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13 Assassins
May. 31st, 2011 02:53 pmI watched, completely on a whim, the Japanese samurai period movie 13 Assassins from the Brighthouse video on demand service. I had never seen a movie by it's fairly famous director Takashi Miike, nor had I heard of the movie before.
I suspect the movie will be of less interest to people who aren't familiar with Japanese culture; at the very least an understanding of the shogunate system and Bushido will be helpful in following the plot.
It's also very dark. I tend to watch movies and read books to entertain myself, and shy away from works that, even if they are good, are emotionally painful or draining. Hence, had I known what this movie was about, I probably would've skipped it. Since I didn't, I ended up with a worthwhile, if a bit heavy, experience instead.
No bones about it, it's a good movie with very strong emotional motives and conflicts. The acting is great and the portrayal of the villain as well as the men caught up in their codes of honor are done brilliantly. It's acclaimed for its long and elaborate fight sequence, although I found it to be a bit excessively long. Then again, one of the central themes was to show how horrible war is, so drowning the viewer in its imagery may have well been on purpose.
If you're looking for a good samurai flick or have interest in the culture, do check it out.
I suspect the movie will be of less interest to people who aren't familiar with Japanese culture; at the very least an understanding of the shogunate system and Bushido will be helpful in following the plot.
It's also very dark. I tend to watch movies and read books to entertain myself, and shy away from works that, even if they are good, are emotionally painful or draining. Hence, had I known what this movie was about, I probably would've skipped it. Since I didn't, I ended up with a worthwhile, if a bit heavy, experience instead.
No bones about it, it's a good movie with very strong emotional motives and conflicts. The acting is great and the portrayal of the villain as well as the men caught up in their codes of honor are done brilliantly. It's acclaimed for its long and elaborate fight sequence, although I found it to be a bit excessively long. Then again, one of the central themes was to show how horrible war is, so drowning the viewer in its imagery may have well been on purpose.
If you're looking for a good samurai flick or have interest in the culture, do check it out.
