13 Assassins

[GeneChing]

What is it with all the films having Assassin in the title lately?

Japanese cult director in Venice with samurai film (AP)
Source: AP Thu Sep 09, 2010, 3:18 pm EDT

VENICE, Italy - Japanese cult director Takashi Miike says he remade the 1963 classic "Thirteen Assassins" to help Japan's younger generation learn about the past.

The film is set about 150 years ago, toward the end of the samurai period. An esteemed samurai, Shinzaemon Shimada, played by Japanese superstar Koji Yakusho — best known to international audiences for his roles in "Babel" and "Memoirs of a Geisha" — calls on 12 other elite warriors to end the sadistic rule of Lord Naritsugu.

"I wanted the audience to realize that this story is not taking place in the remote past, but rather in a recent past when our grand-grand parents lived," the director told a news conference Thursday ahead of the film's premiere in competition for the Golden Lion. "It is our story, the story of our everyday life. In Japan, contemporary history is something children do not know very well."

The movie is a remake of Eiichi Kudo's black-and-white classic of the samurai genre.

Stylish and intricately choreographed, the story line presents the noble ideals often associated with samurai, for example, when early in the film Shimada says the greatest honor he could achieve as a samurai would be to die a "noble death."

"Fate smiles on me," he says when the opportunity to face off against Lord Naritsugu comes his way.

The film also relies on Miike's trademark use of violence. He also gives each samurai a distinctive personality, deepening interest in the characters.

The film comes to Venice competition with a strong production pedigree behind it. Jeremy Thomas, the project's executive producer who met Miike in Venice a few years ago, worked on Bernardo Bertolucci's 1987 Oscar-winning film "The Last Emperor."

The film's other executive producer, Toshiaki Nakazawa, was behind the film "Departures," which won the best foreign film Oscar.

Miike was last in Venice with the 2007 film "Sukiyaki Western Django," in which actor and director Quentin Tarantino had a cameo.

Tarantino, a big fan of Miike's films, is president of this year's jury, which will decide the winner of the Golden Lion on Sept. 11.

Thirteen Assassins (2010) trailer

[GeneChing]

forty-five minute battle sequence?! From Miike?!? Holy cats! I have to see this!

Magnet Releasing Takes Takeshi Miike’s 13 ASSASSINS
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Wednesday, September 22, 2010

Magnet Releasing Takes US Rights to Takeshi Miike’s 13 ASSASSINS from HanWay Films

New York – September 22, 2010 - The Wagner/Cuban Company's Magnet Releasing, genre arm of Magnolia Pictures announced today that it has acquired US rights to Takashi Miike’s samurai masterpiece, 13 ASSASSINS. 13 ASSASSINS, which premiered at the Venice Film Festival, recently had its North American premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival, and has just been named as the Closing Night film at this year’s Fantastic Fest in Austin. A gorgeously realized, bravura samurai action film in the tradition of Seven Samurai, 13 ASSASSINS is being hailed as one of the best films of Miike’s prolific career.

Set in 1844 Japan, and based on a 1963 film of the same name, 13 ASSASSINS stars Koji Yakusho (Tokyo Sonata and Babel), and brings together the cream of Japan’s acting talent. Yakusho plays a brave samurai who assembles an elite team of thirteen killers to assassinate the brother of the Shogun, a sadistic and well protected young lord who’s above the law, raping and killing innocents with impunity. The film culminates in a mind-blowing, forty-five minute battle sequence that rivals anything seen before in the genre.

The US deal was negotiated by Magnet SVP Tom Quinn and Hanway Films CEO Tim Haslam. 13 ASSASSINS will be released theatrically by Magnet in the first quarter of 2011.

“Miike returns with a vengeance in this mother-of-all Samurai films,” said Tom Quinn, Magnet SVP. “We could not be more honored to welcome one of the world’s greatest genre masters and this instant classic into the Magnet family.”

HanWay sold over 20 territories in Toronto including Canada (Alliance), Australia/NZ (Icon), and Italy (BIM). A deal for the UK will be announced shortly.

13 ASSASSINS will soon screen at the upcoming London Film Festival. It was executive-produced by RPC’s Jeremy Thomas, who has long held a reputation for breaking Asian titles into the international market, most notably Bernardo Bertolucci's nine-time Oscar winner The Last Emperor, Nagisa Ôshima's Merry Christmas, Mr Lawrence and Takeshi Kitano's Brother. Thomas partnered with Sedic International head Toshiaki Nakazawa (producer of the Oscar-winning Departures and Miike’s Sukiyaki Western Django), and TV Asahi’s Takashi Hirajo. Toho Co., Ltd will release the film in Japan on September 25th.

About Magnet Releasing

Magnet is the genre arm of Magnolia Pictures, specializing in films from the vanguard of horror, action, comedy and Asian cinema, and is home to such films as Tomas Alfredson’s Let the Right One In, Neil Marshall’s sword and sandals bloodbath Centurion, John Woo’s historical epic Red Cliff, Ti West’s terrifying The House of the Devil, Tony Jaa’s Ong Bak trilogy, Nicholas Winding Refn’s Bronson, the Spanish horror film [Rec]2, and George A. Romero’s Survival of the Dead. Coming soon is Gareth Edwards’ highly anticipated sci-fi masterpiece Monsters, coming to theaters in October, Alex de la Iglesia’s The Last Circus, KIM Jeewoon’s brutal I Saw the Devil, and Quentin Dupieux’s Rubber, featuring a killer tire on a murder spree. Magnolia Pictures is the theatrical and home entertainment distribution arm of the Wagner/Cuban Companies, a vertically integrated group of media properties co-owned by Todd Wagner and Mark Cuban that also include the Landmark Theatres chain, the production company 2929 Productions, and high-definition cable network HDNet.

About HanWay Films

HanWay Films' current slate includes David Cronenberg's upcoming "A Dangerous Method" starring Viggo Mortensen, Keira Knightley, Michael Fassbender and Vincent Cassel, Andrea Arnold's "Wuthering Heights", Steve McQueen’s “Shame” starring Michael Fassbender, and Toronto Official Selection films "Essential Killing" by Jerzy Skolimowski (winner of the Special Jury Prize and Best Actor at Venice), "Made In Dagenham" by Nigel Cole starring Sally Hawkins, "Super" starring Rainn Wilson, Ellen Paige and Liv Tyler, and the animated feature "Chico & Rita" by director Fernando Trueba and the artist Mariscal.

[doug maverick]

Originally Posted by GeneChing

forty-five minute battle sequence?! From Miike?!? Holy cats! I have to see this!

agreed, this has become a must see now...

[GeneChing]

Not an impressive review, but I still want to see it.

13 Assassins -- Film Review
By Deborah Young, September 08, 2010 08:50 ET
Bottom Line: Surprisingly few surprises in this classic samurai costumer from Japan's dark iconoclast Takeshi Miike.

Takeshi Miike is one of the most prolific filmmakers in the world, chalking up more than 80 films in the past 10 years. Most are made quickly, but in "13 Assassins," a classic samurai genre film, it is clear that time and care were taken to achieve those high production values. The director's scream-and-scream-again horror films, like the unforgettable "Audition," and his goofy superhero send-ups (Venice is also hosting two of his "Zebraman" titles) would suggest he would go to work gleefully deconstructing the samurai canon. But once again, Miike surprises his audience.

Strangely enough, he opts to follow the genre's social code and dramaturgy almost slavishly, and the result is a beautifully lensed but rather unremarkable Japanese period piece. Its main market will be drawn from the male demographic of its native land, where the cast is all-star. Apart from viewers with a special interest in swords clashing in tedious, interminable battle, this looks like a hard sell.

The Japanese release on Sept. 25 will contain about 20 additional minutes of a scene set in a brothel, just before the climactic fight.

The time is 1844, and peace reigns in feudal Japan. But it is threatened by a young Lord's bloody rise to power and his sadistic raping and killing. The story pits samurai who are loyal to the Shogun's evil brother, Naritsugu (played by rocker Goro Inagaki with dandyish cruelty), as their code demands, against those who feel he's a menace to society and has to be taken out.

The man is a monster, and to show this Miike unleashes his dark imagination in two early set pieces. The shocker is the scene in which a naked girl who is brought before the great samurai Shinzaemon (renowned actor Koji Yakusho); Naritsugu has had her arms and legs cut off because her father was "a peasant leader." Later, miffed at another nobleman who has contemptuously committed hara-kiri, he has his wife and children tied up and shoots arrows into them.

His righteous anger roused, Shinzaemon assembles a band of loyal samurai who pledge to assassinate the evil lord during his annual trip home. Everyone knows it's a suicide mission because Naritsugu is heavily guarded and protected by the clever and brave Hanbei (Masachika Ichimura). Nevertheless, they make a plan to attack his convoy and set off for the mountains, where an intrepid local lad (played for laughs by the winning Yusuke Iseya) is allowed to join their number as the 13th fighter.

They prepare a small town in the mountains with elaborate mechanical booby traps and wait for Lord Naritsugu's 200-strong entourage to pass by. These traps are sprung during the battle that takes up the last half of the film. Even when wooden buildings explode and flaming oxen run through the streets, however, the effects are underwhelming.

Though it takes some time to sort out the large cast, the leads, all fine actors, eventually come into focus. As the good and bad samurai, Yakusho and Ichimura have the gravitas to take their roles seriously and perform a decisive one-on-one sword fight straight. The same goes for two brooding younger avengers, Shinzaemon's apprentice (Tsuyoshi Ihara) and nephew (Takayuki Yamada). Iseya, playing the mountain boy who thinks samurai are boring, adds the sole note of humor and wit.

Venue: Venice Film Festival (In Competition)
Production companies: TV Asahi Corp., Toho Co., Dentsu, Sedic International, Sedic Deux, Rakueisha Co.
Cast: Koji Yakusho, Takayuki Yamada, Yusuke Iseya, Goro Inagaki, Masachika Ichimura, Mikijiro Hira, Hiroki Matsukata, Ikki Sawamura, Arata Furuta, Tsuyoshi Ihara, Masataka Kubota,Sousuke Takaoka
Director: Takeshi Miike
Screenwriter: Daisuke Tengan
Executive producers: Toshiaski Nakazawa, Jeremy Thomas, Takashi Hirajo
Producers: Michihiko Umezawa, Minami Ichikawa, Toichiro Shiraishi, Takahiro ohno, Hirotsugu Yoshida, Shigeji Maeda
Director of photography: Nobuyasu Kita
Production designer: Yuji Hayashida
Music: Koji Endo
Costumes: Kazuhiro Sawataishi
Editor: Kenji Yama****a
Sales agent: HanWay Films, Toho Co.
Running time: 126 minutes

[GeneChing]

Takashi Miike's 13 ASSASSINS Official Poster Now Available!

Winner Of Three Japan Academy Prize Awards!

***Venice Film Festival***
*** The Toronto International Film Festival ***
***Fantastic Fest***
*** SXSW Film Festival***

Synopsis:
In 13 ASSASSINS, cult director Takashi Miike delivers a bravado period action film set at the end of Japan's feudal era in which a group of unemployed samurai are enlisted to bring down a sadistic lord and prevent him from ascending to the throne and plunging the country into a war-torn future.

13 ASSASSINS was directed and edited by Takashi Miike (Audition, Ichi the Killer), from a script by Daisuke Tengan. It stars Kôji Yakusho, Takayuki Yamada, Yusuke Iseya, and Goro Inagaki.

13 ASSASSINS premiere at the South By Southwest Film Festival Sunday, March 13; in select theaters April 29th.

Official website: http://www.13assassins.com
Friend us on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/13assassins

Looking forward to the American release.

[Jimbo]

I have got to see this. Even if that reviewer didn't seem impressed, it doesn't matter.

[Lucas]

Originally Posted by Jimbo

I have got to see this. Even if that reviewer didn't seem impressed, it doesn't matter.

same...they probably just suck at reviewing bad ass movies anyway

love me some Miike!

[GeneChing]

Check out an exclusive featurette for 13 ASSASSINS. 13 ASSASSINS is available on March 25 on iTunes, Video On Demand, Amazon.com, VUDU, Xbox Marketplace and the Playstation Network. In theaters April 29.

[Lucas]

hell ya ill be watching that on marketplace fo sho! thanks for the heads up bro

HECKA!

[Hebrew Hammer]

This movie was totally effin awesome...an epic, I'm going to buy it. Think Magnificent 7 or the 7 Samurai, modernized, badass, and gruesome...wow. Quentin Terrintino would love this.

Here's a link if you want to see it online:

http://www1.zmovie.tv/movies/view/13-assassins-2010

[Lucas]

wow...just wow. couldnt agree more with that last post, modern classic no doubt. this is a must see if you have balls. rented this on zune through xbox live for 12 bucks, so if you have one do it now while its still available. forgot all about wanting to rent this till your post hebrew hammer so thanks lol

[Hebrew Hammer]

You are welcome, my son...I'm here to protect and to serve.

[Lucas]

lol sweet. i had to go back and rewatch the sword in the bamboo stalks scene with that ronin and his student..omg.

[Hebrew Hammer]

I'm going to have to watch that sequence again too, he was great, I was wondering why all those swords were planted in the ground.

[Lucas]

ya me too. it reminded me alot of that jet li scene, forget what film, where he is in that alley way with a bunch of katanas in his belt. except this was waaaay better than jet li.

the way the two masters cut people down was bad ass too