You are here:

The Age of Assassins

Name: The Age of Assassins
Director: Kihachi Okamoto
Released: 1967
Duration: 99 min

Representation Score

4.0/10

Fair

1967

Director

Kihachi Okamoto

Runtime

99 minutes

Average Rating

No ratings yet

New Showbiz Analysis

The film excels in its thematic deconstruction of political institutions and systemic corruption. It offers a sophisticated look at moral relativism and the collapse of traditional authority during the Bakumatsu era. However, these strengths are offset by a lack of diversity in character identity. The narrative relies on traditional gender roles and an ethnically homogeneous cast, limiting the scope of its social commentary. Additionally, the treatment of neurodivergent characters is primarily utilitarian, serving the antagonists' tactical needs rather than offering meaningful representation.

Watch this, not that →

Category Breakdown

Does The Age of Assassins have LGBTQ+ representation?

Minimal

The film does not include any LGBTQ+ characters or non-straight relationships, sticking to traditional period norms without challenging heteronormativity.

How does The Age of Assassins portray gender?

Limited

The film maintains traditional gender dynamics centered around male combatants. Female characters play supporting roles that do not disrupt patriarchal structures.

How racially and ethnically diverse is The Age of Assassins?

Fair

The cast is ethnically uniform, reflecting the 19th-century Japanese setting. The story focuses on internal class conflicts without incorporating diverse ethnic representation.

How does The Age of Assassins represent religion and culture?

Good

The film effectively portrays the breakdown of institutional authority during the Bakumatsu era. It critiques systemic corruption and the disruption of established power structures using political vigilantism.

Does The Age of Assassins include disability representation?

Limited

Characters from a mental asylum are used as tools for an assassination squad. This approach treats disability as a plot device rather than providing nuanced, individual roles.

Present on Screen

Sophisticated exploration of moral relativism and political instability.
Effective critique of institutional corruption through the lens of systemic disruption.
Strong historical atmosphere centered on the breakdown of the Shogunate.

Limited or Absent

Lack of meaningful roles for characters with disabilities.
Traditional gender dynamics that reinforce patriarchal hierarchies.
Absence of LGBTQ+ representation or non-straight relationships.

Official Synopsis

A nerdy young college instructor named Shinji Kikyo returns home one day to find himself the target of a mad assassin. Surviving somewhat miraculously, he fends off other assassins and with the help of reporter Keiko Tsurumaki and car mechanic Bill Otomo, eventually discovering that a "population control" association is really an assassination squad led by Shogo Mizorogi, who has been training patients of a mental asylum to become killers.

How are these scores produced? →