13 Assassins (2010)
"Jûsan-nin no shikaku" (original title)

A group of assassins come together for a suicide mission to kill an evil lord.

Director:

Takashi Miike

Writers:

Kaneo Ikegami (based on a screenplay by), Daisuke Tengan (screenplay)

Stars:

Kôji Yakusho, Takayuki Yamada, Yûsuke Iseya

12 wins & 21 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Kôji Yakusho	...	Shinzaemon Shimada
Takayuki Yamada	...	Shinrokuro Shimada
Yûsuke Iseya	...	Koyata Kiga
Ikki Sawamura	...	Gunjiro Mitsuhashi
Arata Furuta	...	Heizo Sahara
Sôsuke Takaoka	...	Yasokichi Hioki
Seiji Rokkaku	...	Mosuke Otake
Kazuki Namioka	...	Rihei Ishizuka
Kôen Kondô	...	Yahachi Horii
Yûma Ishigaki	...	Gannai Higuchi
Masataka Kubota	...	Shojiro Ogura
Tsuyoshi Ihara	...	Kujuro Hirayama
Hiroki Matsukata	...	Saheita Kuranaga
Kazue Fukiishi	...	Tsuya / Upashi
Mitsuki Tanimura	...	Chise Makino

Storyline

In 1844, the peace of Feudal Japan is threatened by cruel Lord Naritsugu Matsudaira, who is politically rising and getting closer to his half-brother, the shogun. After the harakiri of the Namiya clan leader, samurai Shinzaemon Shimada is summoned by the shogun's advisor Sir Doi of the Akash Clan to listen to the tragedy of Makino Uneme, whose son and daughter-in-law have been murdered by Naritsugu. Then Sir Doi shows a woman with arms, legs and tongue severed by Naritsugu and she writes with her forearm a request to Shinza to slaughter Naritsugu and his samurais. Shinza promises to kill Naritsugu and he gathers eleven other samurais and plots a plan to attack Naritsugu in his trip back to the Akash land. But the cunning samurai Hanbei Kitou that is responsible for the security of his master foresees Shinza's intent. Shinza decides to go with his samurais through the mountain, where they find the hunter Koyata that guides them off the mountain and joins the group. Now the thirteen men...

---

Plot Keywords:

samurai | suicide | shogun | suicide mission | lord | 

---

Genres:

Action | Adventure | Drama

---

Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for sequences of bloody violence, some disturbing images and brief nudity

Details

Official Sites:

Official Facebook Official site [jp]

Country:

Japan UK

Language:

Japanese

Release Date:

25 September 2010 (Japan)

Also Known As:

13 Assassins

Box Office

Budget:

$6,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend:

£124,377 (UK) (6 May 2011)

Gross:

$802,524 (USA) (19 August 2011)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Sedic International, Recorded Picture Company (RPC), Asahi Broadcasting Corporation (ABC)

Technical Specs

Runtime:

141 min 126 min (International)

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Goofs

Near the end of the movie, at approximately 2:00:15, a character that is supposedly lying dead briefly moves his left leg (at the lower left of the scene).

---

Quotes

Shinzaemon Shimada: No mercy! There's no samurai code or fair play in battle! No sword? Use a stick. No stick? Use a rock. No rock? Use your fists and feet! Lose your life, but make the enemy pay!

---

Connections

Featured in Ebert Presents: At the Movies: Episode #2.1 (2011)

User Reviews

A Future Classic by Takashi Miike

In 1844, the peace of the Feudal Japan is threatened by the cruel Lord Naritsugu Matsudaira (Gorô Inagaki) that is politically rising and getting closer to his half-brother, the shogun. After the harakiri of Namiya clan leader, the samurai Shinzaemon Shimada (Kôji Yakusho) is summoned by the shogun's adviser Sir Doi (Mikijiro Hira) of the Akash Clan to listen to the tragedy of Makino Uneme ((Takumi Saitô), whose son and daughter-in-law have been murdered by Naritsugu. Then Sir Doi shows a woman with arms, legs and tongue severed by Naritsugu and she writes with her forearm a request to Shinza to slaughter Naritsugu and his samurais.

Shinza promises to kill Naritsugu and he gathers eleven other samurais and plots a plan to attack Naritsugu in his trip back to the Akash land. But the cunning samurai Hanbei Kitou (Masachika Ichimura) that is responsible for the security of his master foresees Shinza's intent. Shinza decides to go with his samurais through the mountain, where they find the hunter Koyata (Yûsuke Iseya) that guides them off the mountain and joins the group. Now the thirteen men prepare an ambush to Naritsugu and his army of two hundred samurais in a suicide mission to stop evil.

"Jûsan-nin no shikaku", a.k.a, "13 Assassins", is a future classic of the samurai genre by Takashi Miike. It is inevitable to compare this film with Akira Kurosawa's "Seven Samurais" and the epic "The 300 Spartans", but "13 Assassins" is among the best samurais movies I have ever seen, with a solid story in the Edo period of Japan, stunning cinematography, wonderful performances and fantastic choreography in the battle scenes. My vote is nine.

Title (Brazil): "13 Assassinos" ("13 Assassins")