13 Assassins (1963 film)

13 Assassins (Japanese: 十三人の刺客) is a 1963 Japanese jidaigeki (period drama) film directed by Eiichi Kudo.

Plot
In 1844, the Tokugawa shogunate in Japan is in a period of transition, and one of the high ranking lords, Lord Matsudaira, has become tainted by his dissolute and reprobate misconduct. Many leaders in the governing community of the current government feel that the code of honor, bushido, of the samurai is being disgraced by Matsudaira. His reprobate, egotistical, and feckless lifestyle is disgusting to those who come into close contact with him. After receiving reports, Sir Doi is convinced that Matsudaira represents a severe threat to the entire code of honor for the samurai tradition. Sir Doi decides, because of the severity of Matsudaira's misconduct, to take a blood oath to assassinate the reprobate Lord Matsudaira. He enlists a troop of assassins to swear a similar blood oath to do away with Matsudaira in order to restore his country's wellbeing and code of honor.

Cast

 * Takayuki Akutagawa as Narrator
 * Chiezō Kataoka as Shinzaemon Shimada
 * Kōtarō Satomi as Shinrokurō Shimada
 * Ryōhei Uchida as Hanbei kitou
 * Tetsurō Tanba as Doi Toshitsura
 * Satomi Oka
 * Yuriko Mishima
 * Junko Fuji as Kayo
 * Chōichirō Kawarasaki
 * Michitarō Mizushima
 * Kunio Kaga
 * Seishiro Sawamura
 * Kusuo Abe
 * Shingo Yamashiro as Koyata Kiga
 * Kōshirō Harada
 * Shunji Kasuga
 * Ushio Akashi
 * Eijirō Kataoka
 * Ryūji Kita
 * Ryōsuke Kagawa
 * Kantarō Suga as Naritsugu
 * Shun'ya Wazaki
 * Hiroshi Mizuno
 * Michimaro Kotabe
 * Tsukie Matsuura
 * Noboru Aihara
 * Masao Hori
 * Kinnosuke Takamatsu
 * Akira Shioji as Horii
 * Masaharu Arikawa
 * Mitsugu Fujii
 * Ryōzō Tanaka
 * Kandō Arashi
 * Kunio Hikita
 * Kyōnosuke Murai
 * Masuo Kamiki
 * Jun Harukawa
 * Ren Takahashi
 * Ryōnosuke Doi
 * Masaru Fujiwara
 * Isamu Dobashi
 * Hiroshi Kasuga
 * Kanjūrō Arashi as Saheita Kuranaga
 * Kō Nishimura as Kujūrō Hirayama
 * Ryūnosuke Tsukigata as Makino
 * Isao Natsuyagi (uncredited)

Remakes
The film was remade in 2010 by Takashi Miike. The remake was met with critical acclaim. BFI, in an assessment of the top ten samurai films, compared the remake of the film to the original version stating: "Set in 1844, 13 Assassins follows the Seven Samurai template, featuring a band of samurais who come together to overthrow a despotic lord for the greater good of society. Miike’s version benefits from a far more generous budget, with a wonderful attention to period sets and costumes and some inventively choreographed fight scenes."

Between the original 1963 film and the 2010 remake, a 1990 production by Fuji TV aired as a television movie starring noted actor Tatsuya Nakadai in the lead role (Shimada Shinzaemon).