Film: Azumi
Year of production: 2003
UK Release date: 2nd August 2004
Distributor: Optimum
Certificate: 18
Running time: 123 mins
Director: Ryûhei Kitamura
Starring: Aya Ueto, Kenji Kohashi, Hiroki Narimiya, Takatoshi Kaneko, Yûma Ishigaki
Genre: Action/Adventure/Drama/Fantasy/Thriller
Format: DVD
Country of Production: Japan
Language: Japanese
Review by: Anastasia Catris
Based on the popular Japanese manga series by Yū Koyama, Azumi has been adapted into two feature films, a video game and even a stage play. The first film, Azumi, directed by Ryuhei Kitamura, has proved popular amongst audiences at home and abroad, having received the Audience Award at the Philadelphia Film Festival in 2004 and the Popularity Award at the Japanese Academy Awards in 2003. Kitamura is best known in Japan for his work on the TV drama Sky High, as well as branching into cut scene direction for the popular video game series Metal Gear Solid.
The film centres on the title character, Azumi (Aya Ueto), a female assassin raised and trained by her idealist master, Gessai (Yoshio Harada), in the isolation of the Japanese mountains. She is one of ten young assassins being trained to fulfil Gessai’s ‘mission’ to eradicate war through the assassination of war mongers and warlords. The ten assassins are whittled down to five: Hyûga (Kenji Kohashi), Nagara (Yûma Ishigaki), Ukiha (Hiroki Narimiya), Amagi (Takatoshi Kaneko) and Azumi in the opening of the film, and they proceed on their mission alongside their master.
As they pick off their enemies one by one, morals are brought into question and we follow Azumi as she begins to debate her role as a woman, an assassin and a murderer. The remaining warlord, Kato, dispatches a number of mercenaries to stop the assassins, including Saru (the ‘monkey face’) and a group of three inept brothers. The young assassins stop in a small village and befriend a troupe of acrobats, including the beautiful Yae who Hyuga falls for.
When the travelling performers leave the village they are met along the way by the gang of three brothers, who mistake them for the assassins and attack them, leaving Yae alone. After the three brothers fail to kill the young assassins, Saru is saddled with the task of negotiating with an insane and notorious criminal, Bijomaru (Jô Odagiri) to eradicate Azumi and her compatriots. Upon escorting Yae back to the main road, Hyuga is attacked by Bijomaru and Yae is once again left alone.
Meanwhile, the master, Nagara and Ukiha set off to kill Kato and the master is captured in the process. The mission shifts as the remaining assassins set off to rescue their master. Yae joins Azumi and acts as a feminine influence on her as Azumi has never known female companionship. After attempting to feminize Azumi through dressing her in a kimono and make up, Yae and Azumi are once again attacked by thugs on the road. Azumi realizes that she can never escape violence and returns to help Nagara and Ukiha save their master. The film reaches its climax as Azumi faces off against Bijomaru, Saru and an entire army of mercenaries and soldiers, to rescue her master…
As we join Azumi and her associates, it is striking that the costume and make-up seem modern and stylised. From the short, colourful tunics to the ‘Tokyo Pop’ hairstyles of the young men, it is evident that this is an action film for a younger audience. This is not surprising given that the source material is a popular manga series.
Many of the performances are heightened and melodramatic, especially Odagiri’s Bijomaru, who dons long black hair, a white kimono, red and pink eye make-up, and the prop of a single red rose. Utilising manga tropes, exaggeration and costuming may be accurate to the source material but does not seem to translate well to live action. Instead, the performances become comic and pantomimic. This is notable in scenes such as the rogue brothers’ attack on the acrobats. Due to their ‘over-the-top’ performances, their attack becomes comedic and unthreatening. Despite the horrific ways they treat the acrobat troupe - especially the female performers - we remain unaffected by their actions. Such performances make it difficult for an audience to connect to the characters and their activities.
Contrary to this, we have the performances of Aya Ueto and her young co-stars. Their characterization is far more subtle and emotional, allowing us to follow their journey more carefully. The direct opposition of the subtlety of the heroes and the melodrama of the villains creates an obvious directorial intention: to de-humanise the villains and allow us to empathize with the heroes, who are still essentially murderers themselves. At times, this opposition acts against the ‘heroes’, however, whose low-key performances get lost amongst the colour and harshness of the supporting cast.
The battle scenes are beautifully choreographed and dynamically shot with some standout stunt performances. It is the opening scene, however, which stands out the most. Azumi and her friends must face an emotionally and morally difficult decision in order to continue their mission alongside their master. Character direction aside, it is evident from the opening sequences that these young actors are friends and enjoy each other’s company. Such friendship makes the opening scene heart-wrenching after only a minimal amount of character development and screen time.
Sadly, the film degrades into a sensationalist display of choreography and stunts after this early moment of sensitivity, and the performances are lost to poor dialogue, as well as black-and-white character roles. We are led to believe that Azumi is battling with the moral quandary of murder over killing for a cause, yet this is washed over by the large performances around her, masking the subtlety of her emotion.
Overall, the feel of this film is cartoon-like with its exaggerated performances and simplistic oppositions. By relying on live-action human performances, the director is asking us to familiarise more with the characters, however, this is not achieved. We are distanced from the emotion of the protagonists and the actions of the antagonists through the animated and melodramatic performances, which begs the question whether or not Azumi would be better presented as an animation rather than a live action film.
Despite its positive reception, Azumi remains a hollow film. Largely style over substance, it relies on the popularity and modern appeal of its young cast to reel in a young audience, ignoring the difficult themes and moral debates of its source material. ANC
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