ironhorse_iv Review of Samurai Assassin

Samurai Assassin (I) (1965)

This is one rare samurai movie starting Samurai Legend, Toshiro Mifune.

[8/10 · 19 May 2013]

I don't think a lot of people have saw this movie. It's not all chanbara or 'sword fighting' film nor it's it a Jidaigeki, a periodic film with little to no fighting. It's more balance than that. It's not well known film. Still, it's worth checking out. The film has this an ancient Greek tragedy feel to the film filled with heartrending irony and a sense of unavoidable doom. I think Samurai Assassin is just as amazing piece of Toshiro Mifune's work as Seven Samurai (1955) & Yojimbo (1961). Yes, it wasn't directed by Akira Kurosawa, but Director Kihachi Okamoto did an amazing job with this film. The fight scenes in this movie are just brutal. The film is one of the first to embrace the blood splattering violence in samurai films. The way he shot the bloody snowy fight scene is just beautiful that probably influence a lot of future directors such as Martin Scorsese and Quentin Tarantino. It helps that the black & white Tohoscope was from Hiroshi Murai, one of the greatest Japanese cinematographers. Samurai Assassin is set in 1860, where feudalism is near its end due to the Meiji Restoration. The event changed Japanese society forever by doing away with the castes in society and reducing the position of the samurai class. By removing samurai out of power, Tsurichiyo Nirro (Toshiro Mifune) felt that an assassination of Ii Naosuke (Hakuô Matsumoto) is needed as Ii Naosuke is the one pushing for change. Niiro Tsurichiyo is the illegitimate son of a powerful nobleman, and loose Ronin social outcast wanting to have a Samurai status. Seeing the Lord of Hikone, Sir Ii Kamonnokami Naosuke as a threat to his dream. He join forces with multiple clans from the Satsuma, Mito, and Choshuu provinces to take him out. Tension builds as the assassins wait day after day for the perfect moment to take out their target. Il Naosuke continue to tempt them, by making more and more unpopular choices, such like appointment of the 14th shogunate and initiated the Ansei Purge to quiet critics of his choices. While the backstory unfolds slowly, the hack and slash action takes a backseat, so the movie gives a traitor within the assassins plot. By doing this, it gives a new sense of direction, as Nirro Tsurichiyo is unsure who to trust. He finds out that the samurais around him, are not as nobility like he think before joining them, as they act more like a murderous gang. In one powerful scene in the middle of the film, Nirro Tusirchiyo break down after engages his best friend, Kurihara (Keiju Kobayashi), is a sad moment. The stress builds as there is more at stake here that their own lives. The director made the right decision to take his time and allow character development! The film is based on a novel, which in turn was inspired by the historical event known as the Sakuradamon incident. The faults of the film are this, while the narration is great in the film, I doubt it was needed. Another sub-plot not needed was the lost-love relationship as I felt it slow the movie down. All the flashbacks are not needed as it make the story confusing. Another big mistake of the film is how it was film, letter-boxing. It's really hard to see when watching it on DVD. At less, the movie is sub-title by AnimEigo. Kinda wish it was Criterion who did that as the sub-titled go really too quickly rather than allowing people to read it. Anyways overall: if you like old school Samurai movies, give this film a watch. This is a must see for any Toshiro Mifune fan.