La vengeance des 47 rônins

Can we be honest?

This is WAY TOO LONG.

I'm a fan of japanese cinema and especially samurai films, but this 1941 flick was considered too long even by 1941 Japanese viewers.

There is no action the first two hours of this four-hour sanity test. It's just talking among courtiers with occasional nice cinematographic visuals of the grounds. Be forewarned: the ronin samurai are a dim afterthought here. This is almost exclusively about "government" bureaucrats scheming and infighting. In other words, this 4 hours is almost non-stop talking in medium shots.

Nearly four hours long, this film can task even the most dedicated samurai viewer. It has some really good acting, but that is lost for most in the pace.

It is a tale of the famous Ako Vendetta of 1702. I do not know how historically accurate it is, but it does give a glimpse into Japan's history.

It also gives a glimpse of hara-kiri; the ritual suicide by slicing the stomach until the bowels spill out, then decapitation by a skilled swordsman.

You are better served in seeing director Kenji Mizoguchi in the classic Sansho the Bailiff.

One needs to see a fair amount of Japanese film to realize that so much of it is cerebral. The talkiness of this film, and most of the Kurosawa films, is to be savored. What this one misses is a modicum of action. I am as patient as anyone, but after three-and-a-half hours of discussion, as a Westerner, I expect something visual. While the close-ups and the tight scene making are fine, we are made to wait so long for an event that we know is coming from the outset. It will be interesting to see what the new film with Keanu Reeves, set to come out in December of 2013, does with the same event. This film is about honor and an ancient code. It is the sunset of the Samurai and they are dealing with the only way to do what they must do and suffer the consequence. Apparently this was a commissioned work, produced during World War II. It is spars and simple. There are some shots outside, and these become so welcome, but we are quickly brought back into the discussion to the interior. Most critical events take place off-screen. I'm sure to a Japanese viewer, the breadth of the ultimate sacrifice is part of legend and they are a willing part of the experience.

"Genroku Chûshingura" (The 47 Ronin, 1941) is a massive undertaking. Both from the filmmakers and the audience. The film is perhaps the most ambitious adaptation of the oft-filmed kabuki play that it is based on. Shochiku produced the film as a two-parter, with the total film clocking in at almost four hours. It was wartime and studio heads considered it a matter of great importance that this classic tale of feudal loyalty would be brought to screen, for people's fighting spirit to grow higher.

The film starts in 1701. Lord Asano attacks Lord Kira, but doesn't manage to kill him, and he is then forced to commit harakiri by the shogunate. News of this reach Asano's men, loyal to him until the very end, who start planning their revenge.

The motivations for the actions are slowly revealed in the dialogue, although it isn't a mystery narrative like Kobayashi's later "Harakiri" (1962). Although this is an ambitious film, I have several problems with it. Like in most pre-war or war-time period films, the characters aren't psychologically fleshed out, even if there is attempt to accomplish this. The propaganda is such a major element within these characters, that they cease to feel realistic. The film is very serious, as Mizoguchi is known to be, but this time he isn't passionate. The director preferred to do films about fallen women, and this narrative does not really give him much to do. His famous mise-en-scène is also not at all memorable in this film, as the film mostly takes place in the same, lifeless sets.

Unlike later versions, this film really avoids action and violence, although these are part of the narrative. Mizoguchi was never keen on doing action scenes. I can complement this film for the detailed look it gives of the period, but I did not find it interesting as a narrative. The four-hour length felt crushing because there was not an emotional attachment to the characters.

So all in all, as a piece of wartime propaganda, society's attempt to control the contemporary life by subjecting people to a vision of history, that supports the current regime and politics, this is an interesting piece of 20th century history. As a Mizoguchi film, it is lackluster, and feels like something he was forced to make.

The glacial pace of this film is part of what makes it special. The script/dialogue is dense, and there are seemingly countless characters. Some will find it boring, others, like myself, will like it for that very reason. (Barry Lyndon fans unite.)

It's also a unique window into the grim aspects of samurai culture and how the Imperial government of Japan parleyed and exploited those sentiments into the war effort.