Chushingura 47 Samurai (1962)
&
The Fall of Ako Castle aka Ako-jo denzetsu (1978)
Double feature, for both of these films depict the same historical narrative, and must do so from a particular novelization as they are nigh-on scene-for-scene clones. These are very classical, to the point of near banality, samurai films. No love arcs, little depth or messaging beyond "samurai values", just a story of a Daimyo done wrong and his men's years-long quest for vengeance.
It would be pretty tedious to watch both of these in their entirety, which I have done for you and can therefore recommend you watch only the 1962 version. This film contains a more complete version of the narrative (to its benefit), clocking in at 3.5hours, and the highlights for me were some incredibly catchy and hilarious Noh scenes. These are very dry films however and I would only recommend watching to acquaint yourself with a particularly defining narrative of the Edo period, not to mention seeing the most entertaining Noh I've seen on film so far. If you really like something like Good Bad & Ugly you would probably have the patience for this. I would agree with the characterization of these samurai movies along the lines of westerns.
Comically, both films cast Toshiro Mifune as box office bait. He even appears on the box art for the criterion collection edition of the 1962 film, despite playing a very small part.
|