The answer to the inevitable question of everyone who is considering watching this film for the first time is yes, 13 is too many assassins.
Of course I am not referring to the strategic value of that number, but rather what it suggests about the approach to story and character in this film. I think of any chanbara film I have ever seen, this one has perhaps the least to offer in way of commentary or emotional resonance. It's a little confusing, because I can tell Miike is a good director, or at least has the capacity to be one. From a directional and visual standpoint this film isn't lacking by any stretch of the imagination. It's well executed. The problem is in what exactly is being executed.
The story is simple to a fault. It's incredibly predictable how the series of events will play out to the point that you know by the ten minute mark what's bound to happen at the two hour mark. Here is where the issue of the excessive number of assassins is relevant. Going into this film, I knew that there wasn't going to be an opportunity to develop every character to the point of being fully realized. My suspicions were of course confirmed, but even more sobering was that there was hardly a single character I could really care about among this excessive cast. There's somehow no room in this two hour epic for a single character arc or decision not made in the first half an hour which makes any of the characters three dimensional. This is where an imbalance in the story and execution is really apparent. All the scenes are done well, but the story fails to make any of it mean anything.
Simplicity in film plot is not an inherently bad thing. A story without real character or theme is however. 13 is too many assassins. There isn't room for characters amid the epic turmoil on screen. To reiterate, it's not bad. This film is perfectly functional, but nothing more. It is, unfortunately, an example of a chanbara period piece which fails to make a compelling commentary on the nature of society in feudal Japan or the conflict between bushido and the individual. The central conflict of ideas in this film sort of side steps these complicated ideas in favor of opposing ideologies which equally appeal to the altruistic nature of the classic samurai. I don't know why that is. It sort of raises the question of why this film was made to begin with. What's the point? The thematic nature of this film puts things at sort of a grade school level from a moral perspective. Again, it's confusing, because I have the suspicion that Miike doesn't really see the world in such juvenile terms. The technical skill coupled with the novice narrative is all together disappointing. It feels like there's a real lost opportunity in all this.
This is objectively a good film in execution, but it's a story which isn't really worth telling.
Of course I am not referring to the strategic value of that number, but rather what it suggests about the approach to story and character in this film. I think of any chanbara film I have ever seen, this one has perhaps the least to offer in way of commentary or emotional resonance. It's a little confusing, because I can tell Miike is a good director, or at least has the capacity to be one. From a directional and visual standpoint this film isn't lacking by any stretch of the imagination. It's well executed. The problem is in what exactly is being executed.
The story is simple to a fault. It's incredibly predictable how the series of events will play out to the point that you know by the ten minute mark what's bound to happen at the two hour mark. Here is where the issue of the excessive number of assassins is relevant. Going into this film, I knew that there wasn't going to be an opportunity to develop every character to the point of being fully realized. My suspicions were of course confirmed, but even more sobering was that there was hardly a single character I could really care about among this excessive cast. There's somehow no room in this two hour epic for a single character arc or decision not made in the first half an hour which makes any of the characters three dimensional. This is where an imbalance in the story and execution is really apparent. All the scenes are done well, but the story fails to make any of it mean anything.
Simplicity in film plot is not an inherently bad thing. A story without real character or theme is however. 13 is too many assassins. There isn't room for characters amid the epic turmoil on screen. To reiterate, it's not bad. This film is perfectly functional, but nothing more. It is, unfortunately, an example of a chanbara period piece which fails to make a compelling commentary on the nature of society in feudal Japan or the conflict between bushido and the individual. The central conflict of ideas in this film sort of side steps these complicated ideas in favor of opposing ideologies which equally appeal to the altruistic nature of the classic samurai. I don't know why that is. It sort of raises the question of why this film was made to begin with. What's the point? The thematic nature of this film puts things at sort of a grade school level from a moral perspective. Again, it's confusing, because I have the suspicion that Miike doesn't really see the world in such juvenile terms. The technical skill coupled with the novice narrative is all together disappointing. It feels like there's a real lost opportunity in all this.
This is objectively a good film in execution, but it's a story which isn't really worth telling.