Friday, December 13, 2013

This Christmastime chūshingura prequel drips more coolness than any Desolation of Smaug trailer.

I absolutely love this poster for 47 Ronin.
This Christmas, fans of Japanese samurai and magical worlds are getting a real treat in the form of a super-ambitious high quality live action movie starring Keanu Reeves. My fear though is that some people in America may not realize that 47 Ronin is a Chūshingura and may just dismiss what could be the greatest fantasy film of 2013 (yes...I'm saying it could be better than Desolation of Smaug) and miss out on it entirely because of their unchecked prejudice.

So what is a chūshingura exactly? Well, they are fictionalized accounts in Japanese literature, theatre, and film that relate the historical incident involving the 47 Ronin and their mission to avenge the death of their master, Asano Naganori. Including the early Kanadehon Chūshingura (仮名手本忠臣蔵?), the story has been told in kabuki, bunraku, stage plays, films, novels, television shows and other media. With ten different television productions in the years 1997–2007 alone, the chūshingura ranks among the most familiar of all historical stories in Japan.

So this new telling of 47 Ronin is nothing different. In fact, it is a tradition in Japan, and you should embrace it wholeheartedly. Also, "I hate Keanu Reeves" is not a valid excuse to avoid this film. Keanu is a pretty decent actor and he's poured his heart into this role, even going so far as to become fluent in the Japanese language (he's also half-Japanese so he has more cred to be in a Japanese film than Tom Cruise).

However, despite 47 Ronin being so well-known across the Pacific, audiences here risk confusion as to what this particular chūshingura is about. Have we ever seen one replete with dragons, ki-rin, tengu, and other such monsters? To prepare those of you who've been bitten by the curiosity bug, there's an animated prequel to the movie done in comic book style and I've embedded it below. It's so wonderful, I wish book trailers had this kind of quality. Heck, I'll take one please! All kidding aside, you should watch it and marvel at the really cool art panels and how the whole thing is reminiscent of those beautiful silk screens for which Japanese art is famous.
Some terms you may need (in order to understand the prequel) defined by me with essential text lifted from Wikipedia's extensive knowledge base:

Bushido: This word means "the way of the warrior" and it is a code that defines a samurai's life. The western comparison might be chivalry, although this is a "loose" comparison as chivalry mostly developed out of medieval misogyny (the fear of women). And if you're surprised to know this then I'm sorry to burst your little bubble. Yes, chivalry was developed because men feared the power and association women had with Satan (and it all goes back to Genesis when Eve got Adam kicked out of the Garden of Eden and we've paid for it ever since).

Bushido originates from the samurai moral code and it stresses frugality, loyalty, martial arts mastery, and honor unto death. Born from neo-Confucianism during times of peace in Tokugawa Japan and following Confucian texts, Bushido was also influenced by Shinto and Zen Buddhism, allowing the violent existence of the samurai to be tempered by wisdom and serenity.

Under the Tokugawa Shogunate, aspects of bushidō became formalized into Japanese feudal law.

Samurai: the military nobility of medieval and early-modern Japan. According to translator William Scott Wilson: "In Chinese, the character 侍 was originally a verb meaning to wait upon or accompany persons in the upper ranks of society, and this is also true of the original term in Japanese, saburau. In both countries the terms were nominalized to mean "those who serve in close attendance to the nobility," the pronunciation in Japanese changing to saburai. According to Wilson, an early reference to the word "samurai" appears in the Kokin Wakashū (905–914), the first imperial anthology of poems, completed in the first part of the 10th century.

By the end of the 12th century, samurai became almost entirely synonymous with bushi, and the word was closely associated with the middle and upper echelons of the warrior class. The samurai followed a set of rules that came to be known as bushidō. While the samurai numbered less than 10% of Japan's population, their teachings can still be found today in both everyday life and in modern Japanese martial arts.

Ronin: A rōnin (浪人) was a samurai with no lord or master during the feudal period (1185–1868) of Japan. A samurai became masterless from the death or fall of his master, or after the loss of his master's favor or privilege, and it usually meant losing all your land. Imagine how devastating it would be to have your house and job taken away from you. To add insult to injury, poor Ronin were oftentimes the butt of jokes and faced ridicule when the government should have set up a social safety net. But then we wouldn't have great stories like 47 Ronin now would we? It just doesn't have the same ring to it if the story is 47 Ronin who got approved for Social Security.

21 comments:

  1. I'm looking kinda forward to the movie. I wasn't planning on seeing anything else in the theater after The Hobbit, pt 2, but if I get excited enough about this one I may sneak out and watch it.

    Right now though, I'm still not sure.

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  2. With like 1000 movies coming out on Christmas Day I think this one gets lost in the shuffle. It has the stink of failure all over it.

    BTW, at the end are they all going to ritually disembowel themselves like in the original story? Because that sort of limits sequel potential.

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  3. I like Keanu Reeves most of the time and I think this movie looks great. I'll enjoy more now that you've given me a short lesson.

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  4. @Pat: Yes. The ending has not been changed at all.

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  5. Well that's lame. Who wants to watch a movie where all the heroes kill themselves at the end?

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  6. @Pat: Because that's how the story ends. I guess I don't understand. That's the whole point of it being a chūshingura.

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  7. Everyone dies at the end? Those of us not familiar with this story would have benefited from a Spoiler Alert.

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  8. I don't think that point will sit well with Western audiences.

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  9. I am looking forward to this movie, the trailer is spectacular (although that can be deceptive).

    mood

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  10. You've convinced me. I'm putting this on my must see list - along with The Desolation of Smaug.

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  11. I don't hate Keanu Reeves. He's been in some fairly decent movies. (Some turkeys, too, but who hasn't?)

    Have fun at the movie. I hope it lives up to your expectations.

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  12. I don't think Ronin will have any problem being better than Smaug, but I'm not sure it will be successful in the states.

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  13. I've been looking forward to this movie - I like Keanu Reeves. He's had some interesting, and even experimental, roles and done well with all of them.

    Thanks for the terms definitions. Puts things in perspective.

    See ya in the new year Michael. Have a good holiday season.

    .....dhole

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  14. The trailers I've seen of 47 Ronin look awesome! Although I'll likely only get to The Hobbit this Christmas seasons--I rarely go to the movies--I definitely would like to see this one too.

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  15. Looking forward to this as well. The trailer is amazing.

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  16. I always learn the most interesting things from your blog. I will be sure to check this out.

    There's an apology on my blog..please visit when you get a chance.

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  17. I've seen the trailer, pal. It looks like a pretty decent movie. Loved this: "Also, "I hate Keanu Reeves" is not a valid excuse to avoid this film." I hear you. He is a fairly good actor. So I'm looking forward to watching. :-)

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  18. This movie is right up my alley. Wish we lived close to each other so we could enjoy all this Japanese mythology-goodness together.

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  19. Thanks for the background on the samurai and Japanese mythology -- I had no idea how elaborate and essential it is to the culture. And of course you're right about chivalry in the West having a lot to do with misogyny, because for centuries women were viewed as the "daughters of Eve" and hence potential temptresses who would lead men astray and into sin. That wouldn't change until the Victorian period when we morphed into virginal innocents who didn't enjoy sex. Crazy!

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  20. This looks cool, but I'll probably wait until it's not Netflix or redbox to see it.

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  21. This looks cool, but I'll probably wait until it's on Netflix to watch it.

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