In movies and series, as in everything, there are trends. We could talk, for example, about biopics of musical stars. But perhaps these are best observed by looking at the historical settings. We had so many years of movies set in the American Old West that they even earned their own genre. Now, however, the Western is as residual as the Victorian era could be for English films or the Civil War for Spanish films. But, in terms of Hollywood productions, things were lately moving more towards the Vikings and now, clearly, they have turned again towards the samurai and feudal Japan.
After ‘Blue-Eyed Samurai’ on Netflix and ‘Shogun’, two of the best series of the last half year, we have no doubt that the world is increasingly crazy with an atmosphere full of katanas, yukatas and sakuras. Yes, with plots where every half hour someone commits Seppuko and women gut their feelings with subtle haikus. But, although Japanese history has had good products in film and television from Hollywood and England, it is always better to go to the source.
Of course, we could talk about Akira Kurosawa’s cinema or the geishas in Kenji Mizoguchi’s filmography, but since not everything has to be an exercise in history, we have chosen something more current. On Amazon Prime Video we find ’13 Assassins’, a 2010 film that anyone will place among the best samurai stories so far in the 21st century and, also, one of the best films to get to know its director, Takashi Miike, if not your thing. It is horror, gore and B-movie. Yes, because Miike is one of those filmmakers who works until exhaustion and gives us several films every year. His filmography is, therefore, very irregular and diverse. But, beyond j-horror classics like ‘Audition’ (1999) or ‘Gozu: the road to madness’ (2003), we want to highlight his taste for embroidering remakes of classics from his country.
We could have chosen ‘Hara-Kiri: Death of a Samurai’, its 2011 remake of Masaki Kobayashi’s legendary 1962 film. But, although that film is great, this is about recommending and, honestly, that’s where we are left with Kobayashi’s masterpiece despite Miike’s notable remake. We cannot say the same about ’13 Assassins’, a remake of a 1963 film directed by Eiichi Kudo that Miike managed to update without losing a bit of magic.
Neither Kurosawa’s 7 nor Mizoguchi’s 47, Miike’s 13 assassins are also 13 samurai gathered with the aim of ending a bloody tyrant who has terrorized their town. A modern classic that should be revived a little now that Feudal Japan is so fashionable. In addition, you can do a double session with ‘Zatoichi’…
Rafael is an expert in movies, series and video games. His thing is classic and auteur cinema, although he doesn’t miss one from Marvel or the hit of the moment on Netflix due to professional deformation. He also has a geeky side to him, as proven by his specialization in anime, k-pop, and everything related to Asian culture.
By generation, sometimes he has to write about current musical hits, from Bizarrap to Blackpink. It even has its erotic side, but limited, unfortunately, to selecting the best of erotic series and movies. But he doesn’t limit himself there, since he also likes to write about gastronomy, travel, humor and memes.
After 5 years writing for Fotogramas and Esquire, the truth is that he has already done a little bit of everything, from interviews with international stars to mobile phone presentations or tastings of oil, insects and, yes, if he’s lucky, wine.
He trained in Audiovisual Communication at the University of Murcia. She later continued at the Carlos III University of Madrid with a Master’s Degree in Research in Media. In addition to beginning a doctorate on sexual representation in arthouse cinema (which she never finished), she also studied a Master’s degree in film criticism, both at ECAM and at the Writers’ School. Before, he cut his teeth writing on the Cinealacarbonara blog, continued in media such as Amanecemetropolis, Culturamas or Magnolia Magazine, and dedicated all his efforts to Mutaciones Magazine since its foundation.
He arrived at Hearst in 2018 and managed to carve out a niche for himself in the editorial offices of Fotogramas and Esquire, with which he continues to write about everything he likes and what they send him (often coincides). His good or bad taste (depending on how you look at it) also led him to get into the world of gastronomy and video games. Come on, he likes to entertain himself.
