@kickass552 two options thrown out by the director. 1) he died and the one survivor just imagined an encounter with his ghost. 2) he was essentially a forest spirit (his backstory is supposedly very similar to an old japanese tales of spirits and demons) and he represented the old forces and traditions joining sides with the assassins.
Caught the film earlier this week and Dr K. is spot on in his review, I loved the film from start to finish and it's leading the way as the best film I have seen this year so far! If you're in Newcastle, it's being shown by the Tyneside Cinema.
@hanshotfirst1138 It's actually got a nationwide release here in the UK, which is good as I got to see it on a colossal screen in my local multiplex, and it's quite an incredible looking film.
Something that Kermode does not mention, and it's highly likely because he is not aware, is that the version he saw is a cut version. It's cut by 20 minutes. The original uncut version of the movie is 141 minutes. A shame that there was a cut version of this movie released in most territories outside Japan. They don't do this with Hollywood movies.
The set up in this movie was the best part. The silent scenes where they establish the bad guy's evilness, and why he needs to go down and all the political implications of him being next in line to be the next Shogun.
Takashi Miike is one of my favorite foreign directors, and maybe even one of my favorite insporational director's too, b/c as Mark pointed out, he makes several films in one year and doesn't consider himself to be an artist, he is just doing wat he can with what he has. He has made such a wide variety of films and doesn't spend days and days just getting the perfect shot, he is quick and a very good film maker and I can't wait to see 13 assassins tonight! :D
I'm glad Audition creeped out the Dr because it scared me and I don't get scared by horror films usually. My girlfriend had nightmares for weeks after I made her watch it!
Did he actually said "a group of shoguns"??? seriously??? I know he's a film critic, but at least he should get his facts right... there was only a shogun, and he was the military leader of Japan (in the movie, he is the villains older brother)... the assassins are Samurai, not shogun, and a samurai lived to serve his daymio, and ultimately, the Shogun... one of the beautiful things about this movie is, where does the loyalty ends and your consciousness begins?
Exactly he's a film critic which I agree he should at least try to get all facts correct but I believe they should be allowed some leeway. He also did a great job of selling the movie's ideals in a manner which many will be drawn to. Besides, to be absolutely correct, the 13 were made up of 1 Shogun, 11 samurai, 1 ronin
Well since he is broadcasting to a predominantly British audience (who are unlikely to know about the story's history) and not a Japanese one, you can forgive him for explaining it in such a way.
@DoTheFuStyle Hmm, well it's not on the odeon metro center's website, dosen't mean it won't be on at a later date though. Tyneside isn't really any dearer than the multiplexes, nicer cinema as well! Hope you enjoy the film if you check it out :)
But maybe I wouldn't have been so impressed if i had seen a review first. I do find that what critics find horryfing or what comes as horrifying in a description lessens when actually watched. But 13 assassins is a terrific movie.
I've seen Audition! Yeah, there's something very unsettling about it that puts all these Saw films to shame. The atmosphere in Audition is increasingly forboding in an aptly uncomfortable way, like a killer stalking his victim.
Anyone who is even vaguely interested in Takashi Miike films should check out Gozu. Gripping, bizzzare, hillarious and disturbing all in equal measure. I implore you to check it out.
Only part that took me out of it is how long it took for any one of the 13 samurai to get killed. They're like 20 minutes into the battle before taking any casualties, and the whole time I'm just thinking "How have none of them died yet? Are each of them the best swordsmen in the world?" In the end, I chalked it up to the fact that it's just a movie and thus requires a suspension of disbelief.
nothing near the same film 47 was not very good,whereas 13 assassins is just mind blowing and really one of the best films I have ever seen in the action genre.story is totally different as well.
kevjards You are aware that there have been multiple film versions of the Chushingura story? So which version are you referring to? Not having seen this film, I can't comment, but given that Takashi Miike was involved, I'm not in a hurry.
textthing No, The 13 assassins were given orders by the shogun to kill their target. The 47 Ronin lost their shogun and went on an illegal mission to avenge him. There is also a lot more mythology in 47 Ronin.
I liked this better than audition, which I found overrated. Well after reading reviews about it, i was expecting to be horrified a lot more. I was more impressed by a sort of similar thing the director did for the masters of horror tv series. But i still haven't watched the hostel movies because of what I've read about them. The same with a similar franchise whose title I can't remember. I thought I saw the devil was a very good movie.
@aikighost You may not be aware of this but The Magnificent Seven was a direct ripoff of a Kurosawa film called The Seven Samurai. 13 Assassins is much more reminiscent of Kurosawa than any it is of any western film.
@SuperAdamMan64 Interesting, Miike was one of my favourite directors up until Gozu which was when I started to lose interest - seemed all style over substance and kinda poor mans David Lynch, and marked the beginning of a downward spiral in Miikes work with films like ZebraMan and the simply awful Django Sukyaki Western. Still, based on Kermodes recommendation I will check 13 Assassins at some point, sounds like it could be a return to form.
Really disappointed with this film - had no clue which character I was following at points and to be honest I didn't care when a death would occur. The action set pieces were very good, but at the end of the day, there was simply too many of the assassins for me to care about and follow. A very half-hearted portrayal of characters in this film, although I must admit that the fight scenes were very gritty and well rehearsed.
So for now I only watched the first couple of scenes. And I just found it to be well-made horribleness.Now I don't have anything against that per se, but when movie does it before I kinda know any character I just feel sorta horrible and I don't really know why I should keep watching.But I guess I should keep watching then.
PauLtus B It's exactly what you're supposed to be feeling. The absolutely unforgetabul emotion of watching your family gutted in front of you and somehow you are still alive; the man in the beginning couldn't shake the horror either and detached himself from this world. The brutal and sadistic nature of the assassin's target is never forgotten or mistaken by the film's heroes. They carry it with them as a heavy badge and use it as the main motivation to see it through to the the very end.
