jamesrupert2014 Review of The 47 Ronin

The 47 Ronin (1941)

Slow-moving but entertaining telling of the famous Japanese legend

[8/10 · 25 January 2022]

After their Lord is unjustly forced to commit hara-kiri, his loyal counsellor Kuranosuke Ooishi (Chojuro Kawarasaki) and 46 of his samurai retainers struggle with conflicting issues of honour and obedience after swearing to avenge his death by murdering the Lord that they feel is responsible. The film was commissioned by the Imperial Government in the early days of WW2 (shortly before the attack on Pearl Harbor) as a morale builder and a reminder of the importance of loyalty, obedience and sacrifice (the film opens with a message translated as "Defend the homes of those who fight for a greater Asia"), although oddly the Shogunate, the government at the time the story takes place, is implied to be vindictive and nepotistic, and the heroic samurai seem to be more honour-bound vigilantes than loyal agents sacrificing themselves for the state. The two-part B/W film is very long, quite 'talky', and there is very little of the 'action' (ie swordplay) that is the usual highlight of chanbara films, but the story is compelling, the cinematography interesting, and the actors/characters quite good (I watched a well English-subtitled version of moderate visual quality). While the story of the 47 Ronin seems to be a Japanese classic of 'honourable men doing the right thing', I find some of the discussions about how their behaviour was not in truly keeping with the strict 'bushido code' of the samurai to be interesting reading. Likely not the most exciting version of the venerable vendetta epic but watchable for anyone with four hours to spare, especially anyone with a litre of good sake on hand.