Hassassin

Saw two movies the last two days that were about assassins. One is actually not a movie, but an anime series called Samurai X. The other is a Japanese film called Azumi. The anime had a slightly more developed and believable story, but it's nearly 3 hrs long total, so it certainly had more time to develop things. I would definitely recommend Samurai X (total of six episodes grouped in two: Trust, Betrayal, Reflection). Azumi has its moments of brilliance, but it also has the Japanese film corniness that may seem weird if you've never seen examples of it before. But I liked how both stories tried to explore the human part of the the cold-blooded, without even flinching, I can kill you just like that assassin. It's interesting how both assassins, in Samurai X it's Kenshin (a male), Azumi it's Azumi (a female) were orphaned and rescued by a master swordsman. Samurai is set near the end of the Tokugawa Shogunate, Azumi was when the Shogunate had just started and was trying to consolidate its power. Kenshin fights against the Shogunate so that the modernizing, democratic forces of Meiji can come to power, while Azumi fights to eliminate enemies of Tokugawa so that peace can follow the Warring States period. These were times of turmoil, and to survive one had to pick up the sword. But this sword should only be used in self defense...this is how the assassins came to be defenders of the greater cause. Though both characters struggle with their becoming killing machines, they console themselves briefly with the notion that their acts will serve to protect others, and in the end, bring social stability and peace. The tragedy is that in dedicating themselves to their masters cause, they can never live in peace. Peace for them only comes with death, because they are also only human. Sometimes they were called upon to kill infants, other times respected and loved leaders. Sure there were the evil men, but even they had their reasons and justifications, and more importantly, those who would grieve for them. Both assassins, when given the opportunity to leave the life, could not drop the sword. Not only had killing become a way of life, it was the only way to live. I think in many ways this was because the little ties they had to the larger community were severed at a very early stage, and as they grew older, any attempt to reconnect only resulted in more pain. The best way to destroy someone is by taking their loved ones, something the assassins knew well. In turn, they could not love, and thus, could only continue to kill. In fact, both assassins killed the very people they loved. The severed their ties. Complex backgrounds, but it is interesting that both characters were extremely pure in te sense that when duty called, they were menaces. But when the killer inside was shut off, they were like innocent children, fragile but pure minds. It seems that to enable our killer animal instincts to surface, we must shut off whatever has made us human, including the community that has shaped and defined our notion of human. I guess that's why the ancient assassins often used hashish, to help them enter the right state of mind; that's how they came to be known as assassins.
My usual ending comments to follow: for as long as I could understand things, I've always known and felt that to achieve a goal, killing cannot be the means to it. Man should not kill one another. The act, no even the thought, of killing another of our own species, is what prevents real peace from coming. As long as we think a solution can be brought about if I find some way to get rid of my obstacles, we will never have peace. Peace really comes when the obstacle becomes part of the solution, although not pretty, perhaps even a stain to the larger picture, but in it nonetheless. Lofty thoughts too ideal eh?