Director - Takashi Miike
Genre - Action/Drama
Takashi Miike the non-conforming indie director in a bigger budget, more mainstream mode? A samurai movie is something we never would've imagined Miike doing yet this turned out pretty good. When the brother of a reigning shogun abuses his privilege by torturing and punishing those under him in unbelievably cruel ways, a group of samurais rises up to take his head. The violence here is unmistakably Miike, but compared to his previous work, the gravity of violence is explored here. Lives were as cheap as unwanted cabbages in those days and by watching the picture, we are actually also reliving the savage past of a bygone Japan. Appreciation for our own lives are derived in the end and that is the strength of Miike's film. The action comes at you fast and hard, but with every slash of the blade, every drop of blood shed, violence is not celebrated but shown to be ugly, repulsive. Kind of how it was in 'Audition' too. Not only will this silence his detractors, his relevance in world cinema is also enhanced greatly.
4 STARS!
All about 13 Assassins
Comments