Chushingura

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Summary: Inagaki's "Chushingura"
Review: "Chushingura" may be Inagaki Hiroshi's best film. It is certainly his most widely known outside Japan. The film is also quite beautiful to see. Yet I cannot help but feel that this often told story needs something more than another straight foward retelling.

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Summary: One Of The Finest Movies Of All Time
Review: A complex, slow paced saga which will hold you to your seat all the way through! There are many people who would complain about the way the movie is paced but it is fascinating to watch all of the many subplots unfold and develop throughout the movie. I have seen this movie several times and it works best in the theater, where all of the beautiful cinematography can be appreciated. If Americans had made this movie, they'd probably would have made this into a two week miniseries starring Richard Chamberlain (gag). This one takes a bit of work to watch but it is extremely rewarding.

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Summary: Magnificent
Review: A truely superb film, possibly only bettered by Seven Samurai. Wonderfully shot,with great acting, the story moves along beautifully to a magnificent climax. If you love Seven Samurai then you will love this. I cannot recommend it strongly enough.

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Summary: Visually stunning, chivalrous loyalty, bittersweet revenge.
Review: Chushingura is a bittersweet tale of of 47 retainers seeking to avenge the wrongful death and humiliation of their feudal lord. The story is based upon an historical event and was celebrated in a famous play by the bunraku (puppet theater) playwright, Chikamatsu. This film version is visually lush, and emotionally tugging. For the viewer, it is a great vehicle to put yourself into the time and mores of feudal Japan. I first saw this film when I was in high school and have been waiting 25 years to get a copy! Now I can have it in DVD!

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Summary: Japan's National Story
Review: Chushingura is a great film whose subject is the deep difficulties of being an honorable person in Japanese society, where the national dilemma is conflicting obligations. In the film, the central dilemma that Lord Asano's samurai face is that they have sworn to avenge his death, yet by doing so they will clearly violate the law of the Shogun they have sworn to uphold. Other subplots illuminate the same theme--for example, while the samurai are pretending that they have no plans to attack Kira, one falls in love with a fearful, insecure woman. When the time comes for the samurai to gather, she will not release him. Unable to meet both obligations, suicide becomes his honorable solution. Another samurai, far too sick to travel, dies in a valiant effort to reach the rendezvous. The samurai who races from the Shogun's palace back to Asano's fiefdom with the news of his death is carried in a litter. Running through the mountains, the bearers accidentally strike and kill an elderly woman. When her family of low rustics come to the samurai to demand justice, he acknowledges that even they can expect his honor and commits suicide. Oishi, the leader of the samurai, cannot tell Asano's wife the truth about the plan to avenge him for fear of revealing it to a spy, and he must leave her house in apparent shame. He sends her a letter at the time of the attack on Kira to explain. She is left mortified that she doubted his loyalty.

In one way this is all a mystery to a modern American. Yet there is a profound appeal in the idea of such pure dedication and love. Who among us is willing to die for an ideal? At least we can appreciate why this story has been made into dozens of plays, stories, poems and films--it is at the heart of Japanese identity.

Chushingura is well worth seeing just for the treasures of Japanese art you are unlikely to ever find in any museum. Toho Films made this version in honor of their 50th anniversary, and they filmed inside magnificent palaces and castles. Gorgeous rooms, screens, kimonos, wall paintings, uniforms--the finest art of 18th-century Japan--makes it hard to concentrate on the story the first time you see the film.

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Summary: Kurosawa who?
Review: Chushingura is way better then Seven Wussys, o i mean Seven samurai, you know that really terrible movie every one thinks is good because they cant make up their own opinions and listen to alll the retarded critics. This one actually lives up to its hype. The scenery is actually very colorful and visually stunning, the story is actually true to the way of the samurai, and the climatic raid is actually pretty cool, unlike that final rain battle in that bad piece of s%*@ directed by a bigger piece of s%&@. The final battle or raid actually has some well choreographed swordplay, thats right Akira a samurai uses his sword he doesnt carry it around like he can do someting with it but never does because a sword is a samurais spirit and if you knew anything about samurai Akira you should have some freakin swordplay. There is some other action but not much but whats there is way better then anything from Akiras dissapointments. The performances are actually good too and you can actually relate to the characters, you dont have to deal with a bunch of idiots running around and overacting like in all of Akiras films. As you can see i think Akira Kurosawa is the worst director ever, Hiroshi is much better and i think i will get his Samurai Trilogy because he definetly knows a thing or 2 about samurai, Akira you can learn something from him, o wait no you cant your dead, thats too bad, yeah right. I would suggest this movie for someone who wants a REAL samurai movie. 8 out of a 10.

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Summary: The Quintessential Japanese Saga
Review: Chusingura (the 47 Ronin) is a tale that is as popular in Japan -and as often produced - as The Christmas Carol is in the U.S. - and just as revealing of cultural assumptions about right and wrong. There are many versions, each focusing on one of the "47 masterless Samurai" who refuse to surrender and face disgrace out of loyalty to their master. The theme (and story) will be familiar because it's been reworked many times ranging from Gilbert and Sullivan's "Mikado" to "From Here to Eternity."

If you want to gain insight into the Japanese concept of loyalty and the price of honor above all else this is the one movie you should not miss.

The color photgraphy and scene settings are well done and sound is excellent; the acting is also very good and does not lean heavily on over-emoting that is the sometimes "norm" for Japanese films. Sub-titles are a little light, but easy enough to see and this is one of the more accessible versions (many are not available to Western audiences as more recently they tend to be done for annual TV specfials. You won't need to know the history to follow the story - or get the point.

It's a true story of a proud, old fashioned country Samurai who puts the Samurai Code and personal integrity above politics of reality. He's summoned to the Shogun's castle to do his duty - service to the emperor whole messengers are coming through the territory. A corrupt court official expects and demands a bribe to tell the Samurai what he must know of intricate protocol and is outraged when our hero refuses to bend. The official goads him into drawing his sword in the castle - a capital offense, leading to his forced harikiri - suicide.

The remainder of the tale - most of it - is about how the 47 loyal retainers face disgrace and contempt, while biding their time until they can avenge their master. The film has everything: psychological drama, action, passion, greed and pathos - everything in fact that makes life worthwhile.

Don't miss this one!

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Summary: Samurai Code in Jeopardy...
Review: Corruption and the samurai code converge in a collision when an old man who favors greed and lust crosses the road with a young noble samurai. The collision triggers a chain of events that causes the young noble samurai to violate the laws of the Shogunate, which affects many lives. The issue of injustice remains unresolved after the unlawful event. However, for some life is insignificant when injustice remains. This epic story reveals that humans do know what is right from wrong, but fear and desire seem to influence each and everyone's choice.

Rating:
Summary: Samurai Code in Jeopardy...
Review: Corruption and the samurai code converge in a collision when an old man who favors greed and lust crosses the road with a young noble samurai. The collision triggers a chain of events that causes the young noble samurai to violate the laws of the Shogunate, which affects many lives. The issue of injustice remains unresolved after the unlawful event. However, for some life is insignificant when injustice remains. This epic story reveals that humans do know what is right from wrong, but fear and desire seem to influence each and everyone's choice.

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Summary: A Flawed but Enjoyable Epic
Review: Despite the film's division into two parts, I think the Chushingura is best understood as a complicated story told in three acts.

The first act, culminating in the seppuku of Lord Asano, details the conflict between the young lord and Kira, the Shogun's master of ceremonies, and is, in my opinion, the most interesting as it unfolds logically, tragically, and inevitably towards the spilling of blood in the Shogun's castle. Asano and Kira, at least in this stage of the film, are fully realized and three-dimensional characters, and their conflict can be understood on several levels: idealism versus pragmatism; rural versus urban; and, most centrally, a conflict between different conceptions of honor. Kira is slighted because Asano won't show him the deference he feels he deserves, and Asano cannot accept Kira's attempt to teach him a lesson without fatally wounding his pride. The characters feel real because the situation is developed so carefully, and we as viewers understand why the principal actors behave as they do.

I think the movie bogs down a bit in the second act where the retainers of Asana plot their revenge on Kira. I also feel it is at this point that those unfamiliar with this story may find it difficult to follow the plot. Like the assassination of Thomas Becket in 12th century England, the story of the 47 loyal retainers has left the historian with not only a wealth of primary documents but also of contemporary analysis of exactly how the events were interpreted. Whereas Becket's murder resonated because of the changing perceptions of the limits of temporal power in medieval Europe, the 47 ronin reflect the changing nature of samurai honor following the pacification of Japan under the Tokugawa shogunate. Unfortunately, the movie does little to clarify the issues involved despite a three and half hour presentation. The historical Oishi, for instance, worked patiently behind the scenes for years to restore the clan's honor and holdings under the leadership of Asano's younger brother whereas Horibe represented the more radical view that the ronin owed personal allegiance only to their dead lord. In the movie, by contrast, Oishi makes reference to restoring the clan and questions Asano's judgment at the castle, but it is absolutely unclear in the context of the film whether this represents his true beliefs or is simply part of the feint to divert attention from the plot to kill Kira. It is, in fact, hard to ever discern exactly what Oishi is planning, even in hindsight. Horibe, as the leader of the other wing of the retainers, fairs worse, emerging only as Toshiro Mifune's drinking buddy (Mifune, though always enjoyable to watch, is largely wasted in a sub-plot that is completely superfluous to the story). I don't expect complete historical fidelity, but I do expect the events to develop coherently and to address the main issues of the story. I'm not saying that it is a complete mess, just that it is hard to follow at times, and it is not always clear what motivates the characters, and, as film usually does, some of the subtleties of the real events are lost.

Thankfully, the exciting and famous battle in the snow largely redeems any momentary flagging of interest. My only quibble is that Kira has degenerated by this point into an absolute caricature of his previous self, becoming the embodiment of the man without honor. I suspect this is incorporated less from history and more from the popularizations of this story, e.g., the various kabuki stagings.

Others have spoken of the beautiful visuals, so I won't belabor the point. Suffice it to say this alone is a good reason to watch this film. Others have also spoken of the slow pace. This is also true, and if you demand a tight focus in your movies, this one probably isn't for you.