Azumi (2003)

User Rating:

7.0/10   

Director:

Ryûhei Kitamura

Writers:

Yu Koyama (comic)
Mataichiro Yamamoto (screenplay) ...

Release Date:

10 May 2003 (Japan)

Genre:

Action | Adventure | Drama | Fantasy | Thriller

Tagline:

From the ravages of war rises the ultimate assassin.

Plot:

In war-torn Japan, the Tokugawa Shogun, desperate to restore peace to his people, orders the assassination of the hostile warlords...

Plot Keywords:

Assassin | Samurai | Japan | Martial Arts | 1600s

Awards:

5 wins & 1 nomination

Cast

Aya Ueto	...	Azumi
Shun Oguri	...	Nachi
Hiroki Narimiya	...	Ukiha
Kenji Kohashi	...	Hyuga
Takatoshi Kaneko	...	Amagi
Yuma Ishigaki	...	Nagara
Yasuomi Sano	...	Yura
Shinji Suzuki	...	Awa
Eita	...	Hiei (as Eita Nagayama)
Shogo Yamaguchi	...	Komoru
Kazuki Kitamura	...	Inoue, Kanbe'e
Ken'ichi Endô	...	Sajiki Isshin
Kazuya Shimizu	...	Sajiki Nisai
Ryô	...	Osowareru Haha-Oya
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Michael P. Greco	...	Hyuga
Yoshio Harada	...	Gessai
Masatô Ibu	...	Nagamasa Asano
Shôichirô Masumoto
Minoru Matsumoto	...	Saru
Misako Nagashima
Jô Odagiri	...	Bijomaru Mogami
Aya Okamoto	...	Yae
Tak Sakaguchi	...	Sajiki brother #2
Hideo Sakaki	...	Nagato
Naoto Takenaka	...	Kiyomasa Kato

Runtime:

128 min | Japan:142 min

Country:

Japan

Language:

Japanese

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital | DTS

Certification:

Finland:K-18 | Singapore:M18 | Sweden:15 | France:-16 | Argentina:13 | Hong Kong:III | South Korea:18 | Japan:PG-12 | Netherlands:16 | Australia:R | UK:18 | Germany:18

Filming Locations:

Japan

Company:

Amuse Pictures

Trivia:

All of Azumi's dialog is written in masculine speech, that is, speech forms that normally would not be spoken by women. This reflects the fact that she was brought up with no other women around her. Yae's remark "Girls don't speak like that!" is in response to Azumi's speech pattern. "Girls don't speak like that!" refers to Azumi saying 'Bokuwa' (the predominantly male word for referring to yourself) instead of 'Watashiwa' (the female or unisex form) when pointing out that she could hide her swords in her cloak.

Goofs:

Revealing mistakes: When Nagato visits the assassins in the abandoned shrine, the cameraman's shadow is visible as the camera moves.

Quotes:

Azumi: Where do the stars go during the day?

Movie Connections:

References Versus (2000/II)

She Is the Killing Machine in Times of War

In Japan in times of war among clans, the master samurai Gessai (Yoshio Harada) raises ten orphans in the mountains, one of them the girl Azumi (Aya Ueto), and they become experts in martial arts. When they are teenagers, the master assigns them to a mortal test, and then the five survivors travel with him with the mission of killing three evil warlords of clans and keeping their nation united without plunging again into a bloody war.

"Azumi" is a great adaptation to the screen of a character of a manga, a Japanese comic book. The cinematography and the choreography of the sword battles are amazing, but the story is flawed. In my opinion, the journey of the orphans against the evil warlords loses sense when each one kills the respective best friend and when they see innocent people being slaughtered in a village and do not help them. Their friendship and bounds are destroyed with their first action, and their sense of justice is completely lost when they let the bandits kill the poor harmless villagers. The intention of making the group cold-blood killers is never reached and I did not like the destructive character of the master. But the movie is a great entertainment. My vote is eight.

Title (Brazil): "Azumi"