Daibutsu, Kamakura

Daibutsu, Kamakura
Daibutsu in Kamakura, June 2010. There were thousands of school kids visiting that day. It was still great fun.

Saturday, November 21, 2009

Samurai Assassin


On a snowy spring day in 1860, throngs of men gather at the gates of Japan's Edo Castle in hopes of assassinating Shogunate leader Ii Naosuke. Upset with the way his life is going, ronin Niiro Tsuruchiyo (Toshiro Mifune) becomes involved in the coup, ultimately seeking a spot in a great samurai house. With no family to speak of and a broken heart, Niiro has nothing to lose -- and will stop at nothing to become a full-fledged samurai. Will he succeed?

This is an awesome movie. This movie is about one of the major events in Japanese history, the assassination of Ii Naosuke, the defacto head of the Tokugawa shogunate in 1860. The Tokugawa were headed by a child shogun at this time, so Ii Naosuke wielded the real power. And he used that power with bloody efficiency. The Tokugawa had been growing weak for decades and after the American Black Ships sailed into Tokyo Bay in the early 1850s, the Tokugawa's weakness became all the more apparent. But Naosuke was intent on reestablishing Tokugawa supremacy and so he instigated the bloody Ansei Purge. All those he deemed disloyal or a threat, even daimyo lords, were either imprisoned or put to death. A group of Mito samurai felt it was their duty to eliminate Naosuke. And that is what this movie is about. This group of Mito samurai along with other disaffected samurai such as Niiro Tsuruchiyo, plotted to kill Naosuke.

This movie instantly joins my select group of favorite films alongside Seven Samurai, Seppuku and several others. This was a great, great movie. So much better than Shinsengumi: Assassins of Honor which is another film starring Mifune that takes place during the same time period. Samurai Assassin was awesome because it was not just a simple retelling of this event. The movie includes a deeper story about Tsuruchiyo's background that comes to light in a shocking realization at the end of the film. I have seen several great battle scenes in various films involving groups of samurai and this film has one of the best. The final assassination battle involved dozens of samurai in a brutally realistic battle to the death. Incredible. If you are familiar with the historical events of this period, especially regarding Ii Naosuke, then this film will mean so much more. However, if you are not familiar with this time period, this is still an awesome movie to watch. Unlike Shinsengumi, which will make little sense to those not familiar with that period, Samurai Assassin will still be a highly entertaining film even if you do not know the history behind it.

5 comments:

  1. I saw this movie many years ago. I remember it being very good. Some of the Shinsengumi films can be terribly confusing. Especially when they assume that since you are watching them you MUST know all about it already!

    Atsu-Hime (NHK) goes into II Naosuke's character quite a bit. They really portray him as a villian with a mission to restore the Shogunate while the Nobility plots in Kyoto. One thing about Atsu-hime's portrayal is that you get to see a little bit of the human qualities in him. He just isn't a character bent on suppressing everyone in sight...

    -on another off topic note-

    I saw Shinobinomono last night. I was really impressed. By far the best Ninja movie I've seen. No outlandish Ninja fights, and the plot was great. For a movie of its era it was really good. Very complex development for all the characters. Thanks for the info, can't wait for the next one.

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  2. I only watched the last half of Atsuhime so I missed the episodes with Naosuke.Samurai Assassin had a scene where Naosuke states that he regretted going to far with the Ansei Purge.

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  3. Wow, another Samurai movie for my list. This one sounds great! I'm familiar with the history, but seeing it in action form is always a treat. I can tell visiting this site is going to expand my movie list fast!

    Only negative about being here in Japan is that while it would be child's play to find these movies, they never have subtitles. My Japanese is alright, but following a movie -- a period piece at that -- is a damn challenging thing to do!

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  4. Yeah, I would think it would be near impossible to find English subtitle movies in Japan.

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  5. Yeah, I bought 'Ichi' while in Osaka... It wasn't until I was packing that I made the mental leap and realized it wouldn't have subtitles.... I only get about 1/5 of it! And I'm just guessing that I'm right!

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