyoshi Ihara as Hirayama Kujūrō:[8] A masterless samurai of unmatched swordsmanship, who trained under Shinzaemon
- Takayuki Yamada as Shimada Shinrokurō:[8] Shinzaemon's nephew, who has strayed from Bushido to become a gambler and a womanizer. Bored and ashamed, he joins the mission to redeem himself.
- Yūsuke Iseya as Kiga Koyata:[7][8] A hunter who is found suspended in a cage in the forest as a punishment for seducing his boss's wife and aids the assassins in finding a route to Ochiai. He is eventually recruited by Shinzaemon as the thirteenth assassin. Although not explicitly stated, it is heavily implied that he is a supernatural entity.
Production
13 Assassins was produced through Toshiaki Nakazawa's film outfit, Sedic International, and
I felt that all of us working on our remake of 13 Assassins had to honour the original director, Eiichi Kudo, and everyone else who created the original. It was important to avoid doing what most modern-day chanbara do, which is to insert a love story, or interpose modern-day mindsets. Over the years, people have remade Kurosawa movies, but failed every time because they have not been able to adapt the story into something young audiences can understand.[9]
Having been a fan of
The film entered production over a two-month period.
Release
For international exhibition, the 141 minute film was edited to 125 minutes.[3]
Theatrical run
Jeremy Thomas's London-based company HanWay Films handled international sales.[5] Toho had prebought the rights to distribute in Japan,[2] and released it on 25 September 2010.[15] The film competed for the Golden Lion at the 67th Venice International Film Festival on 9 September 2010.[16]
Magnet Releasing, a genre arm of Magnolia Pictures, acquired North American distribution rights.[17] The film streamed video on demand in March 2011, and was released theatrically in the United States on 29 April.[18]
At the box office, 13 Assassins grossed $802,778 in the US and Canada.[6] From an estimated $6 million budget,[5] it grossed $17,555,141 worldwide.[6]
Critical reception
13 Assassins drew favorable reviews from critics,[19] many of whom praised its final battle sequence (which runs 45 minutes).[11][20][21] Rotten Tomatoes gives a score of 95%, with an average rating of 7.9/10, based on reviews from 131 critics. The consensus reads, "Takashi Miike's electric remake of Eiichi Kudo's 1963 period action film is a wild spectacle executed with killer, dizzying panache."[22] On Metacritic, the film received "Universal acclaim" and was awarded its "Must-See" badge, with a weighted average of 84 out of 100 based on 33 reviews.[23]
Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun-Times, who gave the film 31/2 stars out of 4, praised the film as "terrifically entertaining, an ambitious big-budget epic, directed with great visuals and sound", and compared it favorably with other action films in its subtle use of CGI effects. Ebert also praised the way the film "focuses on story in the midst of violence", as well as incorporating characters and drama with a skill that most blockbuster action films lack.[20] Ebert later included it in his Best Films of 2011 list as an addendum to his top 20.[24] Manohla Dargis chose 13 Assassins as her Critic's Pick for The New York Times, describing it as "A stirring, unexpectedly moving story of love and blood".[25]
V. A. Musetto of the
Home media
The film's DVD and Blu-ray versions were released in the United States on 5 July 2011 by Magnet Releasing,[27] and in the United Kingdom on 5 September by Artificial Eye.[28] The DVD version was the 12th-bestselling DVD in its first week of availability in the US, selling 41,593 copies. In its second week, it dropped to 30th place, selling 13,922 copies. The Blu-ray version was the third-bestselling Blu-ray, selling 33,142 copies in its first week. In its second week, it dropped to 10,335 copies and was placed 20th.[29] The Blu-ray version garnered positive reviews from IGN, DVD Talk, Slant Magazine, and HuffPost UK.[30]
Accolades
In Japan, the film won four of its ten nominations at the 34th
Award | Date of ceremony | Category | Recipient(s) and nominee(s) | Result | Ref(s) |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Asian Film Awards | 21 March 2011 | Best Production Design | Hayashida Yuji | Won | [38] |
Best Director | Takashi Miike | Nominated | |||
Best Actor | Kōji Yakusho
|
Nominated | |||
Best Editor | Kenji Yamashita | Nominated | |||
Austin Film Critics Association Awards
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28 December 2011 | Top 10 Films | — | Ninth place | [39] |
Chlotrudis Society for Independent Films | 21 March 2012 | Best Director | Takashi Miike | Nominated | [40] |
Best Cinematography | Nobuyasu Kita | Nominated | |||
Best Production Design | Yûji Hayashida | Nominated | |||
Japan Academy Prize
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18 February 2011
|
Outstanding Achievement in Cinematography | Nobuyasu Kita | Won | [31] |
Outstanding Achievement in Lighting Direction | — | Won | |||
Outstanding Achievement in Art Direction | Yûji Hayashida | Won | |||
Outstanding Achievement in Sound Recording | Jun Nakamura | Won | |||
Picture of the Year
|
— | Nominated | |||
Director of the Year
|
Takashi Miike | Nominated | |||
Screenplay of the Year
|
Daisuke Tengan | Nominated | |||
Outstanding Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role
|
Kōji Yakusho | Nominated | |||
Outstanding Achievement in Music | Kōji Endō | Nominated | |||
Outstanding Achievement in Film Editing | Kenji Yamashita | Nominated | |||
Online Film Critics Society | 2 January 2012 | Best Foreign Language Film | — | Nominated | [41] |
Satellite Awards | 18 December 2011 | Best Foreign Language Film | — | Nominated | [42] |
St. Louis Gateway Film Critics Association
|
12 December 2011 | Best Foreign Language Film | — | Won | [43] |
Washington D.C. Area Film Critics Association | 5 December 2011 | Best Foreign Language Film | — | Nominated | [44] |
Yokohama Film Festival | 6 February 2011 | Best Film | — | Won | [32] |
Best Screenplay | Daisuke Tengan | Won |
References
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- ^ a b "13 Assassins (15)". British Board of Film Classification. 16 February 2011. Archived from the original on 5 November 2016. Retrieved 4 November 2016.
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External links
- 13 Assassins at IMDb
- 13 Assassins at AllMovie