How Long Is “13 Assassins”?

Takashi Miike's historical martial arts action-drama begins as a slow-burning exploration of the notions of honour and noble sacrifice and then bursts into a relentlessly kinetic, sword-flashingly exciting and violent climax. The story opens in the peace and harmony of early 1840s Japan, where the omnipotence of the samurai and their bushido code is just starting to slip from its apogee. And that's a problem because it has coincided with the rise of a particularly viciously nasty overlord, Naritsugu Matsudaira, who has begun to terrorise the population under his control. That would be bad enough, but Matsudaira's connections make him a likely candidate for the Shogunate - and that would spell disaster for the whole of Japan. Therefore, a small but dedicated cadre of brave warriors is gathered under the command of Shinzaemon Shimada to put a stop to the threat. And then the bloodbath begins, as the 13 assassins confront their brutal opponent and his personal army, which vastly outnumbers them. Miike's drama drew widespread critical acclaim, favourable comparisons to Kurosawa's work and festival award wins on its release.