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Chushingura Actors: Koshiro Matsumoto, Yuzo Kayama Director: Hiroshi Inagaki Number of Items: 1 Picture Format: Letterbox Format: Color, Widescreen Audience Rating: NR (Not Rated) Running Time: 207 minutes Studio: Image Entertainment Aspect Ratio: 2.35:1 Region Code: 1 Product Group: DVD Release Date: 2001-02-27 Buy from Amazon |
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From Amazon.com essential video Chushingura means "loyalty," and that potent Japanese theme runs like hot blood throughout this stately samurai epic. It's often called the Gone with the Wind of Japanese cinema, and while that may be a fitting cultural parallel, it gives an inaccurate impression of the film, based on one of Japan's most enduring and oft-interpreted historical events. A simmering, deliberately paced drama set during the Tokugawa shogunate in 1701, it centers on 47 loyal samurai who seek vengeance against the arrogant elder statesman who caused their master's ritual suicide. The now masterless ronin let seasons pass (and the movie occasionally seems just as long) before executing a climactic raid that is both expertly fierce and lethally efficient. Featuring a who's-who of fine Japanese actors, including Kurosawa regulars Toshiro Mifune and Takashi Shimura, Chushingura bears little resemblance to Kurosawa's action-packed samurai classics. This is a thematically dense, politically complex drama, presented here at its fullest length (207 minutes) and best appreciated after multiple viewings. Masterfully composed with painterly precision, Chushingura weaves its intricate tapestry from time-honored tenets of Japanese culture, offering a challenging but grandly rewarding experience. --Jeff Shannon From Description For two hundred years, no other story has captured the hearts and imagination of the Japanese people more than "Chushingura." When Lord Asano is forced by a corrupt lord to commit hara kiri, forty-seven loyal samurai seek vengeance. Often referred to as the "Gone with the Wind" of the Japanese cinema, "Chushingura" is an unparalleled example of the true samurai spirit. |
 "Samurai honor, political intrigue, romance, brilliant cinema"I first saw this film in the 60's in a small theater over 3 hours with one intermission. I never left my seat, in fact I started out sitting in the aisle at the back because the theater was full. The photography is gorgeous with brilliant winter scenes backing up intense sword fights in which you aren't sure what happened until someone keels over dead. Political betrayal is revenged while honor ultimately prevails. You are immersed in the feudal Japanese world and yet reminded of much the same thing happening today. Definitely worth seeing and buying once you've seen it.  "Technical quality unacceptable"The technical quality of this DVD is dreadful. Images go out of focus, they lack detail, they show interlacing artefacts, and movement is often jerky. It looks like a bad copy from a VHS.  "great movie...bad dvd"This is one of the best movies about samurais anywhere and provides a masterful telling of the 47 ronin story. It is a shame that the dvd picture quality does not do the movie justice. The movie deserves a good print and this is not it. You'd think for the price Image Entertainment would do better. "Loyalty"Based on actual events, the story of the loyal 47 ronin is probably the most dramatized story in Japanese theatrical tradition. Appearing originally as a bunraku puppet play, it was soon followed by a fantastically successful Kabuki adaptations and more than eight cinematic versions. Its enduring popularity is based on the core Japanese values it represents; loyalty to a superior, at the cost of all things including life, love and personal happiness. Like the Western King Arthur and Robin Hood, the 47 ronin have passed from history to legend. This version, "Chushingura" (Full Japanese title is "Chushingura: Hana no maki yuki no maki,") is a sprawling 3 hour epic from the Japanese master of legendary films. Director Hiroshi Inagaki, probably best known in the West for his 3-film Miyamoto Musashi masterpiece "Samurai I,II and III," brings his unique eye to the familiar story, blending a quiet human touch into the massive picture. He has assembled the all-stars of the Japanese chambara ("swordfight") genre. Tatsuya Mihashi ("Tora Tora Tora,") Takashi Shimura ("Seven Samurai,") Yuzo Kayama ("Red Beard") and of course Toshiro Mifune ("Seven Samurai," "Yojimbo," too many films to mention...), each name on the roster is one of the best, each with at lease on Kurosawa-credit on their resume, if not more. The story unfolds at a long, dense pace, leaving you wondering along the way which of Lord Asano's 60-plus samurai will remain loyal, and which will give into fear. By no means is this an action film, but a didactic tale stuffed with politics and the disintegrating nature of modernization and the loss of traditional morality and ethics. However, the film is a long slow fuse, building to the dynamite that is the rightful vengeance of the loyal 47. The final battle in the snow is a beautiful ballet of swords and blood. Unfortunately, the DVD does not live up to the promise of the movie. It is a bare bones disk, with a decent widescreen presentation and nothing else. Due to the historical and important nature of "Chushingura," there is room for so much more. However, beggars can't be choosers, and having the movie alone is a treat. Maybe someday a better release will come along, but until then it is enough to watch the unfolding drama of 47 men willing to die for what they believe in. "A Classic of Japanese Film"This film is, hands down, one of the best samurai films ever made and cherished by many Japanese. A simple mention of "chushingura" or the "47 retainers" conjures images of snow-swept feudal Edo (Tokyo) and stealthy samurai enacting a long-awaited raid to revenge their deceased master. The plot revolves around an intrigue at the shogun's court. A venal official named Kira uses his position to extort money from the visiting daimyo, or feudal lords. One feudal lord, Asano, citing the samurai code, proudly refuses to pay Kira. A scuffle erupts. In the fight's aftermath, Asano is forced to commit suicide for disgracing the court. The scene then shifts to Asano's home, where his loyal samurai hatch a plan to kill Kira. Their plot unfurls over years - years in which their are laughs, deceptions and romances. But beneath the trifles and within the heart of each of the 47 sworn samurai lies a deadly fighting spirit preparing, concealing and mustering a coup that will rock all of Japan. This film rises to the top of the stack of Japanese films for three reasons: 1) sophisticated theme, 2) authenticity and 3) a strange sense of surrealism (surreal music, surreal timing and the quality of restraint and mystery central to Japanese culture). The film's lavish widescreen format, muted colors, visual beauty and striking soundtrack all make this a definitive version of the classic tale. The movie lasts over three hours, and that may be much for someone not intrigued by Japan's past or the samurai code. But for ambitious film fans with such interests, I recomend it wholeheartedly. |
