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Cast:
Aya
Ueto
Kenji
Kohashi
Takatoshi
Kaneko
Yuma
Ishigaki
Yoshio
Harada
Yasutaka
Sano
Tak
Sakaguchi
Shinji
Suzuki
Producer:
Mataichiro
Yamamoto
Director:
Ryuhei
Kitamura
Score:
 
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AZUMI
AKA:
Azumi The Movie
Year:
2003 Reviewer: Phil
Mills
High
up in the mountains, an ancient master trains several young
men and one woman in the deadly art of the assassin.
Their mission is to prevent a civil war that may ensue thanks
to three rebellious lords who each harness aspirations of
overthrowing the current leaders. As the assassins
undertake their mission, it's clear that the one girl who goes
by the name Azumi is the most skilled in the sword thanks to
her awesome speed. However, after quickly dispatching of
the first target, doubts begin to settle in amongst the group
as even if this is the task they have trained all their lives
for, one has to wonder whether what they are doing is right.
When one of the lords uncovers their plans though, he sends
his own men after the assassins and as far as you try and run
from your past, one knows that it will always catch up on you.
Now it's up to Azumi and her friends to decide whether to keep
running or turn and face the enemy so they may fulfil their
duties to their master even if it does mean untold bloodshed.
Being
a fan of Ryuhei Kitamura's 'Versus',
I have to admit I feared the worst from his follow-up project
'Azumi'. Aside from the obvious tendency for a
successful director to over-use his previous tricks, there was
also the hurdle of exploring a different genre to overcome.
Thankfully though,' Azumi' soon put all my fears to rest as
not only is this an extremely competent fantasy-action
adventure, but it is also littered with more examples of
Kitamura's interesting camera techniques that made 'Versus' so
satisfying. 'Azumi' works best on a much larger
scale though, with it's epic feel and atmospheric locales
placing it head and shoulders above the majority of other
female swordplay flicks of recent times (such as the mediocre
'Princess
Blade'). However, the real praise here belongs to
Kitamura's approach to character exploration. Although
Azumi is supposedly the main focus of the piece, it's
interesting to note that her role is very subdued and she
actually plays out the story on the outskirts until the film's
finale. During this time, Kitamura manages to flirt with
each of the other players who are made up of some
larger-than-life personas that always keep it interesting.
Combined with this, Kitamura also has a keen eye for
storytelling, keeping the pace fast moving and never overdoing
his camera tricks but inserting them just at the right moment
so as to keep a fresh slant on each particular scene.
The
swordplay within 'Azumi' is always to the forefront and a
major factor from the very beginning. There are numerous
battles throughout, all littered with extremely bloody results
but the action is never on the same level as 'Versus'.
There is no room here for flashy martial arts or even
intricate swordplay, in fact this is a very minimalist return
to the classic Samurai pictures of the past with most combat
sequences fairly short lived but still very enthralling and
hard hitting. The current trend with sword fights in
movies is to litter it with CGI manoeuvres and bizarre
dispersion of blood but 'Azumi' never goes down this track.
Although it's clear some CGI enhancement is used, it never
becomes overly apparent except when used to show a
particularly flashy execution of one of the main characters
but even then it is delicately inter-woven. The one
thing that did strike me as somewhat strange though is that
Azumi herself doesn't appear particularly skilled with the
blade, rarely showing off any skills outside that of a laymen
until the finale. This slight oversight seems to make it
hard to believe she is the incredible swordswoman that she is
portrayed as, although a few nifty special effects do help to
represent her extraordinary speed. Still, this is only
one minor gripe in an otherwise enjoyable semi-epic.
Those
of you who expect 'Azumi' to deliver on the same level as
'Versus' maybe disappointed but if you take it on a whole new
level, then you will find that this is every bit as
entertaining. It may be a different genre but Kitamura
proves he is not just a one trick pony and still knows how to
successfully shoot the action and keep the characters
interesting throughout. If he continues in this vein,
then Kitamura is certainly one director that is worth keeping
your eye on.
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