Thirteen Assassins
Encyclopedia
is a 2010 Japanese-British jidaigeki
film directed by Takashi Miike
.
A samurai
epic based on a true incident, the film was produced by Toshiaki Nakazawa, who also produced the 2009 Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film
Departures
. Jeremy Thomas
, the film's executive producer, has a reputation for successfully bringing Asian titles into the international market, most notably Bernardo Bertolucci
's nine-time Oscar winner The Last Emperor
, Nagisa Ôshima
's Merry Christmas, Mr Lawrence and Takeshi Kitano
's Brother
.
The film is a remake of Eiichi Kudo
’s 1963 black-and-white Japanese film of the same name, Jûsan-nin no shikaku. The screenplay was written by Daisuke Tengan.
The film stars Koji Yakusho, whose credits include Memoirs of a Geisha
and Shall We Dance, along with Takayuki Yamada
, Hiroki Matsukata
, and Kazuki Namioka
.
It was nominated for Best Film at the 34th Japan Academy Prize.
, the era of the samurai is waning. The sadistic young Lord Matsudaira Naritsugu
rapes and kills at will. No one can touch him because he is the former Shogun
's son and current Shogun
's younger brother and thus above the law. Doi Toshitsura
, a senior government official, realizes the situation will become more dangerous after Naritsugu ascends to a higher political position. After a wronged party publicly commits seppuku
, a trusted older samurai, Shinzaemon, is secretly hired to assassinate Naritsugu.
Shinzaemon gathers 11 more samurai, including his nephew Shinroukuro, and the 12 plan to ambush Naritsugu on his long journey home
from Edo
. Before they leave, they are visited by Naritsugu's samurai Hanbei, an old sparring partner of Shinzaemon's: each tries to dissuade the other from his task in vain, and Hanbei leaves promising to fight later.
Several of the assassins are sent to buy the help of a town to block Naritsugu's passage in order to force his route to their advantage. Shinzaemon and the others ride urgently towards the town they have chosen for the battle. On the way, they are met with a few of Naritsugu's men whom they kill easily. They decide to travel stealthily through the mountains, where they meet a hunter named Kiga Koyata who at least claims to be of samurai lineage, and they adopt him as the thirteenth assassin. He helps them find the village they have chosen for the conflict, and they are reunited with their comrades. They take the village over and convert it into a labyrinthine mousetrap with many camouflaged fortifications.
But when Naritsugu arrives, the assassins discover they are outnumbered even more heavily than originally expected: there are said to be at least over 200 guards, not the 70 they were expecting. Nonetheless they decide to continue their mission. The lengthy battle follows, with the Naritsugu and his guards trapped inside the village and attacked by the assassins with arrows, explosives, knives, and swords – with the exception of Koyata, who fights with rocks in slings. Naritsugu, who has led a life of luxury, is enthralled by the violence. Inevitably, the assassins fall one by one as they inflict devastating casualties on the guards until, at last, there is a one-to-one sword fight between Shinzaemon and Hanbei, with Naritsugu watching. Shinzaemon triumphs, due to the fact that they are fighting on natural terrain and not in a dojo, and then approaches an excited Naritsugu, who stabs him in the abdomen, only to have Shinzaemon return the thrust, leaving both of them mortally wounded. Naritsugu crawls in fear and pain in the mud; Shinzaemon then decapitates Naritsugu with a coup de grace
. Shinzaemon dies himself shortly thereafter, leaving only his nephew and the hunter Kiga standing amid the chaos and carnage. Kiga, despite being impaled through the neck earlier by Naritsugu, is still alive, and in fact has made what seems to be a miraculous recovery.
Throughout the film, it is hinted that Kiga is not a human, as the woman he talks about, Upashi, is seen in a flashback eating raw meat by a pond, blood is shown trickling down her legs; and this may be due to her consumption of her unborn fetus, an act a demon would perform. The type of demon Upashi and Kiga are may not be evil, but rather like mountain spirits. Upon meeting him, Kiga says he was abandoned for laying his hands on the boss's woman. This statement has two meanings, as he does not say that he is a bandit, mercenary, or soldier, but someone who hunts animals from mountain to mountain. Therefore, by "the boss", he could mean the head Yōkai
—the Yōkai were a type of demon from folklore.
. Nakazawa had previously worked with Miike on Sukiyaki Western Django, both Young Thugs movies, Andromedia
, Yakuza Demon, and The Bird People in China
.
Principal photography began in July 2009 on a large open-air set in Tsuruoka in the Yamagata Prefecture
, northern Japan. On the advent of production, Thomas said he was pleased to be again working with "wonderful Japanese filmmakers like Toshiaki Nakazawa and Takashi Miike, whose work speaks for itself as being amongst the most successful and innovative coming from Japan." Nakazawa replied that he would like Thomas "to wear a sword also, and with one more assassin, together we will send out the fourteen assassins over there." The film wrapped in September 2009.
is handling international sales, and launched the film at the 2009 Cannes Film Festival
. Toho
had prebought the rights to distribute the film in Japan. The film competed for the Golden Lion
at the 67th Venice International Film Festival
.
The film was released on DVD and Blu-ray Disc in the United States on July 5th 2011.
Jidaigeki
is a genre of film, television, and theatre in Japan. The name means "period drama" and is usually the Edo period of Japanese history, from 1603 to 1868. Some, however, are set much earlier—Portrait of Hell, for example, is set during the late Heian period—and the early Meiji era is also a popular...
film directed by Takashi Miike
Takashi Miike
is a highly prolific and controversial Japanese filmmaker. He has directed over seventy theatrical, video, and television productions since his debut in 1991. In the years 2001 and 2002 alone, Miike is credited with directing fifteen productions...
.
A samurai
Samurai
is the term for the military nobility of pre-industrial Japan. According to translator William Scott Wilson: "In Chinese, the character 侍 was originally a verb meaning to wait upon or accompany a person in the upper ranks of society, and this is also true of the original term in Japanese, saburau...
epic based on a true incident, the film was produced by Toshiaki Nakazawa, who also produced the 2009 Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film
Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film
The Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film is one of the Academy Awards of Merit, popularly known as the Oscars, handed out annually by the U.S.-based Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences...
Departures
Departures (film)
All compositions by Joe Hisaishi.#"Shine of Snow I" 1:12#"Nohkan" 3:10#"Kaisan" 0:53#"Good-Bye Cello" 2:16#"New Road" 1:15#"Model" 0:47#"First Contact" 1:51#"Washing" 0:34#"Kizuna I" 1:57#"Beautiful Dead I" 3:12#"Okuribito " 1:51...
. Jeremy Thomas
Jeremy Thomas
Jeremy Jack Thomas, CBE is a British film producer, founder of the Recorded Picture Company. He was the producer of Bernardo Bertolucci's The Last Emperor, which won the 1988 Academy Award for Best Picture. In 2006 he received a European Film Award for Outstanding European Achievement in World...
, the film's executive producer, has a reputation for successfully bringing Asian titles into the international market, most notably Bernardo Bertolucci
Bernardo Bertolucci
Bernardo Bertolucci is an Italian film director and screenwriter, whose films include The Conformist, Last Tango in Paris, 1900, The Last Emperor and The Dreamers...
's nine-time Oscar winner The Last Emperor
The Last Emperor
The Last Emperor is a 1987 biopic about the life of Puyi, the last Emperor of China, whose autobiography was the basis for the screenplay written by Mark Peploe and Bernardo Bertolucci. Independently produced by Jeremy Thomas, it was directed by Bertolucci and released in 1987 by Columbia Pictures...
, Nagisa Ôshima
Nagisa Oshima
is a Japanese film director and screenwriter. After graduating from Kyoto University he was hired by Shochiku Ltd. and quickly progressed to directing his own movies, making his debut feature A Town of Love and Hope in 1959....
's Merry Christmas, Mr Lawrence and Takeshi Kitano
Takeshi Kitano
is a Japanese filmmaker, comedian, singer, actor, film editor, presenter, screenwriter, author, poet, painter, and one-time video game designer who has received critical acclaim, both in his native Japan and abroad, for his highly idiosyncratic cinematic work. The famed Japanese film critic...
's Brother
Brother (2000 film)
All compositions by Joe Hisaishi.#"Drifter... in LAX"#"Solitude"#"Tattoo"#"Death Spiral"#"Party "#"On the Shore"#"Blood Brother"#"Raging Men"#"Beyond the Control"#"Wipe Out"#"Liberation from the Death"#"I Love You, Aniki"#"Ballade"...
.
The film is a remake of Eiichi Kudo
Eiichi Kudo
was a Japanese film director. He directed 30 films between 1956 and 1998. His 1982 film Yaju-deka was entered into the 33rd Berlin International Film Festival.-External links:...
’s 1963 black-and-white Japanese film of the same name, Jûsan-nin no shikaku. The screenplay was written by Daisuke Tengan.
The film stars Koji Yakusho, whose credits include Memoirs of a Geisha
Memoirs of a Geisha (film)
Memoirs of a Geisha is a 2005 film adaptation of the novel of the same name, produced by Steven Spielberg's Amblin Entertainment and Spyglass Entertainment and by Douglas Wick's Red Wagon Productions. It was directed by Rob Marshall. It was released in the United States on December 9, 2005 by...
and Shall We Dance, along with Takayuki Yamada
Takayuki Yamada
is a Japanese actor and singer. He has two elder sisters and one son. At age 15, he was discovered by talent agency and made his debut in his acting career in the TV drama Psychometrer Eiji 2 in 1999....
, Hiroki Matsukata
Hiroki Matsukata
, real name is a Japanese actor. He is the son of jidaigeki actor Jūshirō Konoe and actress Yaeko Mizukawa and has a younger brother Yūki Meguro who is also an actor....
, and Kazuki Namioka
Kazuki Namioka
is a Japanese actor from Osaka Prefecture. Some of his more prominent roles have been as Shirō Jin'no/Demon Knight in Genseishin Justirisers and Shishimaru/Lion-Maru in Lion-Maru G. He has also appeared in the Densha Otoko series, The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift, and a guest appearance in...
.
It was nominated for Best Film at the 34th Japan Academy Prize.
Plot
In 1840s JapanJapan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
, the era of the samurai is waning. The sadistic young Lord Matsudaira Naritsugu
Matsudaira Naritsugu
' was a Japanese daimyo of the Edo period who ruled the Fukui Domain.-References:...
rapes and kills at will. No one can touch him because he is the former Shogun
Shogun
A was one of the hereditary military dictators of Japan from 1192 to 1867. In this period, the shoguns, or their shikken regents , were the de facto rulers of Japan though they were nominally appointed by the emperor...
's son and current Shogun
Shogun
A was one of the hereditary military dictators of Japan from 1192 to 1867. In this period, the shoguns, or their shikken regents , were the de facto rulers of Japan though they were nominally appointed by the emperor...
's younger brother and thus above the law. Doi Toshitsura
Doi Toshitsura
was a Japanese daimyo of the Edo period, who ruled the Koga Domain. He served as a rōjū in the Tokugawa shogunate.-References:* Bolitho, Harold. . Treasures Among Men: The Fudai Daimyo in Tokugawa Japan. New Haven: Yale University Press. 10-ISBN 0-300-01655-7/13-ISBN 978-0-300-01655-0;...
, a senior government official, realizes the situation will become more dangerous after Naritsugu ascends to a higher political position. After a wronged party publicly commits seppuku
Seppuku
is a form of Japanese ritual suicide by disembowelment. Seppuku was originally reserved only for samurai. Part of the samurai bushido honor code, seppuku was either used voluntarily by samurai to die with honor rather than fall into the hands of their enemies , or as a form of capital punishment...
, a trusted older samurai, Shinzaemon, is secretly hired to assassinate Naritsugu.
Shinzaemon gathers 11 more samurai, including his nephew Shinroukuro, and the 12 plan to ambush Naritsugu on his long journey home
Sankin kotai
was a policy of the shogunate during most of the Edo period of Japanese history. The purpose was to control the daimyo. In adopting the policy, the shogunate was continuing and refining similar policies of Toyotomi Hideyoshi. In 1635, a law required sankin kōtai, which was already an established...
from Edo
Edo
, also romanized as Yedo or Yeddo, is the former name of the Japanese capital Tokyo, and was the seat of power for the Tokugawa shogunate which ruled Japan from 1603 to 1868...
. Before they leave, they are visited by Naritsugu's samurai Hanbei, an old sparring partner of Shinzaemon's: each tries to dissuade the other from his task in vain, and Hanbei leaves promising to fight later.
Several of the assassins are sent to buy the help of a town to block Naritsugu's passage in order to force his route to their advantage. Shinzaemon and the others ride urgently towards the town they have chosen for the battle. On the way, they are met with a few of Naritsugu's men whom they kill easily. They decide to travel stealthily through the mountains, where they meet a hunter named Kiga Koyata who at least claims to be of samurai lineage, and they adopt him as the thirteenth assassin. He helps them find the village they have chosen for the conflict, and they are reunited with their comrades. They take the village over and convert it into a labyrinthine mousetrap with many camouflaged fortifications.
But when Naritsugu arrives, the assassins discover they are outnumbered even more heavily than originally expected: there are said to be at least over 200 guards, not the 70 they were expecting. Nonetheless they decide to continue their mission. The lengthy battle follows, with the Naritsugu and his guards trapped inside the village and attacked by the assassins with arrows, explosives, knives, and swords – with the exception of Koyata, who fights with rocks in slings. Naritsugu, who has led a life of luxury, is enthralled by the violence. Inevitably, the assassins fall one by one as they inflict devastating casualties on the guards until, at last, there is a one-to-one sword fight between Shinzaemon and Hanbei, with Naritsugu watching. Shinzaemon triumphs, due to the fact that they are fighting on natural terrain and not in a dojo, and then approaches an excited Naritsugu, who stabs him in the abdomen, only to have Shinzaemon return the thrust, leaving both of them mortally wounded. Naritsugu crawls in fear and pain in the mud; Shinzaemon then decapitates Naritsugu with a coup de grace
Coup de grâce
The expression coup de grâce means a death blow intended to end the suffering of a wounded creature. The phrase can refer to the killing of civilians or soldiers, friends or enemies, with or without the consent of the sufferer...
. Shinzaemon dies himself shortly thereafter, leaving only his nephew and the hunter Kiga standing amid the chaos and carnage. Kiga, despite being impaled through the neck earlier by Naritsugu, is still alive, and in fact has made what seems to be a miraculous recovery.
Throughout the film, it is hinted that Kiga is not a human, as the woman he talks about, Upashi, is seen in a flashback eating raw meat by a pond, blood is shown trickling down her legs; and this may be due to her consumption of her unborn fetus, an act a demon would perform. The type of demon Upashi and Kiga are may not be evil, but rather like mountain spirits. Upon meeting him, Kiga says he was abandoned for laying his hands on the boss's woman. This statement has two meanings, as he does not say that he is a bandit, mercenary, or soldier, but someone who hunts animals from mountain to mountain. Therefore, by "the boss", he could mean the head Yōkai
Yōkai
are a class of supernatural monsters in Japanese folklore. The word yōkai is made up of the kanji for "otherworldly" and "weird". Yōkai range eclectically from the malevolent to the mischievous, or occasionally bring good fortune to those who encounter them...
—the Yōkai were a type of demon from folklore.
The 13 assassins
(As pre-Meiji period figures, character names are in family name first order.)- SHIMADA Shinzaemon (Kōji Yakusho) – The leader of the group. A war weary, former decorated Shogun's Samurai who is hired to carry out the mission.
- KURANAGA Saheita (Hiroki MatsukataHiroki Matsukata, real name is a Japanese actor. He is the son of jidaigeki actor Jūshirō Konoe and actress Yaeko Mizukawa and has a younger brother Yūki Meguro who is also an actor....
) – Second in command to Shinzaemon. Another veteran samurai, who volunteers his best students to join the group. - SHIMADA Shinrokurō (Takayuki YamadaTakayuki Yamadais a Japanese actor and singer. He has two elder sisters and one son. At age 15, he was discovered by talent agency and made his debut in his acting career in the TV drama Psychometrer Eiji 2 in 1999....
) – Nephew to Shinzaemon. A samurai who has strayed from the ways, a gambler and a womanizer. He joins the mission to redeem himself. - ISHIZUKA Rihei (Kazuki NamiokaKazuki Namiokais a Japanese actor from Osaka Prefecture. Some of his more prominent roles have been as Shirō Jin'no/Demon Knight in Genseishin Justirisers and Shishimaru/Lion-Maru in Lion-Maru G. He has also appeared in the Densha Otoko series, The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift, and a guest appearance in...
) – A skilled and courageous assassin. - HIRAYAMA Kujūrō (Tsuyoshi IharaTsuyoshi Iharais a Japanese actor of Korean descent, born on November 6, 1963 in Kitakyūshū, and who grew up in Ikuno-ku, Osaka. He is a graduate of Imamiya Senior High School, situated in Naniwa-ku, Osaka. Ihara is represented by the K Dash agency.-Biography:...
) – A fierce ronin, training under Shinzaemon. A samurai of unmatched skill and prowess. His character parallels Kyūzō (of the Seven Samurai) and Britt (of The Magnificent SevenThe Magnificent SevenThe Magnificent Seven is an American Western film directed by John Sturges, and released in 1960. It is a fictional tale of a group of seven American gunmen who are hired to protect a small agricultural village in Mexico from a group of marauding Mexican bandits...
). - MITSUHASHI Gunjirō (Ikki SawamuraIkki Sawamurais a Japanese model, film and television actor, and television presenter signed to Ken-On.-Biography:Ikki Sawamura was born in Kagoshima in 1967. After graduating from the local high school, he moved to Tokyo and started his career as a fashion model. In 1996, Sawamura debut in a TV drama Matsuda...
) – Another samurai from Kuranaga's dojo, he is instructed to buy out the Mayor of the town, and start preparations for fortifying the town. - ŌTAKE Mosuke (Seiji Rokkaku) – Plump-faced samurai with a jovial demeanor who provides occasional comic relief.
- HIOKI Yasokichi (Sōsuke TakaokaSousuke Takaokais a Japanese actor, who currently lives in Tokyo.Takaoka has often tackled powerful supporting roles, playing conflicted young men on the fringes of society...
) – An assassin from Kuranaga's dojo, highly skilled. - HIGUCHI Gennai (Yūma IshigakiYuma Ishigakiis a Japanese actor.-Movies:*Lovers' Kiss *Azumi *Battle Royale 2 *Azumi 2 *Thirteen Assassins -TV drama:* Asakusa Fukumaru Ryokan 2 * Hanazakari no Kimitachi e * Natsu Kumo Agare...
) – Horii's demolition partner, a tough and skilled samurai. - HORII Yahachi (Kōen KondōKoen KondoKoen Kondo is a Japanese actor. He made his debut in the popular 2001 film Waterboys.-Selected filmography:Koen Kondo is a Japanese actor. He made his debut in the popular 2001 film Waterboys.-Selected filmography:Koen Kondo is a Japanese actor...
) – A skilled samurai from Kuranaga's dojo, he and Higuchi are skilled in the use of explosives. - SAHARA Heizō (Arata FurutaArata Furutais a Japanese theatre and film character actor.-Biography:Furata has a broad range that goes from playing serious salary men, to bushi in period drama roles, and even women....
) – An elder ronin, battle scarred and hardened. He favors the spear to the sword. - OGURA Shōujirō (Masataka Kubota (ROM-4ROM-4ROM-4 is a four-member J-pop group that consists of Masaki Kaji, Masataka Kubota, Ryo Kimura, and Gouta Watabe.-History:The rap group "ROM-4" was formed for the Japanese television drama, Seishun Energy: Check It Out, Yo! in Tokyo , that aired on Fuji TV from April 12, 2006 to June 15, 2006.The...
)) – A young samurai, untested in battle but with unwavering devotion and skills to match. - KIGA Koyata (Yūsuke IseyaYusuke Iseyais a Japanese actor.He was born in Tokyo, Japan. With his modeling career , Yūsuke is known for Loreal , Men's Nonno magazine, Prada , and Asahi Aqua Blue....
) – A hunter claiming to be of direct Samurai lineage who is found suspended in a cage in the forest as a punishment for pursuing his boss's wife. Aids the assassins in finding a route to Ochiai as well as in combating the enemy samurai. Aspects of his character seem to reference Sun WukongSun WukongSun Wukong , also known as the Monkey King is a main character in the classical Chinese epic novel Journey to the West . In the novel, he is a monkey born from a stone who acquires supernatural powers through Taoist practices...
as well as Kikuchiyo from the Seven Samurai. His strength from living in the woods allows him to survive wounds that would kill an average man (like a short sword through the neck). Fighting bears is his favorite pastime and adds to his strength.
Production
The film was produced through Nakazawa's entity Sedic International and Thomas' Recorded Picture CompanyRecorded Picture Company
Recorded Picture Company is a British film production company founded in 1974 by Academy Award-winning producer Jeremy Thomas.Recorded Picture Company is an independent production company that makes feature films for worldwide theatrical release. Jeremy Thomas founded the London-based company in...
. Nakazawa had previously worked with Miike on Sukiyaki Western Django, both Young Thugs movies, Andromedia
Andromedia
Andromedia is a 1998 Japanese film directed by Takashi Miike, featuring the Japanese musical groups SPEED and Da Pump.-Plot:...
, Yakuza Demon, and The Bird People in China
The Bird People in China
The Bird People in China is a 1998 Japanese movie directed by Takashi Miike. The film is considerably more mellow in tone than some of the director's more famous works, but is not the only such film.-Overview:...
.
Principal photography began in July 2009 on a large open-air set in Tsuruoka in the Yamagata Prefecture
Yamagata Prefecture
-Fruit:Yamagata Prefecture is the largest producer of cherries and pears in Japan. A large quantity of other kinds of fruits such as grapes, apples, peaches, melons, persimmons and watermelons are also produced.- Demographics :...
, northern Japan. On the advent of production, Thomas said he was pleased to be again working with "wonderful Japanese filmmakers like Toshiaki Nakazawa and Takashi Miike, whose work speaks for itself as being amongst the most successful and innovative coming from Japan." Nakazawa replied that he would like Thomas "to wear a sword also, and with one more assassin, together we will send out the fourteen assassins over there." The film wrapped in September 2009.
Release
Thomas' London-based company HanWay FilmsHanWay Films
HanWay Films is an independent British international sales, distribution and marketing company specializing in theatrical feature films.HanWay Films was founded in 1998 by film producer Jeremy Thomas , along with his colleagues Peter Watson and Stephan Mallmann , who continue to sit on the board...
is handling international sales, and launched the film at the 2009 Cannes Film Festival
2009 Cannes Film Festival
The 62nd annual Cannes Film Festival was held from May 13 to May 24, 2009. French actress Isabelle Huppert was the President of the Jury. It was announced on March 19, 2009, that Pixar's film Up would open the festival...
. Toho
Toho
is a Japanese film, theater production, and distribution company. It is headquartered in Yūrakuchō, Chiyoda, Tokyo, and is one of the core companies of the Hankyu Hanshin Toho Group...
had prebought the rights to distribute the film in Japan. The film competed for the Golden Lion
Golden Lion
Il Leone d’Oro is the highest prize given to a film at the Venice Film Festival. The prize was introduced in 1949 by the organizing committee and is now regarded as one of the film industry's most distinguished prizes...
at the 67th Venice International Film Festival
67th Venice International Film Festival
The 67th annual Venice Film Festival held in Venice, Italy, took place from September 1 to September 11, 2010. American film director and screenwriter Quentin Tarantino was head of the Jury. John Woo was awarded the Golden Lion for Lifetime Achievement prior to the start of the Festival...
.
The film was released on DVD and Blu-ray Disc in the United States on July 5th 2011.
Reception
13 Assassins met with positive reviews with an aggregate score of 95% on Rottentomatoes.External links
- Official website (UK)
- Review Review of the film & blu ray at Vista Records