dimfuture.net

Around 1591, a samurai who was not part of any of the famous and powerful houses managed to take over a large swatch of land, and establish himself as a Daimyo. Historians often use this event to mark the beginning of the Sengoku era, Japan’s Warring States era. Unlike China’s Warring States period, the Sengoku era was not the beginning of a new unified national entity, but a dreadful transition from one military dynasty to another. The Ashikaga family had ruled for generations. Through fifty years of territorial squabbling in the name of unification, several prominant households took control. Oda Nobunaga displayed great cunning, and a rare ability to break with social convention; he assumed power, and was immediately assassinated. His right hand man, Toyotomi Hideyoshi, clamped down on Japan like a steel trap, and then became distracted with the business of warring against Korea. Finally, Tokugawa Ieyasu rose to power. Even after defeating the rival coalition in battle, Tokugawa’s rule was not a sure thing. When control of a country is at stake, there are always those who will keep swinging after the final bell.

Azumi is the tale of a small group obsessed with preventing a return to the chaos of the Sengoku period.

Release
Bonzai, but widescreen with subtitles. Better than the average Bonzai disc.

Starring
Ueto Aya, Kitamura Kazuki, Matsumoto Minoru, Okamoto Aya, Sakaguchi Tak

In Brief

We open with a flashback to Azumi sitting by her mother’s corpse. By chance, she is welcomed into a small group of children being trained as extraordinarily talented assassins, or, as I shall henceforth refer to them for reasons of my own, “supa-predatas”. After a few shots of friendly bonding, Azumi hits its stride. The supa-predatas are informed that the mission for which they have trained all their lives is about to begin, but before they leave, they have to endure one final training exercise, to make sure they have the mindset to do evil in the name of good.

Their mission is to kill off members of the nobility who do not accept Tokugawa’s claim to power. Three such nobles are reported to the supa-predators. The first goes down so fast he scarcely has time to look surprised. The second, Kiyomasa Kato, has a good advisor, Kanbei, and Kanbei has a helpful spy called Saru (monkey). Kanbei and Saru are trouble for the supa-predatas.

The supa-predatas are fooled by a kagemusha, and when they think the job is done, Kanbei turns the tables on them. A million ninjas didn’t do the job, so he hires on the academically challenged Sajiki brothers.

Meanwhile, the supa-predatas meet up with a travelling circus. The Sajiki brothers then kill off the members of the circus due to some kind of mistaken identity claim, which the Sajiki brothers themselves find dubious even as they advance it. The supa-predatas show up, and hack through the Sajiki family in time to save Yae, who has now lost interest in living the bohemian life, but has fallen in love with one of the S.P.s.

Kanbei sends Saru off to a prison to haul out their trump card, a psychopath called Mogami, your typical action movie violence-loving super badass. Between poison, Mogami, and general disgruntlement with their work (always a major occupational hazard among supa-predatas), the company dealing with the Kiyomasa situation is down to two supa-predatas, and the old man who trained them. Azumi herself has renounced giving a shit, and seeks out a quiet life of being a pacifistic killing machine out in the boondocks somewhere.

Would it go without saying that I quit?

The old man and his two loyal supa-predatas march after Kiyomasa, landing in the middle of the sort of trap that one might expect them to anticipate by this phase of their human-slaying careers. The old man is captured alive as bait.

Meanwhile, out in the hills somewhere, probably Iga prefecture, Azumi is set upon by bandits. She decides that this latest attack is a pronouncement of destiny, and returns to the business of killing people with swords. Given her resume, this is a reasonable choice. She returns in a Rambo-esque assault on Kiyomasa’s surviving retainers.

Nice Shots
The brainless bandits are excellent throughout. A wonderful slice of humanity is captured when Saru and Mogami hire on a pack of them.

Here is money. Divide it up however you see fit.

The large brawls are top notch. The whole frame is filled with action, always keeping a consistent flavor.

Best Stunt(s)
Putting together a sword fight for a film is no small task. The actors and stuntmen have to know how to hold a sword and move with it, or they will look absurd, and there will be no menace in the situation. But knowing the sword is only part of the challenge. The actor must also be able to act through the techniques. I applaud Azumi for assembling a cast full of people who look dangerous with swords, and keep acting through complicated fight scenes. The supa-predatas leaping into Kiyomasa’s entourage stand out.

The old man gets kicked through a rail, and falls down a flight of stairs. My chairopractor billed me just for watching it.

Azumi has some great jumps in the last brawl.

Disappointments
I am told that inexperienced writers, when trying to get a story going, will often sit down at a keyboard, and start writing about a character waking up in an empty room with blank, white walls. In a sense, the room is a metaphor for the author’s mind, a blank canvas on which details shall soon begin to emerge. Where is the room? Why is the character there? Why is the room blank? What the author learns is that the blank room is a boring and unengaging way to start a story. It gives the reader nothing to grab hold of. There is no excitement, and no empathy. As soon as one learns that the blank room is a mental tool for coping with the process of beginning a story, one can internalize that process, and make important decisions about the story before setting fingers to the keyboard.

Strangely, even experienced authors create characters out of a template which is just as troublesome: the orphan. Don’t get me wrong; there are places where an orphan is the correct character choice. However, the template is overused. I don’t know what cheap pathos writers think they are getting from flashbacks to deceased parents, but their work suffers for it. Most people grow up with family members caring for them. Sure, anyone can play a mental “what if” game, but that is not the same as having the first hand experience to deeply empathize with a character who grows up in foster care, in an orphanage, or alone. Those who really did grow up in such circumstances might note that the lack of parents does not create a blank, white room which one can decorate without inhibition; there are social constraints on behavior no matter what your family structure was.

The orphan template has hit me in the head so many times that it has become sort of a pet peeve, annoying me even when it is well used. I am no longer capable of rendering objective judgement about whether it is appropriate to a given story.

If you are planning a career in screenwriting, please consider the possibility that a family is not a predictable rut that characters get stuck in; it is an opportunity to tell the audience where your characters came from.

Also, where the Hell does Mogami keep coming up with those flowers?

A little blade pops out from the back end of Azumi’s sword. Why?

A revolving shot of Azumi and Miyogi charges through Innovative Avenue, and lands on Distracting Boulevard without collecting $200.

Final Analysis
Competent throughout, and a fine live-action Manga translation feeling. The surreality of Miyogi sometimes got in the way of his menace. In a way, Kanbei was a more imposing villain. Massive props to the cast and crew for filling the whole show with kenjutsu fury.

And a fine “ludicrous villain death” for Saru, despite the fact that he was the most sympathetic villain in the show.

Saru mo hi kara.

Three and a half stars.

If You Like This
Rewind a couple of reviews, and check out Death Trance.

For a more grounded movie with assassination attempts and big battles, try Kagemusha.

I haven’t seen the sequel yet, so I can’t comment on it, but be aware that it’s out there. Who knows? Maybe we’ll get to see some more of Kanbei.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, July 10th, 2007 at 1:01 am and is filed under Chop Socky, Movies, Reviews. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.