Chushingura (1962)

After their lord is tricked into committing ritual suicide, forty-seven samurai warriors await the chance to avenge their master and reclaim their honor.

Director:

Hiroshi Inagaki

Writer:

Toshio Yasumi (screenplay)

Stars:

Yûzô Kayama, Chûsha Ichikawa, Tatsuya Mihashi

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Yûzô Kayama	...	Takuminokami Asano
Tatsuya Mihashi	...	Yasubei Horibe
Akira Takarada	...	Gunbei Takada
Yôsuke Natsuki	...	Kin'emon Okano
Makoto Satô	...	Kazuemon Fuwa
Tadao Takashima	...	Jûjirô Hazama
Seizaburô Kawazu	...	Chûzaemon Yoshida
Takashi Shimura	...	Hyôbu Chisaka
Daisuke Katô	...	Kichiemon Terasaka
Keiju Kobayashi	...	Awajinokami Wakisaka
Ryô Ikebe	...	Chikara Tsuchiya
Setsuko Hara	...	Riku
Yôko Tsukasa	...	Yôzen'in
Reiko Dan	...	Okaru
Yuriko Hoshi	...	Otsuya

Storyline

A young lord attempts to combat the corruption endemic to the Shogunate bureaucracy, only to be placed in an impossible conflict of duties. He refuses to pay the "customary" bribe expected by a Chancellor sent from the Shogunate to teach him the etiquette for receiving envoys from the Emperor. In revenge, the Chancellor goads the lord into drawing his sword when the envoys are present, a crime punishable by death. The young lord is forced to commit ritual suicide for this crime. His vassals are ordered to turn over their lords estate for confiscation, forbidden to take revenge for their lords death, then disbanded as a clan. To obey the Shogun, the lords former samurai must follow those orders, but to be loyal to oaths they swore to their lord and have justice, they must avenge him. This conflict of obligations is the primary dilemma in Japanese society, which is why this story is considered their national epic. The story is richly woven and the film worth seeing for the gorgeous art ...

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Plot Keywords:

last film for actress | employee employer relationship | suicide | samurai | revenge | 

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Taglines:

Japan's Supreme Screen Classic

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Genres:

Action | Drama | History

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Details

Country:

Japan

Language:

Japanese

Release Date:

3 October 1963 (USA)

Also Known As:

Chushingura: 47 Samurai

Filming Locations:

Japan

Company Credits

Production Co:

Toho Company

Technical Specs

Runtime:

207 min 100 min (second release) 108 min (first release) 204 min (1966 re-issue)

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color (Eastmancolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.20 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The final film of Setsuko Hara, before she announced her retirement in 1963.

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Alternate Versions

Three versions available: a short 108 minutes version, a 204 minute version (the most commonly screened, even in the USA), and a long (over 4 hours) version.

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Connections

Remake of Chushingura (Go) (1939)

User Reviews

A beautiful tribute to Japan's most famous true story

In 1962, Toho Ltd. released "Chuchingura" as an anniversary piece. At nearly four hours' length, it almost requires a devotion to Japanese cinema and the culture's many nuances to appreciate. But it is exquisitely filmed in Toho Vision, right down to the fluttering cherry blossoms and snow tumbling from trees, and the costumes, sets and makeup win my awards for best I've seen from Tokyo. Having been to Japan and studied Japanese literature and language in the '60s, it was fairly easy for me to get into the story. Indeed, it has been written about many times, and anyone who has read one of the stories should be able to follow the plot. Like many epic films, it begins to bog down in the center, as the ronin go their separate ways and take up all matters of industry and living conditions, fall in love or not, waiting for the day of retribution. We are led up to that point with the unfolding of the drama behind the story. The fast-paced conclusion brings it all together and ends, rather abruptly I thought, with a narrative about what happens once the deed was fulfilled. It's a story of loyalty and courage to the nth degree. The bushido code is one of Japan's most revered cultural elements and it is celebrated here. If you can tolerate the length, the film is definitely worth a look, if for no other reason than to understand more about what the Japanese samurai life in the 18th and 19th centuries was like.