13 Assassins (2010)

We watched director Takashi Miike's 2010 movie "13 Assassins" Wednesday evening at Sacramento's Crest Theater.

Miike also produced the 2009 Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film, "Departures". Both movies deal with the topic of death and have cello music in their respective soundtracks--the similarities end there.

First, the bad news (no spoilers): I found this a challenging movie to watch. Miike opens with an extended, uncomfortably up-close-and-personal act of seppuku, then moves, in turn, through rape, murder, butchery, torture, and debasement. I think that was maybe the first 30 minutes. o_O;; The final 45 minutes depicts the graphic butchery of an army of men through--essentially--long, extremely sharp knives.

I struggled to keep up with the quickly scrolling intro expository subtitles. Differentiating the 13 assassins also proved difficult, equating characters to their choice in weapons.

Second, the good news: The acting, while good, was not great, mainly due to the massive amount of ground to cover, both literal and figurative, which left much less time for character development. I found the cinematography, the choreography, and the attention to detail with the sets pitch-perfect. Miike's attention to detail shines through in every scene. It is just an amazingly well-executed movie.

Final verdict: if you enjoy well-executed period pieces and do not mind gratuitous, over-the-top violence, this movie will not disappoint! :o)

Almost forgot: +1 for including a line referencing the Japanese folklore monster tanuki :o) I believe the exact subtitle was an assassin exclaiming "Are you a raccoon goblin?" when they first meet Kiga in the mountains on their way to Ochiai. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tanuki