Azumi (film)
| Azumi | |
|---|---|
Japanese theatrical poster
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| Directed by | Ryuhei Kitamura |
| Produced by | Toshiaki Nakazawa Mataichiro Yamamoto Sumio Kiga Morihiro Kodama |
| Written by | Mataichiro Yamamoto Isao Kiriyama |
| Based on |
Azumi by Yū Koyama |
| Starring |
Aya Ueto Yoshio Harada Aya Okamoto Kazuki Kitamura |
| Music by | Taro Iwashiro |
| Cinematography | Takumi Furuya |
| Edited by | Shûichi Kakesu |
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Production
company |
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| Distributed by | Urban Vision |
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Release date
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May 10, 2003 |
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Running time
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142 minutes |
| Country | Japan |
| Language | Japanese |
| Box office | $6,710,522 |
Azumi is a 2003 Japanese jidaigeki film directed by Ryûhei Kitamura and starring Aya Ueto in the titular role. Azumi is an adaptation of Yū Koyama's manga series of the same title, and was followed by the sequel Azumi 2: Death or Love in 2006.
As in the manga, the old master Jiji is tasked by the Tokugawa shogunate to raise a band of assassins. Their task is to finish off Toyotomi Hideyoshi's three allies: Nagamasa Asano, Kiyomasa Kato and Masayuki Sanada, to prevent an outbreak of the new civil war.
Azumi is discovered as a little girl kneeling without visible emotion next to the body of her dead mother by Gessai and his entourage of young students. She is then raised by him in the martial skills of sword fighting and the art of assassination. Azumi and her classmates, now at young adult age, are constantly being told about a "mission" they must accomplish, though they have no idea what this mission is yet. Prior to setting out on their mission, their master orders his students to "pair up" with each other's best friend and proceed to kill each other, thus out of ten students only five will remain to proceed with the mission: Azumi pairs with and is forced to kill Nachi. More questions and internal conflicts begin to arise amongst Azumi and her comrades as it seems their mission even prevents them from saving a village of mostly women and children from being massacred at the hands of a group of bandits, as they need to keep a low profile in order to achieve their primary mission.
The first leg in their mission, assassinating Nagamasa Asano, goes well. Upon hearing about Asano's death, Kato tasks his general Kanbei Inoue with his safety. Kanbei assesses the threat with a convoy containing a body double of Kato, in which his company fails to keep the double alive. The group of young assassins is given leave to see a small traveling circus troupe, where Hyuga falls in love with Yae, one of the troupe's actresses. After his assessment, Kanbei enlists help from three rogueish brothers who, eventually confuse Yae's circus troupe for the assassins, slaughtering them all until Hyuga, Azumi, and Nagara arrive. By the time the three dispatch the rogues, only Yae is left alive. Kanbei then sends his monkey-like henchman Saru to make a deal with the insidious and narcissistic mercenary named Bijomaru Mogami, previously imprisoned and under constant guard. Kanbei promises Bijomaro that should he successfully kill the assassins, his past crimes will be forgotten. Bijomaru agrees and quickly gets to work hunting down the five assassins, with Saru as his guide. Bijomaru's bloodlust, much to the chagrin of Saru, is such that he often kills allies in battle along with his enemy.
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