13 Assassins - Yay! Netflix

Post by **GORDON** » Mon Mar 02, 2015 12:31 pm

A very Japanese movie about some shoguns in the 1840s who decide to do something about government corruption.

I say "very Japanese" because even though I followed the subtitled story just fine, I still have a feeling I missed some subtext because I didn't come up steeped in the Japanese culture.

Anyway, the last 45 minutes or so are a long running battle.

It was hard core at times, in more than one way. Pretty good movie.

Malcolm · Post by **Malcolm** » Mon Mar 02, 2015 12:45 pm

I still have a feeling I missed some subtext because I didn't come up steeped in the Japanese culture.

... like?

Post by **GORDON** » Mon Mar 02, 2015 12:51 pm

Malcolm wrote:
I still have a feeling I missed some subtext because I didn't come up steeped in the Japanese culture.
... like?

It's hard to even explain.

I get motivations behind the harakiri, and being loyal to a psychotic shitbag because you took a vow, goddammit. But some of the things they did... some of their motivations... eluded me. For example, I wasn't quite sure why the first harakiri of the movie happened.... I won't go into it to avoid spoilers. There was some element of shame involved there, but I don't know what it was. I may have just missed a line of dialogue. Sometimes the subtitles came fast and furious and if you blink you can miss a line.

Then there was the "warrior for pay" dude. He was the (second-most?) awesomest warrior in the whole crew, but he played himself down like he was shitty or shameful or something. There's modesty, but come on. I wasn't expecting what he turned out to be based on how he was introduced.

And there's a couple more "wha?" moments, but they were fleeting and I ccan't think of them right now. At any rate, this movie felt very Japanese, to me, more so than most Japanese flicks I watch.