Review of Azumi

Introduction

Assassins who want to graduate from their training must kill their best friend. To call that harsh would be an understatement, but that is exactly what Azumi must do in this film. I`ve always been a fan of anime; the imaginative worlds and strong characterisations have been a powerful draw. The recent revolution in CGI and effects has re-invented the Hollywood blockbuster, with comic book properties like Spiderman and the X-Men being brought to vivid life on the big screen. It seems that filmmakers are limited only by their imaginations, and any comic book or literary creation, no matter how extravagant or fanciful could conceivable be realised on the big screen. There is little as visually striking as anime as a medium, and I have long anticipated the equivalent of a live-action anime. Azumi, based on the original Manga from Yu Koyama more than fits that bill.

Japan has finally been unified under the Tokugawa shogunate. Yet it`s a fragile union as warlords still plot to overthrow the new leader and plunge the country back into civil war. Meanwhile as the politicking goes on, the common man is beset by hordes of thieves, bandits and scoundrels as lawlessness flourishes. Gessai is a veteran of the last war, and as he stood in a battlefield over the corpse of his son, he swore that the country would never again be torn apart by power hungry warlords. To that end, he gathered ten orphans and raised them to be warrior assassins that would remove all pretenders to the throne and ensure peace throughout the nation. After the brutal graduation, the master and the five remaining assassins set forth to cleanse Japan.

The fastest and most skilful of these warriors is Azumi, but even she is affected by her master`s single minded pursuit of the mission to the exclusion of all else, especially when there is so much suffering that they could easily prevent. The first target, Nagamasa Asano is easily despatched, but this only alerts the other warlords, most particularly Kiyomasa Kato who is next on the list. He manages to dupe the assassins with a decoy and soon hires killers of his own to eliminate the threat. Meanwhile Azumi has developed a conscience, bringing her into conflict with her master. She`s shunned by Gessai and strikes out on her own. Kiyomasa, in response to his first killers` failures has released Bijomaru Mogami from prison, a skilled warrior and psychopathic murderer to hunt down the assassins. Azumi tries to begin a normal life as a teenaged girl, but soon realises that she cannot escape her destiny, leading to an explosive, blood soaked showdown.

Video

With over four hours of footage crammed onto one solitary dual layer disc, you would expect something to give. Unfortunately it`s the quality of the 1.85:1 anamorphic transfer. Graininess or softness aside, the film is plagued from the outset by compression artefacts all the way through, affecting the fine detail. I also counted three glitched frames in the film, where bright coloured pixels reared their annoying heads. (These problems also apply to the extras.)

A flawed transfer is disappointing at the best of times, but when the film is such a visual treat as Azumi, it`s positively heartbreaking. Medieval Japan is the setting and that means lush forests, wide plains, rugged mountains and crystal blue oceans. The sets are magnificent too, with the Scoundrels` Fortress a `wretched hive of scum and villainy` to coin a phrase. Ryuhei Kitamura`s direction is dynamic and explosive with fast cutting action coupled with graceful slow-mo and artfully applied CGI. The use of filters and carefully posed and choreographed scenes effectively create living paintings that serve to enhance the fantasy and stylised world of the story. There is plenty of wire-fu swordplay, and the film is truly a comic book brought to life.

Audio

Again it`s compromise time with room required for the extras. The soundtrack is a solitary DD 2.0 Japanese track with burned in English subtitles. From the outset, the film is obviously designed with a listener in mind, with wonderful orchestrated music, coupled with atmospheric sound effects design. The soundtrack does its best with all this, and it is one of the most dynamic stereo tracks I have heard. But this film is an aural experience as much as anything, the Dolby Digital and DTS logos attest to this, and it`s a shame that this disc lacks these soundtracks.

Features

These are why the disc compromises on the transfer. As well as the ubiquitous film trailers, and the advertisement for other Optimum Asia release, there are two substantial documentaries on this disc, all presented in 4:3 and DD 2.0 Japanese, with burnt in subtitles.

The Making Of Azumi - Fighting On The Edge is the shorter and lasts 41 minutes. As stated on the metaphorical tin, it tells of the film`s creation, told with interviews with cast and crew. Most notable are interviews with director Ryuhei Kitamura, star, Aya Ueto and actor Jo Adagiri, who plays bad guy Bijomaru Mogami. This is mostly talking heads with plenty of on set action, paying particular attention to the shooting process, stunts, the characters and some of the effects shots. It`s a nice frank piece with everyone giving his or her point of view on the film, rather than holding to some junket line.

Battle On The Wildside is practically a film in itself lasting 85 minutes. Whereas the previous featurette captures a moment in time, this is looking at the Making Of as more of a retrospective, interviewing the cast and crew and telling the story of the films creation, from development hell to final release. It`s all told in a very witty anecdotal kind of way, and is very enjoyable to watch. This goes into more detail regarding the filmmaking process, and it`s interesting to see how the characters were cast, and hear tell of the physical training the actors endured. There`s more of a varied perspective here, with input from the Assistant director and the special effects guys. I was particularly entertained by the tales of the feud between the director and the producer, told from both sides. It obviously wasn`t terminal, as the film website is now advertising a sequel for release in 2005.

Conclusion

Optimum missed a trick by releasing Azumi in this single disc format here. I had a look at the Japanese disc specifications, and Disc 1 is devoted solely to the 143-minute director`s cut of the film, complete with DTS, DD 5.1 and DD 2.0 Japanese soundtracks. Disc 2 contains the two extras on the Region 2 disc, as well as trailers, TV spots, a music video and a couple of television specials, and there are some extra goodies in the case. By putting the 123-minute PAL theatrical version as well as the bulk of the extras onto solely one disc in the UK, this has meant losing the surround tracks as well as compromising the picture quality (and I suspect has resulted in the burnt in subtitles too). It`s a shame really, as Azumi is a film that has to be seen at its best to be fully appreciated. There is a visual splendour and stylistic choreography to the film that is somehow diminished by the transfer.

The film itself is pure comic book hokum. Grizzled veteran raises a band of orphans to serve as a vigilante army to keep the peace. Their training is so complete that they are practically superhuman, so cue plenty of slow mo, bullet time and wire fu. The strongest of these assassins, Azumi who happens to be a teenaged girl develops a conscience that puts her in conflict with her master, but events conspire to return her to her fate, and she dons the mantle as an avenging angel. It could be Gotham City, but with swords. There is plenty of action in amongst the philosophical musings, and blood doesn`t just flow, it gushes, sprays, spurts and positively explodes, as these five sword wielding teenagers cut swathes through whole armies of bodyguards, soldiers and bandits. The action is fast paced and frenetic, so much so that I even forgave the occasional goof, like a victim bleeding before he was slashed.

Unfortunately, much as I appreciated the anime styling, the larger than life villains, something about Azumi left me cold. The rite of passage, the slaying of the best friends just doesn`t hold true for me. It is perhaps the most dramatic moment in the film, yet lacks any logical rationale. Yet I think were the scene better written, or acted with more assurance, it might have been pulled off. As it is, it remains one of the major niggles about the plot. Certainly Aya Ueto as Azumi didn`t look as if she had just killed her best friend. Indeed that is another major problem, when the assassins remain pretty nondescript for the most part. Of the male characters only Kenji Kohashi as Hyuga really manages to impress, and while Aya Ueto certainly looks the part, and manages to pull off innocence and menace with equal facility, yet as the lead she doesn`t really own the role. Fortunately, while personality may be lacking in her character, the villains do more than impress, especially Jo Odagiri as Bijomaru Mogami, the effeminate psychopath who stalks the assassins. He is a villain dressed all in white, managing to avoid the filth and the sprays of blood for the most part. He wields a rose and a sword with equal skill, and his penchant for cruelty and girlish giggles certainly lights up the screen where the titular heroine fails to do so.

Azumi is a live action anime Spaghetti Western with plenty of swords, blood and a ludicrously high body count. It`s well worth watching, with plenty of action and stylish direction leading to a stunning climax, as long as you don`t mind the weak characterisations, that is. However, I can`t help feeling that in trying to do too much on just one disc, Optimum have dropped the ball, and a rather lacklustre transfer is the result.