A Samurai
without a master or one who has lost his master’s privilege was as good as one
without a home i.e. a wandering man.
Loosely translated, in Japanese, it meant “wave man” or Ronin – How's that
for a piece of trivia to begin 2014 with.
Although I ended 2013 with the preview of 47 Ronin, you will be able to
catch up with it only from the 3rd January 2014. A decent watch I must say.
47 Ronin is
based on the Japanese legend of the same number of Samurai who were left
homeless thanks to a devious plot by Lord Kira (Tadanobu Asano). Kira, along with his partner in crime – a Witch
(Rinko Kikuchi – Babel/Pacific Rim fame) – frames Lord Asano (Min Tanaka) of
the Ako province. The Witch puts Lord
Asano in a trance and he attempts to kill Lord Kira while in the trance.
With no evidence
to prove that Lord Asano was not totally guilty as charged, The Shogun (Cary-Hiroyuki
Tagawa) allows him an opportunity to die with honour by performing Sepuku
(ritual suicide). He leaves behind his
trusted general Ôishi (Hiroyuki Sanada) and daughter Mika (Kô Shibasaki). Also left behind is Kai (Keanu Reeves) who is
a half demon half human adopted by Lord Asano many moons ago.
A year after Ôishi
is imprisoned and Kai is banished from the province, Mika is scheduled to be
married to Kira as per the directions of the Shogun. Ôishi is released from captivity in a hole
about 30 feet under. He regroups with
his men and along with Kai’s help, plots Kira’s assassination. This, despite the strict directions from The
Shogun that Lord Asano’s death shall not be avenged.
There aren’t too
many movies made on Japanese mythology / culture and it is indeed good to get a
view into the same. But did the makers
pay careful attention to detail while making the movie? There were some
elements that I thought may not have been acceptable as per Japanese culture in
the 18th-19th Century – not that I am an expert in any
manner. They just didn’t seem real.
A lot of
emphasis has been put onto the costumes and some rituals and all of these come
together to form a great visual treat for certain. The story is not short of action at regular
intervals either. However, it isn’t the
most engaging narrations I have seen. Movies
like The Last Samurai were far more engaging.
47 Ronin probably had a more powerful story but lacked a powerful
director like Edward Zwick behind the camera.
Carl Rinsch is
not bad for a first time director but could have done much more to improve on
the pace of the movie. Keanu Reeves is
as always great as eye candy but his acting prowess hasn’t improved
dramatically over the past 30 years. I
wonder why the makers insisted on making the movie in English when the entire
cast was Japanese. Would have been much
better with subtitles I think. As such,
worth a dekko – 6.5 on 10.
Watch the trailer
on http://www.imdb.com/video/imdb/vi1339271193/?ref_=tt_ov_vi
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