The story of Thirteen Assassins begins with a vassal of the Akashi clan committing seppuku in front of a daimyo’s house. As it turns out, it’s in protest to his lord raping and killing a girl and her samurai husband. This scandal is quickly covered up as the Akashi lord happens to be the Shogun’s younger brother. What makes matters worse is that this reckless scoundrel will be soon appointed to a higher political position which could prove to be detrimental for the entire Shogunate. In response to that, a plot is hatched: 13 assassins will undertake the suicide mission to murder him on his way back from Edo.

The movie can be roughly split in two parts. The first hour is purely character-driven, in a anti-establishment style that resembles Masaki Kobayashi and his masterful work in Seppuku and Samurai Rebellion. The last half hour is totally action-oriented as we see the Akashi clan entourage being trapped in a village and fighting to protect their lord, at which point one could be forgiven for thinking Seven Samurai and Akira Kurosawa.

This is really a very very good, if not a bit obscure, 60’s jidai-geki shot in black and white, which is the only medium that can truly do justice to the genre. Solid DP work with the classic Nipponese geometrical style in compositions, the remastered print is gorgeous to look at and Eiichi Kudo, who was an unknown quality for me so far, proves to be a very skillfull film-maker. The story carries familiar jidai-geki themes of the era; the oppression of the strong, old friends that have to face off, a vassal that sees how villainous his lord is yet he doesn’t hesitate to sacrifice his life for him. It’s not quite as elaborate and tragic as Kobayashi’s work and is pretty much abandoned after the first half hour where the emphasis shifts to the planning of the assassination, but it still provides a solid dramatic backdrop. The final battle could have been better though, not bad by any means but it won’t make any best-final-fights lists either.

Overall a very solid and commendable effort, beautiful to look at with a nice story and some action to go with it. Fans of the genre will definitely lap it up. (imdb)

Jusan-nin.no.shikaku.1963.1080p.WEB-DL.DD+2.0.H.264-SbR.mkv

General
Container:  	Matroska
Runtime: 	2 h 5 min
Size: 	6.82 GiB
Video
Codec: 	h264
Resolution: 	1920x816 
Aspect ratio:  	2.35:1
Frame rate: 	23.976 fps
Bit rate: 	7 542 kb/s
BPP: 	0.201
Audio
#1:  	Japanese 2.0ch E-AC-3 @ 224 kb/s

https://nitro.download/view/ACE0971BD21064B/Jusan-nin.no.shikaku.1963.1080p.WEB-DL.DD+2.0.H.264-SbR.mkv

Language(s):Japanese
Subtitles:English

The post Eiichi Kudô – Jûsan-nin no shikaku AKA The Thirteen Assassins (1963) first appeared on Cinema of the World.

Nabeshima Naoshige murders his lord, Takafusa Ryuzoji, seeking to gain power and steal his Lord’s wife. To avoid her fate, Lady Takafusa drowns herself along with her cat in a nearby marsh. A decade later, Naoshige’s efforts to steal another woman triggers a curse on him when she also commits suicide at the same marsh forcing him to suffer the consequences of his past actions.

Bakeneko.A.Vengeful.Spirit.1968.BDRIP.576p.x264.AAC.KJNU.mkv

General
Container:  	Matroska
Runtime: 	1 h 26 min
Size: 	2.01 GiB
Video
Codec: 	x264
Resolution: 	1024x436 
Aspect ratio:  	2.35:1
Frame rate: 	23.976 fps
Bit rate: 	3 000 kb/s
BPP: 	0.280
Audio
#1:  	Japanese 2.0ch AAC LC @ 160 kb/s
#2:  	English 2.0ch AAC LC @ 166 kb/s (Commentary with Jasper Sharp)

https://nitro.download/view/68D5C7F10323BC1/Bakeneko.A.Vengeful.Spirit.1968.BDRIP.576p.x264.AAC.KJNU.mkv

Language(s):Japanese
Subtitles:English

The post Yoshihiro Ishikawa – Kaibyô nori no numa AKA Bakeneko: A Vengeful Spirit (1968)  first appeared on Cinema of the World.