13 Assassins
There we are, a film I don’t really have much to say about. “13 Assassins” is largely a visual feast, in case you are the kind of person who enjoys looking at blood and dead bodies. Admittedly the film is nicely shot; the storyline progresses steadfastly (unlike “Seven Samurai” which, honestly, feels a little slow at times) and action follows action promptly. The film is best when showing off their guerilla war methods when encircling and fighting those 200 men. However, where “Seven Samurai” also had a few of those scenes, it was most memorable for its character study and social commentary. (Chiyo-chaaaaan!!) “13 Assassins” tells us almost nothing besides that the shogun system is uncivilized and outdated. The characters have basically no characters; they are cardboard figures at best. And finally, the violence is just a little bit too much at times.
I have never seen a feature film by Takashi Miike before, despite having heard about him many, many years ago. It’s just the kind of director I normally would not seek out. I am not even into the Tarantino films because of the violence, but because his films are just so damn entertaining. In the case of Takashi Miike, the violence is just as present but everything else is missing. In this case I kept thinking “Oh yeah, it’s just like in Seven Samurai” or “Oh Seven Samurai did better here”. Ever since watching Game of Thrones, I have developed a certain sensitivity for what I consider unnecessary. Where Game of Thrones is sometimes unnecessarily sexual, I find this film unnecessarily cruel at times.
Sometimes it’s worth seeing a film because it looks good. In this case, it was not really a film for me, but with a few times averting my eyes, I was sufficiently entertained for an evening. I just wished a film that brings Koji Yakusho and Goro Inagaki together had been able to bring out their acting skills as much as “University of Laughs” did.