I expected a ton more fighting but I liked what it turned out to be

I expected a ton more fighting but I liked what it turned out to be

Man if I had to commit suicide because of attempting to assassinate my colleague I’d be absolutely livid that scoundrel insulted his good name and mocked at his gains he should have died absolutely pathetic

Man if I had to commit suicide because of attempting to assassinate my colleague I’d be absolutely livid that scoundrel insulted his good name and mocked at his gains he should have died absolutely pathetic

Director- Mizoguchi Kenji.This is the fourth film I have seen of his.This might have been a pretty good film for 1941, but in hindsight, it indeed has some glaring weaknesses in its overall structure, as well as the focus being on too many characters.The film, for the most part, is far from a typical Jidaigeki film and lacks action for all of the runtime. Instead, the film is made more in line as a courtroom drama, except for a few scenes here and there.The film doesn't explain to us why the boss of the ronin decides to attempt to murder the antagonist. Thus, most of the events didn't seem to be justified because of a lack of probable cause.The characters were too into themselves for most of the film, never divulging their plans as is. They instead decided that they are always in the right and that in the end, they will be successful no matter what. These signs of martyrdom are despised by me as they are counterproductive, to say the least.The acting of the cast is in focus due to the style of shooting not being quite developed to add more pizazz during that era. Mizoguchi really did the best he could for the year it was made in.The film has a simplistic aura to it, making it a good watch for someone trying to understand more about shot choices and framing. The writing leaves more to be desired, but the visuals are good enough to hide its lacking aspects to a degree. The runtime is quite bloated and could have been easily cut by an hour and thirty minutes with little effort. The final arc of the film should have been the ronins committing seppuku directly after killing the antagonist. The added scenes with the girl impersonating a guy are dead weight.Part one of the film should have been cut massively and stripped to its bare bones, allowing the viewing of the film to be much more engaging. If I had watched it in two parts, I might have had fewer issues with it, but I decided to persevere through both parts in succession, leading to boredom.The film could easily have been cut to two hours and thirty minutes to three hours, and would have been a much better film. Also, a lot and I really mean a whole lot of action scenes should have been added to it to make it intriguing, but it would have altered the purpose as well as the focus of the film and hence the lack of it is understandable.Mizoguchi was forced to make this as a military propaganda piece for World War Two, and it ceremoniously fails at that. Mizoguchi removes the entire honour of Seppuku from the film and doesn't show it at all. The only people we see committing it are those who are doing it entirely of their own will and good faith, without any motives.The government must be trying to get a rise of nationalism from their soldiers, leading them to sacrifice their lives for a pipe dream, cause no questions asked, and I am glad that Mizoguchi didn't entirely succumb to their pressure. Still, he was unable to instil his usual themes of female-centric cinema in this work.Overall, the film, though, could be considered an integral watch for Mizoguchi fans, is a whole different animal to deal with. I had an interesting few days of film viewing, having seen it with The Naked Gun today and having seen 2001: A Space Odyssey in a theatre yesterday. I will review them both tomorrow if time permits.

Director- Mizoguchi Kenji.This is the fourth film I have seen of his.This might have been a pretty good film for 1941, but in hindsight, it indeed has some glaring weaknesses in its overall structure, as well as the focus being on too many characters.The film, for the most part, is far from a typical Jidaigeki film and lacks action for all of the runtime. Instead, the film is made more in line as a courtroom drama, except for a few scenes here and there.The film doesn't explain to us why the boss of the ronin decides to attempt to murder the antagonist. Thus, most of the events didn't seem to be justified because of a lack of probable cause.The characters were too into themselves for most of the film, never divulging their plans as is. They instead decided that they are always in the right and that in the end, they will be successful no matter what. These signs of martyrdom are despised by me as they are counterproductive, to say the least.The acting of the cast is in focus due to the style of shooting not being quite developed to add more pizazz during that era. Mizoguchi really did the best he could for the year it was made in.The film has a simplistic aura to it, making it a good watch for someone trying to understand more about shot choices and framing. The writing leaves more to be desired, but the visuals are good enough to hide its lacking aspects to a degree. The runtime is quite bloated and could have been easily cut by an hour and thirty minutes with little effort. The final arc of the film should have been the ronins committing seppuku directly after killing the antagonist. The added scenes with the girl impersonating a guy are dead weight.Part one of the film should have been cut massively and stripped to its bare bones, allowing the viewing of the film to be much more engaging. If I had watched it in two parts, I might have had fewer issues with it, but I decided to persevere through both parts in succession, leading to boredom.The film could easily have been cut to two hours and thirty minutes to three hours, and would have been a much better film. Also, a lot and I really mean a whole lot of action scenes should have been added to it to make it intriguing, but it would have altered the purpose as well as the focus of the film and hence the lack of it is understandable.Mizoguchi was forced to make this as a military propaganda piece for World War Two, and it ceremoniously fails at that. Mizoguchi removes the entire honour of Seppuku from the film and doesn't show it at all. The only people we see committing it are those who are doing it entirely of their own will and good faith, without any motives.The government must be trying to get a rise of nationalism from their soldiers, leading them to sacrifice their lives for a pipe dream, cause no questions asked, and I am glad that Mizoguchi didn't entirely succumb to their pressure. Still, he was unable to instil his usual themes of female-centric cinema in this work.Overall, the film, though, could be considered an integral watch for Mizoguchi fans, is a whole different animal to deal with. I had an interesting few days of film viewing, having seen it with The Naked Gun today and having seen 2001: A Space Odyssey in a theatre yesterday. I will review them both tomorrow if time permits.

I'm very behind on my goals for this year. As of now, I've only seen two of the five films I wanted to watch for March which means I haven't started watching any for this month.

When I wrote my review for 10 Things I Hate About You, it was my 2000th logged film on Letterboxd. Since then, it seems Letterboxd has removed some of the films that I've seen which technically makes 47 Ronin my 2000th film.

The only other adaptation of this film that I've seen is the one with Keanu Reeves. I was a kid when that came out and even then I knew it wasn't very good - not to mention the fact that it throws historical accuracy out the window.

The original 47 Ronin is not as good as I was hoping it would be. It's not bad by any means, I'm rating it a 3.5/5. It just can't compare to many of the other classic Japanese films that I've seen.

My issues with the film come down to a few things: the writing, length/pacing, and characters.

Before diving into some of those things, I want to talk about the plot, which I actually really liked. The time period is fascinating - being set during a time in Japan when the samurai way was sunsetting. I'm always down for a revenge story if done in an intriguing way. I didn't expect it to be almost like a court room drama focusing more on the dialogue and the impacts of events rather than the events themselves. All of that is completely fine. What didn't work for me was the way the film handles the build up and some of the sub plots.

The film is 4 hours long. Yes, it's split into two parts on Criterion which is where I watched it, but the length is undeniable. While I didn't exactly start to acknowledge the runtime until the last 20-30 minutes or so, I was expecting a bigger payoff. The entire film builds up to this carefully crafted revenge plot against this POS Lord just to have his death, and the entire battle surrounding it, take place off screen. To say I was underwhelmed would be an exaggeration.

The characters in the film, while well acted, are not very strong. Kuranosuke is by far the stand out. He's the lead, but he's definitely the most interesting character in the film. He's complex, flawed, wise, noble, and honorable. Those traits aren't uncommon in a samurai film, but compared to the other characters he definitely overshadowed them.

On to some positives, I will say that this film is surprisingly beautiful. There are many long steady wide shots of courtyards and halls filled with people. It's impressive and adds to the otherwise absent epic feeling of the film. The music is great, performances are solid like I said before, I just wish it had a stronger payoff after sitting through 4 hours of film.

List: 2025 Goals

Last Review: A Minecraft Movie******

I'm very behind on my goals for this year. As of now, I've only seen two of the five films I wanted to watch for March which means I haven't started watching any for this month.

When I wrote my review for 10 Things I Hate About You, it was my 2000th logged film on Letterboxd. Since then, it seems Letterboxd has removed some of the films that I've seen which technically makes 47 Ronin my 2000th film.

The only other adaptation of this film that I've seen is the one with Keanu Reeves. I was a kid when that came out and even then I knew it wasn't very good - not to mention the fact that it throws historical accuracy out the window.

The original 47 Ronin is not as good as I was hoping it would be. It's not bad by any means, I'm rating it a 3.5/5. It just can't compare to many of the other classic Japanese films that I've seen.

My issues with the film come down to a few things: the writing, length/pacing, and characters.

Before diving into some of those things, I want to talk about the plot, which I actually really liked. The time period is fascinating - being set during a time in Japan when the samurai way was sunsetting. I'm always down for a revenge story if done in an intriguing way. I didn't expect it to be almost like a court room drama focusing more on the dialogue and the impacts of events rather than the events themselves. All of that is completely fine. What didn't work for me was the way the film handles the build up and some of the sub plots.

The film is 4 hours long. Yes, it's split into two parts on Criterion which is where I watched it, but the length is undeniable. While I didn't exactly start to acknowledge the runtime until the last 20-30 minutes or so, I was expecting a bigger payoff. The entire film builds up to this carefully crafted revenge plot against this POS Lord just to have his death, and the entire battle surrounding it, take place off screen. To say I was underwhelmed would be an exaggeration.

The characters in the film, while well acted, are not very strong. Kuranosuke is by far the stand out. He's the lead, but he's definitely the most interesting character in the film. He's complex, flawed, wise, noble, and honorable. Those traits aren't uncommon in a samurai film, but compared to the other characters he definitely overshadowed them.

On to some positives, I will say that this film is surprisingly beautiful. There are many long steady wide shots of courtyards and halls filled with people. It's impressive and adds to the otherwise absent epic feeling of the film. The music is great, performances are solid like I said before, I just wish it had a stronger payoff after sitting through 4 hours of film.

List: 2025 Goals

Last Review: A Minecraft Movie******

LTEA 138 Japanese Film Lecture 3 Film 5

The final piece of the puzzle that is Jidaigeki is the film epic, the 3 hour tale that takes you through the generations of a story. The 47 Ronin while enticing lacks the action that makes the Kurosawa films so popular which is why I felt this ver tedious.

59.9/100

My Lists that include The 47 Ronin:FILM EPICS - RankedEvery Film I watched in January 2024 RankedLTEA 138 - Japanese Film Ranked

LTEA 138 Japanese Film Lecture 3 Film 5

The final piece of the puzzle that is Jidaigeki is the film epic, the 3 hour tale that takes you through the generations of a story. The 47 Ronin while enticing lacks the action that makes the Kurosawa films so popular which is why I felt this ver tedious.

59.9/100

My Lists that include The 47 Ronin:FILM EPICS - RankedEvery Film I watched in January 2024 RankedLTEA 138 - Japanese Film Ranked