Akô-jô danzetsu

I was a fan of The Shogun's Samurai. So you can imagine my reaction when I was at the movie store and saw Big Pappa Yagyuu on the cover of a different movie. I took a gander at the back to get the synopsis and I immediately knew I NEEDED to buy this. It is pretty much the same cast as Shogun's Samurai, it has Sunny Chiba, Toshiro Mifune, the same director and pretty much all the same co-stars. If you DID like Shogun's Samurai, you will probably like this one a lot more. I know I did.

This is A lot longer than Shogun's Samurai at just under 3 hours, but it is definitely for good reason. This movie is a film rendition of one of the most famous tales in Japanese folk lore which is the story of the 47 ronin who willingly went to their death to avenge their lord who pretty much got the shaft after attacking another lord in the shoguns castle. The first 2 hours involve only a few fights but it isn't that big of an issue because it is a good story and it has cool camera shots. This part of the movie wont blow you away, but I still really liked it because I'm kind of a dork and the story really interested me. The last 45 minutes or so is a giant battle with LOTS of samurai sword action that apparently was choreographed by Sonny Chiba.

There are only a couple of issues I had with this movie. For one, Sonny Chiba only had a very minor role in it which was kind of sad because he is really bad ass(but when he IS in it, he is laying a serious beat down on whatever bad guy is in the shot with him). And the other issue is they could have probably trimmed out 30 minutes worth of footage. I say this because sometimes the camera would wait way too long to finish a scene with a close up on an actors face.

All in all, very solid samurai flick. Any fan of Sonny, Samurai Movies, or folk lore(this is pretty much the Japanese equivalent of the Alamo story, according to my Japanese friend) will probably really like this movie assuming they have 3 hours to kill. I liked it even more than I liked The Seven Samurai which is saying a lot, possibly because I like Sonny Chiba, and it had a lot better use of music which made some of the scenes a lot more immersive.

I rented this movie in spite of Fukasaku's name, so I'm perhaps not the most objective judge. In fact, it turned out not to be as bad as I expected, particularly after the completely inappropriate 70s cop-movie theme music. (I kept expecting one of the investigators to slam Asano up against the wall and ask him if he'd ever picked his feet in Kamakura.) But it's still basically a Fukasaku movie. Where it's a straight retelling of the 47 Ronin story, it's OK. Where Fukasaku inserts his own special brand of action melodrama, it's not; I defy anyone to sit through the murder-suicide scene without laughing.

The climax is considerably more Sonny Chiba than Chushingura, and I don't mean that as a compliment.

And how much did Toei Studios have to shell out to get Toshiro Mifune for a role that could easily have been played by a bit player who would have been glad to do it for scale? It's not that his presence makes the movie worse, exactly, it's just that...why is he there?

First, Sonny Chiba is over the top and his childish posturing in this otherwise composed film is not very good. A re-telling of the 49 Ronin events, this version attempts to take us more behind the scenes with the families involved. It is a trivial attempt at best. It includes some pretty low-life people who are also aligned with the hero's group and this seems contrived to me. It is beautifully staged and costumed but the story is childish and churlish and mean-spirited. Fans of the older two films, both masterpieces, will be disappointed by mildly interested in this overly commercialised remake of the famous story.

Since the 1962 "Chushingura - Hana no maki yuki no maki" is one of my favorite films, I was expecting this to compare unfavorably, but I really enjoyed it. Keeping the focus on Oishi gives a really different flavor than the true ensemble structure of Chushingura. I think that reducing the number of major characters makes it a little easier to understand, but if you didn't grow up hearing the story, it's going to be a bit confusing. How fantastic would it be if there were a separate film telling the story from the perspective of each of the 47 ronin? It's quite beautifully filmed and makes good use of color to set the mood, particularly with the white funerary costumes at the end. I actually liked the 70's wawa music at the beginning, partly because it made me think of Lone Wolf and Cub.

This is director Kenji Fukasaku's contribution to the 47 Ronin story, and it represents something of a combination of Mizoguchi's 1941 version and the 1962 version from director Inagaki. Supposedly, Fukasaku wanted to turn the much loved story on its head, but star Kinnosuke Yorozuya used his then extremely high influence with the studio to keep the traditional telling. Fukasaku did get his way with the fight scene, which was choreographed and led by Sonny Chiba, so viewers can expect lotsa action.

Lord Asano is not as well fleshed out as he is in Inagaki's effort, so you learn more about the depth of the insult and its significance from the remarks of his loyal samurai. Kira's greedy and conniving personality, so wonderfully conveyed in Inagaki's film, are also less emphasized. Strong supporting performances are delivered by Hiroki Matsukata (the stuttering Shogun Iemitsu in "Shogun's Samurai",) the ubiquitous Tetsuro Tamba and one of my personal favorites, Mikio Narita (the chess player in "Zatoichi and the Chess Expert".) Mifune has a small, but critical role, as well.

The movie is a visual treat for fans of jidai-geki (period films,) and maintains a better pace than the 90 minute longer film from 1941. But I recommend seeing Inagaki's "Chushingura," first, if you are not familiar with the remarkable 47 Ronin. Then pick up "The Fall of Ako Castle" for the fight scenes.