The 47 Ronin (1941)
Overview
In 1701, Lord Takuminokami Asano has a feud with Lord Kira and he tries to kill Kira in the corridors of the Shogun's palace. The Shogun sentences Lord Asano to commit suppuku and deprives the palace and lands from his clan, but does not punish Lord Kira. Lord Asano's vassals leave the land and his samurais become ronin and want to seek revenge against the dishonor of their Lord. But their leader Kuranosuke Oishi asks the Shogun to restore the Asano clan with his brother Daigaku Asano. One year later, the Shogun refuses his request and Oishi and forty-six ronin revenge their Lord.
Cast
Chōjūrō Kawarasaki
Kuranosuke Oishi
Kan'emon Nakamura
Sukeimon Tomimori
Kunitarō Kawarasaki
Jurozaemon Isogai
Utaemon Ichikawa
Tsunatoyo Tokugawa
Daisuke Katō
Fuwa Kazuemon
Seizaburō Kawazu
Lord Etchumori Hosokawa
Mitsuko Miura
Yosenin
Mieko Takamine
Omino
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CinemaSerf
I remember seeing "Hamlet" performed on stage by the Royal Shakespeare Company - it was all but four hours long and I was distinctly nervous that ennui would set in at some stage... it didn't; and it doesn't with this either. At times it is a slow a burn, but the details and characterisations are crucial to the plot and for the most part this pace serves to create and build this depiction of loyalty and vengeance really well. It's based on the true story of a feud that resulted in an attack on the Lord Kira by the Lord Asano in the Palace of the Shogun. In punishment for the outrageous breach of etiquette, he is ordered to commit hara-kiri and his samurai are ordered to leave and to roam the land as "Ronin" (Master-less nomads). Their new leader tries to get the Shogun to rescind their banishment, but when that fails all bets are off and these deadly 47 take matters into their own hands to avenge their Lord, and themselves. The nature of the story, and of the prevailing culture, doesn't really allow any stand out performances, per se - this is very much an ensemble effort that demonstrates the values of loyalty, dignity and pride as effortlessly as it shows us the less noble, shall we say, aspects of their behaviour as their quest for retribution becomes the more brutal - though never gratuitous. The ending is a curious affair that succeeds and disappoints in equal measure - testament, I think, to the clever interweaving of the characters and the traditions. This is a great adventure film with a strong, often seemingly anachronistic moral code that really flies by.
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