Genroku Chûshingura (1941)

Director:

Kenji Mizoguchi

Writers:

Kenichiro Hara (writer)
Seika Mayama (play)
(more)

Release Date:

March 1979 (USA)

Genre:

Action | Drama | History

Plot:

Lord Asano resists a bribery attempt by a member of the Shogun's court. His honesty, however, is useless against the corruption of the administration...

Plot Keywords:

47 Ronin | Propaganda | Remake | Jidai Geki | Based On Play

Cast

Yoshizaburo Arashi	...	Lord Takuminokami Asano
Utaemon Ichikawa	...	Tsunatoyo Tokugawa
Daisuke Katô	...	Fuwa Kazuemon
Chojuro Kawarasaki	...	Kuranosuke Oishi
Kunitaro Kawarazaki	...	Jurozaemon Isogai
Seizaburô Kawazu	...	Lord Etchumori Hosokawa
Mantoyo Mimasu	...	Kozunosuke Kira
Mitsuko Miura	...	Yosenin, Asano's wife
Kanemon Nakamura	...	Sukeimon Tomimori
Mieko Takamine	...	Omino, Isogai's fiancee

Directed by
Kenji Mizoguchi

Writing credits (in alphabetical order)
Kenichiro Hara		writer
Seika Mayama		play
Yoshikata Yoda		screenplay

Produced by
Shintarô Shirai	....	producer

Original Music by
Shirô Fukai

Cinematography by
Kôhei Sugiyama

Production Design by
Hiroshi Mizutani

Art Department
Kaneto Shindô	....	construction director

Production Companies

• IMA Productions
• Shochiku Kinema Kenkyû-jo

Distributors

• Raro Video (2006) (Italy) (DVD)
• Shochiku Kinema Kenkyû-jo (1979) (USA) (subtitled)

Also Known As:

47 Samurai
Chushingura
Loyal 47 of the Genroku Era
The 47 Ronin (USA)
The Loyal 47 Ronin

Runtime:

241 min

Country:

Japan

Language:

Japanese

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Argentina:13

Company:

IMA Productions

Trivia:

The Japanese Ministry of Information, under the militarist government, commissioned director Kenji Mizoguchi to make this film as a morale booster for the WWII war effort. But it was a commercial failure, being released in Japan one week before the attack on Pearl Harbor. The military and most audiences found the first part of the film to be too slow and serious. However, the studio and Mizoguchi both regarded it as so important that Part 2 was put into production, though Mizoguchi was forced to insert some close-ups of the stars which are totally absent from Part I. The film was finally shown in America in the 1970s.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Aru eiga-kantoku no shogai (1975)

Long

Though stately, impressive, and vaguely powerful at times, it nonetheless demands more patience than this viewer had. It's well filmed, but rather static and aloof. None of this is aided by its nearly 4 hour length.