Directed by: Carl Rinsch
Written by: Chris Morgan & Hossein Amini (screenplay), Chris Morgan & Walter Hamada (screen story by)
When their master is framed and made commit suicide to restore honour on his house, his band of samurai set out to avenge his death with the help of a half-breed they had rejected before.
First thing I have to say is I'm not too familiar with Japanese culture. I know the basics that are always there when you're watching a movie that takes place in Japan or something like that. I have no idea if 47 Ronin butchered Japanese culture or if it's slightly accurate or whatever. I'm not the right person to address this, but I hope I'll see some discussion about this.
And that brings us to another issue, one thing that will probably bother some if not most of the viewers: English. The characters are speaking English most through the movie. It isn't a miracle considering 47 Ronin is an American movie, and it took most of its time in the same place. That's why it doesn't matter that much. If the Japanese characters would meet a lot of foreigners it would be more annoying, if they spoke English with each other and with foreigners. Anyway, if the story is intriguing enough the language isn't that big of a deal. Of course I'd rather see an actual Japanese film version of a story like this, and luckily there seem to be many, but this is what I rented.
The story of 47 Ronin is classic. It's about revenge. What's more classic than that? But the revenge in this kind of movie is different from how it is in Hollywood. In 47 the revenge is more about honour. The samurais failed their lord and they must restore their honour. It gives something new to the "they hurt me or someone I loved, now they must pay" type of revenge, even though that is enjoyable as it is.
Historical fantasy is usually boring, because it's always the same. Mostly because writers are too afraid, so they just coddle with whatever Tolkien brought us with his medieval fantasy settings. When that fantasy is mixed with Japan's history it gives something new to this fantasy genre, even if fantasy didn't play that huge part in the movie. But at least it was a some kind of change to all the knights and orcs and whatever western medieval fantasy is filled with.
I enjoyed watching this film. It's not the best one out there, but I could consider watching it again. There are a lot better movies out there, and Japanese movies are of course way better than this one, but 47 Ronin is alright too.
☆☆☆☆☆☆
6 / 10
No comments:
Post a Comment