Jûsan-nin no shikaku (2010)

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), Shoichirou Ikemiya (story)

Stars:

Kôji Yakusho, Takayuki Yamada, Yûsuke Iseya

14 wins & 27 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 Akashi 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 samurai. Shinza promises to kill Naritsugu and he gathers eleven other samurais and plots a plan to attack Naritsugu in his trip back to the Akashi 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 samurai through the mountain, where they find the hunter Koyata that guides them off the mountain and joins the group. Now the thirteen men...

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Plot Keywords:

samurai | suicide | japan | assassin | massacre | 

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Taglines:

Take up your sword.

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Genres:

Action | Adventure | Drama

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

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

Details

Official Sites:

Official Facebook Official site [Japan]

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 (United Kingdom), 8 May 2011, Limited Release

Opening Weekend USA:

$45,854, 1 May 2011, Limited Release

Gross USA:

$802,524, 21 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?

Trivia

The 13 assassins plan to attack Matsudaira Naritsugu while his journeying to Edo (the old name for Tokyo). In the Edo period the lords of Japan had to travel and stay in Edo. This was called Sankin-kotai, or official journey. The lords stayed to show their loyalty to the shogun and the system helped the shogun keep tabs on the lords.

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Quotes

Koyata: Why are you samurai so arrogant?

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Connections

Featured in At the Movies: Venice Film Festival 2010 (2010)

User Reviews

By far Miike's most outstanding film to date

Having been furious at American cinema for releasing some garbage over the past few years, I have purely focused on international cinema and more so Asian cinema. You would be hard pressed finding better films than what South Korea has to offer. Unless you stumble across 13 Assassins. My god, what an experience. And that is exactly what it is, an experience. Exactly what cinema is meant to be. I will not spoil any part of this film other than saying, if you are sick and tired of the same old melodramatic, over hyped, under performed, over budgeted, egotistical, run of the mil ho hum doldrum from modern day cinema, then you must (and I mean must) see 13 Assassins. This film is a solid entry from Takashi Miike. His previous films were everything from outstanding to bizarre, but this film speaks volumes. It is a film reminiscent of 7 Samurai, brilliantly executed. Takashi Miike has certainly matured in his vision, bringing to the screen an instant classic. Tell your people, friends, family, scream it from the rooftops.....13 Assassins is brilliant! Now, how long will it take Hollywood to bastardize this film?