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  Average Rating for Assassination - 3 out of 5

  
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• Assassination

  Ed Howard 30 April 2007

  

  Typically for Japanese director Masahiro Shinoda, Assassination is an unusual blend of samurai film and political intrigue. The film's timeline is poised towards the end of the samurai era, and it consequently examines the warrior's role in politics and the then-emerging national government. Aesthetically, Shinoda's film owes as much to the spy thriller and the film noir as it does to traditional samurai film styles. He also brings his own odd, elliptical style into play, especially in the rapid-fire editing of the battle scenes. His editing contributes a great deal to the film's overall mood of confusion and chaos -- scenes often pass in a series of quick cuts that seem designed to baffle and obscure. Coupled with the incredibly complex structure of loyalties and double-crosses that underpins the film's warring clans, this style makes it almost obligatory to watch the film more than once to understand it all. Still, even on a first viewing, and despite any missed details, Assassination never fails to intrigue and entertain -- and later viewings will only increase the appreciation of the film's depth and complexity.

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Based on a story by Ryotaro Shiba, this samurai classic from director Masahiro Shinoda follows a mysterious samurai leader who continuously shifts his allegiance from one political faction to another. All involved are under the constant threat of assassination. ASSASSINATIONs screenplay was written by Nobuo Yamada, and the film features Tetsuro Tamba, Shima Iwashita, Isao Kimura, Eitaro Ozawa, Eiji Okada, and Keiji Sada.