After Yatterman & Crows Zero 2, Takashi Miike will be remaking 13 Assassins, a chambara originally directed by Eiichi Kudo in 1963, which was about a group of assassins hired unofficially by the government to kill the annoying brother of the Shogun. Revealing the hypocrisy of this society. Watch the trailer!
The shooting will begin in July, and the production company (HanWay Films) will be at Cannes this week to introduce the film to potential buyers.
Kudo’s 13 Assassins was criticized in Japan, said to be just a rip-off of the Seven Samurai. Somewhere between an influence and an unofficial remake? Let’s see what will do the director behind Izo & Sukiyaki Western Django!
Via NipponCinema, Screendaily
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I found the original 13 Assassins to be rather dull. However, Miike lacks the proper temperament for samurai film; while I expect his remake will not be dull, I don’t expect it to be that good either.
The original 13 Assassins is an excellent film, it’s not dull at all and the only aspect it has in common with 7 Samurai is that Samurai are recruited to do something. Eiichi Kudo is so underrated just because he directed his films for Toei and was forced to put out some bullshit. Here is a great article about him:
http://www.midnighteye.com/features/eiichi-kudo%27s-guerrilla-filmmaking.shtml
Now concerning the Miike remake, I expect it to be pretty good, because I’ve seen his remake of Graveyard of Honor and this is really the best remake I’ve ever seen.
http://henrysheehan.com/2008/kudo.html
(another article about Kudo with some interesting insights in the cinematography of his films)
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