Jûsan-nin no shikaku (1963)

Director:

Eiichi Kudo

Writer:

Kaneo Ikegami (screenplay)

Release Date:

7 December 1963 (Japan)

Genre:

Adventure | Action

Plot Keywords:

Samurai Era | Samurai

Cast

Chiezo Kataoka	...	Shinzaemon Shimada
Kô Nishimura	...	Kujuro Hirayama
Ryohei Uchida	...	Hanbei Onigashira
Isao Natsuyagi
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Kanjuro Arashi	...	Saheita Kuranaga
Masaharu Arikawa
Sumiko Fuji	...	Kayo (as Junko Fuji)
Choichiro Kawarazaki
Yuriko Mishima
Michitaro Mizushima		(as Michitarô Mizushima)
Satomi Oka
Kotaro Satomi	...	Shinrokuro Saimada
Tetsurô Tanba
Shingo Yamashiro	...	Koyata Koga

Also Known As:

13-nin no shikaku (Japan) (alternative spelling)
13nin no shikaku
The Thirteen Assassins

Runtime:

125 min

Country:

Japan

Language:

Japanese

Color:

Black and White

Sound Mix:

Mono

Company:

Toei Company

Movie Connections:

Remade as Jûsan-nin no shikaku (2010)

Samurai assassins...

The story of Thirteen Assassins begins with a vassal of the Akashi clan committing seppuku in front of a daimyo's house. As it turns out, it's in protest to his lord raping and killing a girl and her samurai husband. This scandal is quickly covered up as the Akashi lord happens to be the Shogun's younger brother. What makes matters worse is that this reckless scoundrel will be soon appointed to a higher political position which could prove to be detrimental for the entire Shogunate. In response to that, a plot is hatched: 13 assassins will undertake the suicide mission to murder him on his way back from Edo.

The movie can be roughly split in two parts. The first hour is purely character-driven, in a anti-establishment style that resembles Masaki Kobayashi and his masterful work in Seppuku and Samurai Rebellion. The last half hour is totally action-oriented as we see the Akashi clan entourage being trapped in a village and fighting to protect their lord, at which point one could be forgiven for thinking Seven Samurai and Akira Kurosawa.

This is really a very very good, if not a bit obscure, 60's jidai-geki shot in black and white, which is the only medium that can truly do justice to the genre. Solid DP work with the classic Nipponese geometrical style in compositions, the remastered print is gorgeous to look at and Eiichi Kudo, who was an unknown quality for me so far, proves to be a very skillfull film-maker. The story carries familiar jidai-geki themes of the era; the oppression of the strong, old friends that have to face off, a vassal that sees how villainous his lord is yet he doesn't hesitate to sacrifice his life for him. It's not quite as elaborate and tragic as Kobayashi's work and is pretty much abandoned after the first half hour where the emphasis shifts to the planning of the assassination, but it still provides a solid dramatic backdrop. The final battle could have been better though, not bad by any means but it won't make any best-final-fights lists either.

Overall a very solid and commendable effort, beautiful to look at with a nice story and some action to go with it. Fans of the genre will definitely lap it up.