Really Surprised!

Purely Joyful Movie!

hyped garbage

A film with more than the usual spoiler issues. Talking about it in any detail feels akin to handing you a gift-wrapped present and saying, "I hope you like it -- It's a thriller about a diabolical secret experiment."

The 47 Ronin (aka) The Loyal 47 Ronin of the Genroku Era (1941)If you're at all familiar with the Samurai genre, you have no doubt heard of the legend of the 47 ronin. This was an actual Japanese historic event that everyone in Japan knows about. This was reenacted in 1962 (47 Samurai) 1994 (47 Ronin) and just recently in 2013 with Keanu Reeves.If you haven't heard the story, Lord Naganori Asano (Yoshizaburo Arashi) is scolded by Lord Yoshinaka Kira, the Shogun's Chief of Protocol, and in a fit of anger, draws his sword and attacks Lord Kira in a wing of the Shogun's palace. Lord Asano is immediately ordered to commit harakiri and all of his property and possessions are confiscated. The injured Lord Kira (who is related to the Shogun) is not punished at all. Lord Asano's Senior Counselor, Kuranosuke Oishi (Chojuro Kawarasaki) is helping with the tally of the possessions of Ako castle. The now masterless Samurai are biting at the bit to take immediate vengeance on Lord Kira, but Oishi asks them to be patient and has been petitioning the Shogun to offer equal justice. Vengeance would be coming later when the safety of Lord Asano's wife would be guaranteed and finally an honorable death. This particular film was made in 1941, so you know this was meant to encourage patriotic fervor, very similar to the propaganda war movies here in the United States. In fact, at the beginning each of the two part movies, there is the sentence, "Defend the homes of those who fight for a greater Asia." You would almost expect the film to have been destroyed by the American occupation censors. Perhaps they couldn't get past the four and a quarter butt-numbing hours of the film's length.One thing that is missing from this film that we would normally expect from a samurai film is that there is no blood or any show of swordsmanship skills at all. It's strictly a historic costume drama.

Yes, the pace is slow, yes the movie is long; especially to our eyes used to modern (?) movie-making of the recent years that knows only two rhythms, ultra-fast and ultra-ultra-fast. Yet the story of those 47 ronins, at least for those of us patient enough to enter it, to let themselves flow into it, is all in all very interesting and says a lot about 18th-century Japan. This movie is remarkably well constructed and acted and while the rhythm is slow, it is also implacable : the good side of having a slow rhythm is that you can eventually accelerate, something that ultra-fast doesn't allow.But most of all, I notice this : for a film that was supposed to take place into a war-propaganda effort, I do find this tribute to the traditional virtues of the Japanese warrior to be remarkably sober in tone and almost completely devoid of any rhetoric. So, I am not at all surprised to learn that it was a commercial insuccess when it was released in 1941 Japan : for the spirit and inspiration of 'The 47 Ronins' are much too elevated to fit the ultranationalist hysteria of the times.

I was profoundly disappointed in this film. It is 3 hour and 40+ minutes long and not much of anything happens in it. People just sit on the floor in various rooms and say things like what are we going to do, what does so and so think, I'm not sure, maybe we should ask someone else, I don't know, do you know, I'm so confused, etc. This goes on ad nauseum literally for hours.Kenji Mizoguchi was a 1st class director who made such classics as Sansho he Bailiff and Tales of Ugetsu. Don't don't blame him for this one - he was supposedly commissioned by the Japanese government to make this.

This story is a retelling of the famous Ako Vendetta of 1702 when 46 men + 1 honorary member, stormed into Lord Kira Kouzukenosuke's Edo mansion slaying him as an act of vengeance for their Lord Asano Takuminokami. Although not all of the details are known specifically about the actual event aside from a handful of eye-witness accounts, I felt that this movie does not do it justice and is far from being Mizoguchi's best work. Unlike other stories based on the Ako Vendetta such as Inagaki's "Chushingura hana no maki, yuki no maki" (2 parts), and even the puppet play "Kanadehon Chuushingura" from the mid 1700s, (still preformed today) this film does not put enough emphasis on why Lord Asano had assaulted Lord Kira and instead puts its focus entirely on the loyalty of the 47 involved ronin. The film relies entirely on loyalty without question and never brings into play the morality of the vengeance or the justification of the avenged. Essentially what we are seeing is a typical war-time film where the focus is on its propaganda. Later films, such as Inagaki's aforementioned work, spends more time on portraying Lord Kira as a villain, thus justifying the act of vengeance. However, that does not hurt the film, it actually enhances it. Understanding that this film is the result of the Japanese government's interference with the war-time film industry allows you to look at it in a completely different light.If you are looking for an accurate portrayal of the Ako Vendetta, you will not find it here. The film is long winded and dry, despite having some of the most convincing and impressive acting ever. If you can put aside its near 4 hour length and objectively look into its war-time mentality, I find that watching this film can be a rewarding look into Japan's history. You can find an old story, retold, and transfixed with WWII ideals.