13 Assassins

[doug maverick]

pretty interesting interview. i want to see the kid ninja film he is talking about.

Takashi Miike on his Samurai epic, '13 Assassins'
The prolific Japanese genre maestro discusses arguably his greatest work
Japan’s Takashi Miike is one of the world’s most prolific filmmakers, having made an average of three films a year since 1991. He is best known in the UK for his 1999 J-horror shocker ‘Audition’ and his gleefully violent Manga adaptation, ‘Ichi the Killer’ (2001), though he prides himself on not being shackled to a genre or audience. His new samurai film, ‘13 Assassins’, was premiered to acclaim at the 2010 Venice Film Festival, while his next, ‘Hara-Kiri: Death of a Samurai’, has a competition slot at the upcoming Cannes Film Festival.

‘13 Assassins’ is a remake of a 1963 film by Eiichi Kudo. Do you recall the first time you saw it?
‘The film was released when I was three years old, so I didn’t see it when it first came out. It’s a popular work among samurai movie fans. When I was locked in to the remake, I watched the original for the first time. What impressed me was the power and energy that the film industry in Japan had at that time. But what saddened me was the sense that we had lost the ability to make films like this. We didn’t have any stunt horses in Japan when we started this film. Over half of the 13 assassins had never held a sword.’

Do you see yourself as a connoisseur of samurai stories?
‘Not really. I can honestly say that I have probably watched fewer films than any director in the world. Sure, I like to go out and buy a beer and drink it while watching a movie on a Friday night. But watching a movie for work? As a reference? No thanks.’

When you talk about old-fashioned Japanese filmmaking, the work of Akira Kurosawa comes to mind.
‘It was important for me to make the film in an old style, not rely on modern day techniques like CGI or flashy editing. And no romantic subplots! Over the years, people have remade Kurosawa movies – but have failed because they’ve been unable to adapt the story so that young audiences can appreciate it. Plenty of young people came to see “13 Assassins” in Japan and enjoyed it, but I imagine they had to work a little harder than they usually do.’

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It was made in collaboration with British producer Jeremy Thomas, a great champion of Asian cinema.
‘I don’t think I can say enough about how important Jeremy was to this film. I first met him at Venice when we presented “Sukiyaki Western Django” in 2007. He said, “I haven’t seen all your films, but I’ve seen enough of them to know that you make great movies. Here’s a book that I own the rights to – I want you to make it.” I was floored. He was so cool! He was very helpful with the script and in the edit. At the same time, he did what all good producers do: keep the people who were trying to interfere off my back.’

You work at an incredible rate. Are you usually planning your next film while making the current one?
‘I plan the next film during post-production. I don’t allow myself to think about the next one while shooting. I am often asked what the average shoot time is for me. I used to shoot a lot of films in two weeks. “Audition” was three weeks. I don’t aim to make lots of movies. It’s just my pace. Since “13 Assassins”, I have made two, a children's ninja school action film called “Nintama Rantaro” and an orthodox period piece like “13 Assassins” called “Hara-Kiri: Death of a Samurai”.’



Author: Interview: David Jenkins

[wenshu]

Nintama Rantaro Teaser.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5njYJaBrjBo

[GeneChing]

Nintama Rantaro thread - used the admin copy function to clone your post, wenshu.

[GeneChing]

'13 Assassins': 1 of 2 big Takashi Miike remakes
G. Allen Johnson, Chronicle Staff Writer
Thursday, May 19, 2011

Takashi Miike has been making films for 20 years (83 in total), and only now is becoming something other than a cult favorite.

This month, he has a film in the Cannes Film Festival's official competition for the first time ("Hara-Kiri: Death of a Samurai"), and his fierce, impressive throwback samurai picture "13 Assassins" opens in the Bay Area.

At age 50, after years of direct-to-video films, low-budget gangster movies and bizarre cult items ("Ichi the Killer"), Takashi is Japan's top director, and its most famous.

"It's not my goal to make so many movies," Takashi said via Skype from Tokyo through an interpreter. "It's just sort of a natural process, and I'm just doing my job. And I'm not tied to any genre; I'm willing to do anything. I just keep going."

"13 Assassins" is a remake of a 1963 Japanese movie. There is an evil lord who threatens to drive the shogunate into a bloody, unnecessary war; a group of samurai band together with the single mission of killing the lord, and probably themselves in the process, thus saving the empire.

Starring Koji Yakusho ("Shall We Dance?"), it is an epic film with a masterfully directed 45-minute climactic battle.

"In terms of scale and the sheer logistics, particularly the big battle scene, ('13 Assassins') shows such a huge step forward for Miike - not only in what he can do, but also in what he is allowed to do by the industry," said Tom Mes, author of "Agitator: The Cinema of Takashi Miike" and co-founder of the Japanese film website MidnightEye.com, in an e-mail to The Chronicle.

"He has shown in the past that he can overcome any hurdles and unexpected calamities when shooting and end up with a very impressive film. ... The main set for 'Sukiyaki Western Django' was blown away by a typhoon halfway through the shoot. He has proven his mettle artistically and logistically, and I believe this is why he is now the sole director in Japan capable of successfully mounting a movie of the scale of '13 Assassins.' "

Takashi is known for explicitly depraved sequences, and if it seems he's been held in check in "13 Assassins," consider that 25 minutes (including a graphic rape scene) were cut from the original Japanese version for this U.S. release. Still, Takashi does seem to be moving toward a more classic feel: "Hara-Kiri" is also a remake of an early 1960s Japanese film.

"I think that Japanese movies made at that time were much more interesting and more powerful," Takashi said. "For over half of the actors (of '13 Assassins'), it was their first time fighting with a sword. We had to train them. And of course, they didn't have any experience riding horses. ... So they were fighting for their lives as characters, but also as actors as well!"

As he enters his second half-century, Takashi is going strong. Any advice for the rest of us on how to keep up with such a busy schedule?

"Drink a lot and smoke a lot, like I do!" he laughs.

Well, I could probably skip the graphic rape scene as Miike has traumatized my retinas enough with his horrific visions already, but still, that's a lot of footage.

[Jimbo]

Best. Samurai Film. Ever. (IMO).

10/10.

*Add: There was one thing I won't mention that left a question mark for me, but other than that, I can't really find much to fault with the movie. I felt it lived up to the hype.

[Jimbo]

http://www.washingtonpost.com/gog/mo...ic-review.html

Although some of the newer Japanese movies are in the "Crouching Tiger" style (i.e., wirework, etc., etc.), I find it odd but sadly predictable that this reviewer can't seem to distinguish between the Japanese samurai and Chinese wuxia or kung fu genres. Kinda like confusing German and Italian cinema as being one and the same. It marrs an otherwise fine review.

*I don't know how to transfer (or whatever the process is called) the article like Gene does.

[GeneChing]

...I usually put it in quotes, then hypertext the title of the article to the original source. YOU MUST ALWAYS CREDIT YOUR SOURCE.

The DVD and BRD drops July 5th. We'll see what we can do about that here.

[GeneChing]

Enter to win a 13 Assassins on DVD! Contest ends 6:00 p.m. PST on 07/14/2011. Good luck everyone!

This DVD/BRD, which drops July 5th, has some the deleted scenes cut out of the U.S. version, including the deleted rape scene. I'm not sure if it has all 25 minutes but it has a lot. Most of the deleted scenes were trim for time, and they set it up well on the DVD so it begins with rather boring cutting room floor extras, moves to the rape scene which goes a completely different direction than I was expecting - after the amputee scene (which scarred my brain like only Miike can) I was wary of watching this but after watching it, well, it was a totally Miike character development scene that really adds to the film. Then the extras go on to deleted battle scenes, which of course, is the best part. The battles of more of the 13 have greater detail.

[Lucas]

Best. Samurai Film. Ever. (IMO).

10/10.

*Add: There was one thing I won't mention that left a question mark for me, but other than that, I can't really find much to fault with the movie. I felt it lived up to the hype.

mention it with a big *SPOILER* on top, im curious.

[Jimbo]

I just got it on DVD.

One thing I noticed is that there is a slight flicker in the picture, more in certain scenes than others. I noticed that flicker even more when I saw it in the theater a while back. I wonder if that was an intentional technique used my Miike, perhaps to give a feeling reminiscent of watchning old movies in theaters?

[GeneChing]

The winners of our 13 Assassins DVD online sweepstakes have been announced here.

[MightyB]

After watching this movie, I have one question - Is the guy they found in the woods a spirit or tengu?

[Jimbo]

That's a really good question. Although I liked the character, that's the one thing I thought really odd about the movie.

[wenshu]

Didn't Shinzaemon ask him if he is a Tanuki when they find him in the cage?

[Jimbo]

That's right. Plus, Shinzaemon's nephew (I forget the character's name) asks him, "Are you immortal?" near the end.

Maybe the character was Miike's way of inserting some of his penchant for the bizarre in an otherwise un-bizarre movie (if that makes any sense).