Chushingura
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Features
• Color
• Dubbed
• DVD-Video
• Letterboxed
• Widescreen
• NTSC
In Theaters : 03 October, 1963
DVD Release : 27 February, 2001 |
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Chushingura description
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 |
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Chushingura Customer Reviews
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♥♥♥♥♥ |
Like the cherry blossom, this film doth fall from my movie library...
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A 1963 Japanese film whose title translates into "Loyalty," this movie accounts the famous Japanese legend of 47 ronin who avenge their master who was tricked into committing seppukku for striking a spiteful superior. It is definitely a great tale to show on film, but unfortunately the delivery here is lacking.
I enjoy how every time I read reviews for this film it is called a "deliberately paced drama." This seems to me an apologetic response to the film's incredible and slow-moving running time. It runs at about 206 minutes (that's about three and a half hours) and you feel every minute of it. It's not that I don't like long movies - I loved "Seven Samurai" (which runs almost three hours) and the Civil War epic "Gettysburg." (which runs a whopping 261 minutes, or just about four and a half hours) It's just that this movie runs so incredibly slow it actually gets painful. You lose all track of time. There is so much build-up to moments where nothing happens, and so everything feels wasted. For example, there's a long part where the samurai argue over whether they should give up their castle willingly or fight it out. After deliberations and scenes that make you think they're hiding something, they just give up. Imagine the pain you felt in the last ten minutes of "The Return of the King" and stretch it out for three hours, and you'll know how I felt.
And before any one accuses me of anything, it wasn't because there was very little action until the end. I don't mind sitting for hours watching character development or a great storyline with no sword being drawn or gun being fired, but even here the film drags. There are ridiculous romantic subplots that serve no purpose and are too cliche to be enjoyed, while other times you're waiting thirty minutes just for a character to make a decision about themselves. Apparently they wanted to develop every single one of the 47 ronin, which gives this film the same pain I felt in most Robert Altman movies.
I hate to say it, but this became one of the few movies that became a simple chore to watch. I had to force myself until finally I could no longer stand it, and had to take breaks. A lot of times I've said films were worth watching at least once, but here I don't think I could even stand the single viewing. I couldn't understand why the film was so glorified, as its pacing was incredibly plodding and the overall delivery just average. For me, it's quickly been put into the category of films that will boggle the mind of the casual film viewer but be well defended by critics who accuse other people of not getting the "art." |
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Chushingura dvd movie.