Platicsco
Good story, Not enough for a whole film
Mathilde the Guild
Although I seem to have had higher expectations than I thought, the movie is super entertaining.
Francene Odetta
It's simply great fun, a winsome film and an occasionally over-the-top luxury fantasy that never flags.
wj2007
The tale of the 47 ronin is one of the great Japanese tales, forming one of the central traditional bases of the national character. It concerns an actual historical incident that occurred in 1701 to 1703. For three centuries the story has been taught to school children. It teaches the values of loyalty, self-sacrifice, honor, and integrity, even in the face of certain death. Those not familiar with the story can find numerous accounts on the web (e.g., on Wikipedia).Sadly this movie version is a disappointment. It simply does not really engage the viewer. Many key points of the story are omitted, even though the movie is 209 minutes! If I did not already know the tale from other sources, I would have had difficulty understanding the context or significance of much of the action. This great epic deserves much better.
iamskabanis
I just finished seeing this movie for the second time last night. Running time 3+ hours. I am one for Japanise history and love Samurai movies. This movie tells the true story of the 47 Ronni who took revenge for their Lord (Asano) being shamed and dishonored subjected to Harakiri. Many side plots which actually make the film go on for maybe 30-40 minutes too long. From what i read in histories and legends of Samurai, the revenge factor and also the fact that it takes place a year later actually cause more dishonor. That the Lord Kiri might of died from old age of even sickness would of made their revenge a moot point. That these Ronni didn't really understand what it meant to be a true Samurai. I loved the movie, but what moves me is all the angles which honor dishonor is displayed. A big downer was Toshiro Mifune had such a small roll. I actually bought the movie cause he was on the front cover. This is one of the best movies to discuss about Samurai honor and dishonor, as from what i read after the act happened these 47 Ronin were considered heroes by many.
Rey Alvarez
***May contain some spoilers***I remember seeing this movie back in the 1980's in San Jose, Calif. I personally think this is a very well-made movie. However, some IMDb commentators wrote some negative comments about this movie. I understand and do not blame their lack of full appreciation of this movie. This is a very, very Japanese movie. The movie was based on a series of actual events which took place in the 1700's in Japan and is very familiar to most Japanese. Director Inagaki made this movie for Japanese audience who are familiar with these 18th century events. Moreover, the full meaning of this movie can be understood only by people who are familiar with the classical Japanese play "Kanadehon Chushingura." Inagaki's movie is an abridged version of "Kanadehon Chushingura." This play is an extremely long Kabuki drama written in the 18th century. It takes days to perform it from the beginning to the end. (No wonder this movie is four hours long.) Even in Japan, only the most experienced connoisseurs of Kabuki theater can understand all the subtle nuances in this gargantuan play. Fully appreciating "Kanadehon Chushingura" is comparable to a passionate fan of Richard Wagner's "Ring of Niebelungen" appreciating the subtlety of Wagner's use of various leitmotifs or Tolkien connoisseurs appreciating the complexity and richness of Tolkien's fantasy world in "Lord of the Ring." The creators of "Kanadehon" depicted hundred of characters in the play and wrote complex plots and subplots for them. The main plot of the play (47 masterless samurais assassinating an ex-shogunate official as an act of vengeance) was historically based but many of the other minor plots are purely fictional. The plots and subplots are typically Japanese--very sentimental and melodramatic. Many Japanese still consider this act of vengeance by the 47 samurais as an exemplary act of loyalty and self-sacrifice. It is very difficult for non-Japanese audience, who are not very familiar with the play or the historical events on which the play and movie was based, to fully appreciate the subtlety and aesthetics of this movie. (By the way, a character in a recent movie "Ronin" mentions this historical event. However, his statement is filled with historical inaccuracies.) If somebody is looking for thrilling sword plays, forget about this movie. The emotion of the characters and the sentimentalism, which build to the climatic sword fight at the end of the movie, are the crux of the movie. Sword fighting at the end of the movie is merely secondary in this movie. Even though this movie is excellently made, it may not be for everyone. It is definitely an acquired taste.
LucyCannon
I read the old play in an Asian History class in college some quarter-century ago, so I don't remember a lot of the "classic" plot. So I came to this movie almost cold, only knowing that there were 47 masterless samurai bound to avenge their master. This no doubt colored my view of the pacing, which to my mind took a very long time to get to the point where the young Daimyo Asano was provoked into his fatal breach of protocol.I thought that the villain, Lord Kino, was painted awfully black, a shameless greedhead and womanizer and a coward to boot, as well as playing petty personal politics. Since it had been so long since I read the play, I don't know whether the traditional portrayal of this character is quite as one-sided as here, or whether he is traditionally portrayed as believing himself to have been morally in the right, rather than merely self-serving. Portraying Kino as believing he was himself an honorable man would have made the young Daimyo's choice between defending his personal honor, and violating formal protocol, more poignant. Thus the ronin's own dilemma would have not only been between conflicting expectations of traditional duty, but a question of which course of action would be Doing the Right Thing in an abstract sense.I found the way the movie was edited made it difficult to distinguish one sequence from another -- I could not always tell whether a new sequence was begun, or the cut was a continuation of the current overall scene.Near the end, as the ronin are gathering for their final assault of Kino's palace, we cut to a brief scene, in which one woman, hidden in a hooded cloak, attacks another woman with a blade while she is sleeping. The sleeping woman awakes and subdues her attacker, pulling back her hood so we can see her face. My partner and I could not figure out which women in the story these were, nor how this fit into the larger plot. Could one of you who has seen this movie multiple times clue me in on what happened here?
