11 Rebels
When you consider the story of Kazuya Shiraishi’s “11 Rebels,” you realize that you’ve seen the bare bones of it before. While not exactly a carbon copy of the “Seven Samurai” template, this story of 11 inmates on death row who are tasked with defending a fortress against the Imperial army during Japan’s Boshin War is not dissimilar in how it approaches character dynamics and questions of honor among people who- in a larger societal sense- are not bestowed by any. But Shiraishi’s vision of the film is more molded in the vein of epic action like “Ran” and John Woo’s “Red Cliff” than Kurosawa’s more intimate, and thoughtful, personal narrative. It is a thrilling spectacle.
The screenplay by Jun’ya Ikegami- adapting an earlier screenplay by the late Kazuo Kasahara- works in archetypes without much in the way of emotional depth, although inevitably, the longer we live with these characters, and see them fight, the more we come to care about them. There are very clear lines delineating these characters and their actions vs. not just the army they are up against, but also the samurai they are fighting next to. These men are not expected to survive, something they are aware of. It would be very easy for them to just not fight, in that case. So what motivates them? That is at the heart of the film.
This film evidently premiered last year at about 2 1/2 hours, so there’s over 30 minutes gone from its American release. To be fair, I think it probably would have been served by being under two hours completely, but this does not feel like a situation where we are missing any significant information in order for Shiraishi to tell his story, and it certainly is not like the US version of “Red Cliff,” with obvious continuity issues due to being truncated for American audiences. The film moves at a pretty nice clip, and as such, is something action fans will be able to appreciate. “11 Rebels” isn’t worth watching because it transcends its formula and ideas, but embraces formula, and understands where distinctive elements can be brought in like flamboyant character designs and actions, so long as the emotions of our protagonists are grounded. Shiraishi’s film is wonderfully photographed by Naoya Ikeda and has an energetic and emotional score that has both traditional and contemporary musical elements by Kenta Matsukuma that I really enjoyed. This is a genre epic that I really vibed with, and it’s well worth watching for fans of historical action films.
