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Set amid the political upheaval that preceded the Meiji Restoration, Masahiro Shinoda’s first period film is a sophisticated meditation on power, ideology and historical memory. At its centre is Hachirō Kiyokawa (Tetsurō Tamba), a charismatic and ambiguous revolutionary whose motives remain tantalisingly out of reach. As shogunate officials, loyalist samurai and clandestine agents struggle for influence in a deeply unstable Japan, Kiyokawa moves between them with enigmatic purpose, inspiring both admiration and suspicion. Among those drawn into his orbit are the shogunate retainer Tadasaburō Sasaki (Isao Kimura), tasked with monitoring the elusive strategist, and Kiyokawa’s lover Oren (Shima Iwashita), whose devotion offers a rare glimpse beneath his carefully guarded exterior.

Recounted through flashbacks and competing perspectives, Assassination presents the fragmented portrait of a man who alternates between patriot, opportunist, visionary and traitor. Drawing on film innovations of the era, Shinoda weaves a fractured narrative that mirrors the turmoil of a nation on the cusp of change. The story’s tension is heightened by Tōru Takemitsu’s award-winning score, with sparse, dissonant textures underscoring the narrative’s political intrigue.

One of the most daring statements of the Japanese New Wave, Assassination strips away the romanticised myths of the samurai to capture the twilight years of Japan's feudal era, while questioning whether any historical figure can ever be fully understood.

Ages 15+ | Contains strong violence