DVD Review: R1 Samurai Assassin with Mifune Toshiro

Run Time: 122 minutes
Black & White
Directed by: Okamoto Kihachi
Starring: Mifune Toshiro
Extras: Original Theatrical Trailers; Cast & Crew Biographies; Character Biographies; Interactive Program Notes

I had the guilty pleasure of watching what some consider to be one of the greatest samurai films ever made. And while my heart for samurai films is committed elsewhere I will say that Samurai Assassin is a great samurai film that deserves your attention.

What I didn’t know before I watched Samurai Assassin is that it is loosely based on actual events from Japanese history, and adapted from the novel Samurai Nippon by Gunji Joromasa. The story is based on the Sakurada Gate Incident of 1860. A high Shogunate official named Ii Naosuke, the “Demon of Hikone”, was assassinated by a group of terrorists from the House of Minto. Ii's murder marked the beginning of the end for the Tokugawa Shogunate, and the end of the Samurai. You now have your context for the story.

Visit the AnimEigo Samurai Assassin page here.

Using that event of history for the surroundings you now throw your characters plum in the middle of it all and watch them go. Enter Mifune Toshiro, as Njiro Tsuruchiyo, a ronin [masterless samurai] looking to make his mark in the world. Njiro coerces himself into the group of assissins. He may or may not agree with the groups cause. But he desires recognition and a position in a Samurai house to the extent that he will do what it takes to get it. Njiro is a lowly and destitute character living along the banks of the river in a hut made of mud and sticks. He earns wages working as a bouncer and bodyguard; extortion is not beyond him. He rescues three of the Minto assassins from a tight spot in hopes that one of them belongs to a rich family so he may be compensated.

Njiro infiltrates the group and joins them on their quest to assassinate the Shogunate. When the Shogunate fails to come out from behind the guarded walls of Edo Castle the group of assassins learn that one of them is giving information to the other side. The hunt is on for the traitor in their midst, who must be dealt with accordingly if they are to achieve their goal and preserve their precious ideals of what Japan is and should be. One of the ironic points in the film, and there are a few, is that both groups, the assassins and the shogunate, believe what they are doing will preserve Japan and protect her from outside influence.

Fate and irony are heavy themes in Samurai Assassin. It deals Njiro such a raw deal that by the end of the movie you do not so much feel sorry for him about the twist of fate that may or may not be dealt to him but perhaps empathy over sorrow is what you may feel when the film ends.

AnimEigo treats the film and this DVD with the utmost attention and care. Go to their website and you can read a short story on the Tokugawa Shogunate so you may better understand the contextual story of the film. I have yet to see any company go this far out of their way to both educate and entertain their customer base.

Noted, there is concern about the transfer of film over to the digital format and questions are raised whether or not AnimEigo remastered the movie before setting it to print. Sadly, they have not. While the daytime/exterior scenes are crystal and highly detailed the night/interior scenes get muddled and lost in the shadows. While you don’t lose much in the transfer you always hope that things could have been done better.

I had yet to see a subtitled movie where such attention is given to the subtitles. The subtitles are legible and though I can’t account for the grammar nothing appeared out of sorts. Even every building sign is noted. When two or more characters are speaking the subs switch between yellow and green to help follow the conversation. When the trailers are subbed to such great detail and attention you know that care has been put into this production.

The action itself bookends strong dramatic scenes throughout the film. The climatic and deadly assassination at the end of the film is quick, brutal and frantic. In fact, all the action is swift and deadly. You’re reminded in that age one couldn’t afford to dilly-dally about and swing their sword to and fro. Attacks had to be precise and they had to be deadly if you wished to lived to see another fight. Personally, I liked the skirmish between Njiro and the 9 assassins in his small wood hut the night before the assassination attempt. Deadly and very decisive.

So this being my first AnimEigo SAMURAI CINEMA film I am excited to see what the rest of the series will offer. Samurai Assassin delivers on all fronts. The drama is taunt and tense. The action is quick and deadly. The emotions range from torment to elation and you ache for the characters. Samurai Assassin is a great movie that should cure the ails of any samurai movie fan.

Stay tuned for my review of another AnimEigo release, Incident at Blood Pass.