Wonderful character development!

Purely Joyful Movie!

This is a small, humorous movie in some ways, but it has a huge heart. What a nice experience.

Blistering performances.

I know this movie has a good reputation in the world of movie cinema, a story about a young lord who attempts to combat the corruption to the Shogunate, only to be placed in an impossible conflict of duties. To obey the Shogun, they must follow orders, but to be loyal to their master, they must revenge his untimely death. I wanted to watch this film for the fact that a lot of well-known actors and actresses from Japan were in it including Toshiro Mifune, Yosuke Natsuki, Eisei Amamoto, Hiroshi Koizumi, Kenji Sahara, Tadao Takashima, Yoshio Tsuchiya, Takeshi Shimura, Yuriko Hoshi, Kumi Mizuno, Yumi Shirakawa and Mie Hama. However, this film was difficult to follow and comprehend due to the numerous appearances of its many characters (some on screen for only 10 seconds). This results in the plot and relevance of the story challenging to understand.Also, this movie dragged on and, even though it's a drama, it would have been nice to see some light humor and spirit. The saving grace of the film was Akira Ifukube's music score, especially the palace invasion music towards the climax of the film. The action was great and the sceneries and artwork were also superb. But overall, a pretty dreary movie.Grade D+

I first saw this very great film in the fall of 1965 when I started as a freshman at Cal. It had been playing at a local art house for ELEVEN months and, it being Berkeley, people were picketing to demand a new movie! I was lucky to have the chance to see it three times before it finally closed six weeks later. At the time, I thought it was UNDOUBTEDLY the greatest movie ever made, or ever likely to be.Six years later, I had a second encounter with "Chushingura" when it was revived at an art house in San Francisco. A group of friends and I attended a showing where we were the only Caucasians in attendance -- EVERYONE ELSE in this 200+ seat cinema appeared to be Japanese or Japanese-American. It being the early '70s in the Bay Area, we had fully prepared ourselves to maximally enjoy the sheer visual beauties of this film. Sure enough, it was gorgeous, and we all muttered "wow" either singly and in chorus as we wallowed in the cinematographic feast.But the stunning thing, to me, was the response of the Japanese/ Japanese-American audience. Utterly quiet throughout the movie, when the lights went up most of them had tears streaming down their cheeks --no vocal crying, mind you, just the overwhelming emotional response to a peak, deeply moving experience. I really envied them their cultural insight into the profoundly Japanese issues this masterpiece explores, something which as much as I admire "Chushingura" I must admit that as a Westerner I don't entirely comprehend.The story is described elsewhere, so I'll focus first on the unparalleled BEAUTY of this movie. It is simply the most gorgeous thing ever committed to celluloid. Every single frame is like a perfect work of art, a series of superbly imagined Japanese images of nature and humanity which engulf your senses in endless, exquisite splendor. Next, "Chushingura" has stupendous pacing -- the shifts between tension and serenity, between lyricism and violence are expertly crafted, and the movie flows, sometimes majestically and sometimes in terrifying haste, to its incredibly exciting climax and compellingly tragic denouement. Finally, "Chushingura" explores deep themes of honor and loyalty, retribution and atonement, that may not resonate fully with a Western audience, but which nevertheless inspire awe and an enhanced curiosity about the culture and people that produced and are molded by them -- the culture that created this unforgettable cinematic masterwork.Is "Chushingura" UNDOUBTEDLY the great movie ever? Maybe not, but it's definitely in the running with only a handful of other films for that exalted position.

The Japanese Classic epic. (I've heard it referred to as the Japanese "Gone with the Wind" in terms of impact.) Not for all tastes, but easily one of the greatest movies of all time. Played the American art houses briefly when it came out, in the early 60's, and 35 years later I bought a DVD player just so I could see this movie again. It held up well to my memory of originally coming out of it totally stunned, and is actually better than my memory of it. At the time I was impressed with the historical spectacle and fight scenes , but they are minor compared to the character development and total visuals. The director, Hiroshi Inagaki has had few releases in the US, but if you like Kurosawa, rent or buy this DVD. The transfer is excellent, the color amazing for the period. Long and slow by today's formulas, but if you give it the full 207 minutes, you will find yourself coming back multiple times.A 1962 "Crouching Tiger..."

Gorgeous color, magnificent scenery, superb acting, a classic story from the history of Japan, what more could a movie have that you would want? Even though you have to read the subtitles, the grandeur of the movie captivates you so that you forget that you are reading - you begin to hear the actors in English. I have seen this movie (the four hour version) six times and would go to see it again whenever I know that it is playing. It is hard to say that one of the actors is better than another - they all do their part to make this a movie worth seeing time and time again. The only other movie I would put in the same class is 2001, but of course I am a science fiction fan.