FILM: Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind (6/10)

Why did I watch it?
I had never watched an anime film before and a friend recommended Spirited Away to me. After I missed that one, they also recommended I watch Nausicaa, which the channel was showing the following week as part of an anime season. 

What's it all about?
I tried to keep up with things so here goes..., sometime in the future, civilisation has been destroyed by an apocalyptic war and toxic jungles inhabited by giant insects spread a poison known as the Fukai across the world. Princess Nausicaa lives in the Valley of the Wind, a settlement protected from the poison by the wind. Her life changes when an airship carrying a long extinct powerful warrior, that the Tolmekian nation plan to unleash on the jungles, crashes into the valley.

Should you watch it?
The fact that I had not seen an anime film prior to this was not just coincidence, I was never a fan of it when it started to appear on children's TV when I was younger. Who knows if this was the best anime film to start with. In any case, I probably didn't start watching Nausicaa from the most neutral standpoint, try as I might.

Nausicaa's plot is certainly something I expected from an anime film, pretty abstract and warped but certainly original, although the environmental responsibility undertones that the film hammers home were not, though perhaps they were back in 1984. This might seem daft but the film's setting reminded me of a Star Wars movie, different nations, obscure looking creatures, monsters and a desolate planet that in some places definitely reminded my of Tatooine.

The animation doesnt look all that dated and some of the killer insects created, in particular the swarm of Ohmu, were pretty cool to look at. I found the way that the film's score completely switched up to a loud and frantic number when a battle scene occurred very reminiscent of video games from my childhood! Not surprising considering the majority were probably developed in Japan.

Being my first anime film I've nothing to compare Nausicaa against and while I found it quite interesting and eye-opening I wouldn't go as far as saying I particulary enjoyed it. I really do need to watch Spirited Away to see how it compares.

FILM: 13 Assassins (8/10)

Set in shogun-era Japan, 13 Assassins tells the story of an elite group of samurai selected to rid the land of the shogun's evil brother who uses his power to rape and kill at will.


I was expecting fight sequences similar to Chinese produced successes like Crouching Tiger or House of Flying Daggers, with elaborate camera effects and stylish choreography. However, director Takashi Miike serves up a totally different kind of action. The fight scenes are much more substance than style and are considerably more gritty and realistic.

At just over two hours long, 13 Assassins can easily be broken into three chapters. Initially the film is slow to start as the story is told and characters are introduced, although Miike sensibly introduces the assassins in groups, and provides more focus on a few rather than diluting the characters too greatly. The middle of the film deals with the assassins travel to their chosen ambush point as the shogun's brother and samurai approach. Following a few minor fights in the first two-thirds of the film, the ambush and subsequent fight fills the remaining 45 minutes without much pause and can only be described as epic.


After the initial upper hand is lost, the 13 men fight against a seemingly never ending army of guards and samurai knowing they are fighting towards their inevitable deaths. Having killed tens or hundreds of the enemy each, the realism of the film is underlined by the fatigue shown by the assassins as they are ultimately swamped holding off the enemy forces.

A largely enjoyable samurai film worth watching if not only for the epic fight between good and evil.