In 1840’s Japan, the winding days of the samurai, the ruthless Lord Naritsugu Matsudaira has risen to power and is about to become the elite member of the shogunate where he will abuse his power in merciless ways in order to maintain the loyalty and obedience of his people. A concerned servant sets out to find Shinzaemon Shimada, a sword-for-hire, hoping that he will assist in the matter.
After hearing tales of the lord’s vile actions towards his servants, such as the rape of a wife and the playful killing of a family, and after observing the aftermath of his work firsthand by visiting with a young girl whom the lord severed limbless for sheer pleasure, Shimada agrees to kill Naritsugu. In doing so, he requires help and enlists the aid of twelve other samurai, some with loyalties to their own lords, others wandering ronin, but all with one duty. Kill Lord Naritsugu Matsudaira.
13 Assassins marks another turn in the work of director Takashi Miike, best known for his insanely violent films such as Ichi the Killer and Izo, but his entire filming career has touched every film genre from gangster films (The Third Gangster) to family friendly ones (Ninja Kids!!!).
This is very much a traditional samurai film, and an entertaining one. Miike’s trademark over the top violence has been traded in for a realistic approach to the natural bloodbaths that occur with a samurai battle. The film works as a character piece with the story focusing on the quickly developing relationships between all of these hired assassins and their outlooks on life and death, and how some of them still uphold the pride in honor of being a samurai while others feel the weight of the title taking an unbearable toll on their lives, but as men they still know what is right and wrong. It shows the spoils of power and its ability to morally corrupt those that have too much and how those with little power but great trust in their own merits withhold the meaning of honor and justice; all of it well performed by the ensemble cast.
If someone is a Takashi Miike fan because of his bizarre film nature and gruesome cinematic exploits, then they will be disappointed because that is not to be found in 13 Assassins, but if someone is a fan of Takshi Miike because of his brilliance of storytelling and good filmmaking, they are sure to be entertained and hopefully even consider on which side their own morals stand these days.
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