Chushingura (1962)

Inagaki Hiroshi

Japan

207 min, color, Japanese (English subtitles)

This is another dazzling epic from the director, who brought us the inimitable SAMURAI trilogy. This film is also based on the famous, albeit older, story of the 47 retainers who avenge the wrongful death of their lord to preserve the honor of the clan. The story has been done numerous times, on stage and film, with perhaps the best known adaptation for the silver screen in Mizoguchi's THE 47 RONIN that precedes this version by about two decades. Nonetheless, this is not just another remake, in fact, the brilliant colors and Tohoscope tell the story like it has never been told before. To read the story in one of its most famous forms, get Donald Keene's translation of the puppet play.

Since the blurb on the back of the DVD gives away the entire story (and because, most probably, many are already familiar with it), I will indulge in spoilage here. When the cowardly and corrupt Lord Kira (Chusha Ichikawa) baits the young upright Lord Asano (Yuzo Kayama) beyond endurance, Asano draws his sword and wounds Kira but is stopped before he manages to kill him. The Tokugawa shogun, however, is outraged at this breach of etiquette by a daimyo at his own castle in Edo, orders Asano to commit seppuku the very same day. Asano's fief is confiscated, and his retainers become ronin. Although Asano's failure to kill Kira was seen by many as unmanly, there was consternation about the letting Kira off without punishment while hastily dispatching Asano to his death. The shogun did not follow the principle of kenka ryoseibai, that is, in case of a personal dispute where force is used, both sides are punished equally regardless of guilt. Many thus expected the vassals to take revenge for the wrongful seppuku of their lord, which they did under the leadership of the chamberlain of the Asano house, Oishi Kuranosuke (Koshiro Matsumoto). For the conspiracy to murder a senior official, the forty-seven samurai were ordered to commit seppuku, with which they complied.

The story is poignant on several levels, but most importantly, it is a simple tale of the best Japanese loyalty. The retainers suffer poverty, disgrace, ridicule, and have to reign in their tempers, until their plans can be fruitfully carried out after thorough preparation. Several of the most touching scenes involve Oishi. One is when he divorces his wife without even telling her the reason. Another is when he visits Lady Asano pretending to be retiring to farm; he is scolded as a honorless coward and is not even allowed to pay respects to the shrine of his dead lord. The scene where Lady Asano finally finds out about his true intentions brought tears not only to her eyes, I am somewhat ashamed to admit. Inagaki seems to hit all the right notes at the right time.

Inagaki has filmed the story beautifully. From the falling cherry blossoms on the day of Lord Asano's seppuku, to the gentle winter snow on the anniversary of his death, when his retainers attack Kiro's house, every color is vibrant and carefully chosen. The music is also effective, and I will remember the scene with the arrival of the imperial envoy (a delightful piece of ritual, with excellent score) for a long time. The final proud walk of the warriors down the street of Edo is very moving, especially considering that all of them have no doubt that they will soon be dead. Viewers, unfamiliar with the story or the rules of 18th century Japan, might have missed the tragedy of the retainer's loyal struggle to preserve the honor of the Asano Clan. But it is precisely their knowledge that defying the shogunate would mean certain death, which makes their sacrifices even more heroic.

The Image DVD has some problems. There are quite a few artifacts, pixellation, and even some drop in image quality now and then. I guess their desire to pack the almost-four-hour film on one disc necessitated compromises. The English subtitles are not removable, which is not a big deal since they are below the widescreen presentation, and don't get in the way. There is no English dub, but I never watch foreign films dubbed anyway, so it's not a problem for me. There are absolutely no extras, in fact, the "menu" is just a chapter selection, nothing else. Since there's no information on the disc, Image should have put more in the liner notes, but they did not. The sound quality is awful, especially during some quiet scenes, where noise reduction has basically eliminated ambient noise until characters speak, when it flares up substantially. It is not as bad as to become annoying but it is distracting in several places. Still, it is definitely a DVD worth having (and watching, of course).

March 31, 2001.