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2013 film From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Unforgiven (許されざる者, Yurusarezaru Mono) is a 2013 Japanese jidaigeki Western film written and directed by Lee Sang-il. It is a remake of Clint Eastwood's 1992 western Unforgiven, written by David Peoples. The film was screened in the Special Presentation section at the 2013 Toronto International Film Festival.[1][2] The film also made its US debut as the opening film for LA EigaFest 2013. It was also presented in 2014 in the Palm Springs International Film Festival (World Cinema Now category) and out of competition in the 70th Venice International Film Festival.
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| Unforgiven | |
|---|---|
.jpg) Film poster | |
| Directed by | Lee Sang-il |
| Written by | Lee Sang-il |
| Based on | Unforgiven by David Peoples |
| Starring | Ken Watanabe |
| Cinematography | Norimichi Kasamatsu |
| Edited by | Tsuyoshi Imai |
| Music by | Taro Iwashiro |
Production companies | |
| Distributed by | Warner Bros. Pictures |
Release dates |
|
Running time | 135 minutes |
| Country | Japan |
| Languages | Japanese Ainu |
The plot closely follows the original 1992 film, but shifts the setting to Japan's Hokkaido frontier during the early Meiji period. Jubei Kamata (Ken Watanabe), a former samurai, is approached by an old associate to help claim the bounty on two men who have disfigured a prostitute.
Shortly after the start of the Meiji period, Jubei Kamata, a former samurai under the Tokugawa Shogunate who fought against the Imperial government, flees from Imperial cavalrymen on the northern Japanese island of Hokkaido. Jubei kills his pursuers and disappears but remains infamous as "Jubei the Killer".
Years later, in an unnamed frontier town, a pair of brothers, Sanosuke and Unosuke Hotta, beat and disfigure a prostitute while visiting the brothel. The town's senior lawman, an ex-samurai named Ichizo Oishi, lets the brothers go with only minor chastisement and a fine instead of dispatching them to Sapporo to face justice. The other prostitutes pool their money to put a bounty on the two brothers. This draws in several men, including Kingo Baba, a former comrade of Jubei's. Another bounty hunter, Masaharu Kitaoji, arrives with a young writer who believes him to be an honorable warrior. Kitaoji draws the attention of Oishi, who demands he hand over his swords as they are banned in the town. Confronted by armed lawmen, Kitaoji has to accept, but is then beaten and humiliated by Oishi. The following day, Oishi sends him away, but the writer, Himeji, stays behind to write about Oishi instead when he reveals the truth about Kitaoji.
Kingo tracks Jubei down to a small farm, where he lives in poverty with his two children. Kingo convinces a reluctant Jubei to help him earn the bounty so he can provide for his family. On the way, they are joined by Goro Sawada, a brash young half-Ainu hunter who claims to have killed five men already. When the trio arrive at the town, Oishi finds and recognises Jubei at the inn. He taunts, beats, and scars Jubei, but doesn't kill him. Kingo and Goro are upstairs with the prostitutes and escape unharmed. After recuperating with the help of the prostitutes, the three men track down one of their targets and kill him in a brief shootout. Jubei delivers the killing blow after Kingo is unable to do so himself. After this, Kingo admits that he doesn't have the stomach for killing any longer, gives Jubei his old rifle, and leaves.
Jubei and Goro return to the town to kill the second target. Jubei sends Goro in to kill the man while he uses an outhouse. After a scuffle in which Goro is unable to shoot the man, he instead stabs him with an Ainu knife, an experience that traumatizes him as he has never actually taken a life before. Although Jubei and Goro escape, Oishi and his deputies find Goro's knife and are able to track down Kingo, who is killed after a night of brutal torture. Jubei learns of his friend's death when the scarred prostitute, Natsume, delivers the bounty. Sober for years, he drinks the last of Goro's liquor and returns to the town to exact revenge. Before he leaves, he orders Goro and Natsume to deliver his share of the bounty to his children and look after them. Jubei returns to the inn, where he finds Kingo's body put on public display. Inside, he finds the lawman and his posse drinking, shoots the innkeeper dead for insulting Kingo, and tries to shoot Oishi as well before the gun misfires. He then draws his sword, and a fight breaks out.
Despite being wounded several times, Jubei is able to kill Oishi and several of his men, and the survivors flee. He orders Himeji, who witnessed the battle, to write about what he saw. However, Jubei knows that the Japanese authorities would be particularly harsh if they found out that Goro, who is half-Ainu, had been involved in the killing of two Japanese men. He therefore demands that Himeji leave Goro out of the account, ensuring that he alone will carry the blame for killing Oishi and the brothers.
Having returned to Jubei's farm, Natsume contemplates settling down there with Goro and helping him raise Jubei's children. She is hopeful that one day, Jubei might return. He is last seen walking alone in the snow, somewhere in Hokkaido.
Filming took place between mid-September to late November 2012. All filming took place in Hokkaido, Japan.
The film holds a "fresh" rating of 94% on Rotten Tomatoes based on 17 reviews, with an average score of 6.60/10.[3]
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