Heroes, warriors, legends... Wither when the cherry blossoms are blooming!
During the shogunate era, Asano, the lord of Ako Domain, adopted a half-race boy, Keanu Reeves, who was not tolerated by many samurai of many families because of his psychic and superb fighting skills, but the lord's only daughter, Mika (Shibasaki Yuki), fell deeply in love with him. Shogun Tsunayoshi visits Ako and holds a samurai contest, accompanied by the lord of the clan, Kira (Asano Tadanobu), who covets Ako for many years, and uses the demon mizuki (Kikuchi Rinko) to induce Asano to assassinate himself, causing the latter to commit a felony and be sentenced to be cut off. Not only that, mika was promised to Kira by the shogun, and Ako was given as a dowry. All the Ako samurai below the family boss Ishiguchi Uzumaki (Sanada Hirono) were reduced to ronin (wandering samurai without a homeowner), and the adult Kuei was sent to the life-and-death fighting arena on Dejima... A year later, in order to avenge the Asano family's bloody revenge and get justice for Ako, Oishi gathered 47 warriors, including Kuei, to embark on the road of no return to conquer the lord of the clan, Kira!
【The Ultimate of Bushido】
The story of Oishi Uchizosuke and 46 other warriors, known as the most "Bushido spirit" true event in Modern Japanese history, was widely disseminated in the West by american anthropologist Ruth Benedict's famous book "Chrysanthemum and the Sword".
On March 14, 1701, Asano Uchiha, the lord of the Ako Domain, who was in Kyoto to participate in the ceremony of the Seiji, slashed the lord of the clan, Kira, with a waist knife under the Matsu no Porch. After the incident, the Tokugawa Goshiro shogun Tsunayoshi was furious and ruled that Asano cut his abdomen on the same day without understanding the reason. On March 19, the chief of the Ako Clan, Ishiuchi Sukeo (later known as "Tadatomo Zang"), upon learning of the death of his master, immediately held a meeting of all the courtiers, and the whole clan was greatly shocked and the courtiers were extremely saddened. On March 26, the shogunate decided to confiscate the order of the Ako Domain. After a meeting of people, the vassals agreed to implement the shogunate's resolutions and formed a righteous alliance with the theme of "Re-raising the Asano Clan". Because of the Ako Incident, Kira Ueno decided to live in seclusion on December 12, passing the position of governor to his heirs, and the house was moved to the Wufu Bridge Mansion. In July of the following year, faced with the hopeless revival of the main family, Oishi Uchizosuke indignantly decided to do a righteous deed, and on the 28th, he gathered comrades in Kyoto's Motoyama and issued a declaration of righteous deeds (historical name: Motoyama Conference). On 2 December, the League held its final meeting and decided that the owner of the Crusade Team would be Oishi, and that the owner of the Gate would be his son. Late on the night of the 14th, the rioters gathered near the Kira mansion, and at dawn on the 15th, the crusade against Kira began. After a fierce life-and-death battle, Kira, who was hiding in the firewood house, was beheaded, and the righteous deed was successful, but none of the righteous soldiers died. Subsequently, in front of the tomb of the deceased lord Uchiharu at Edo Izumi-ji Temple, 44 nominee priests offered the first rank of Kira, which maximized the loyalty of the samurai and relieved the heroic spirit of the deceased lord. On February 4 of the following year, under the ruling of the general Gang Yoshi, all 46 nominal soldiers were cut off with a ceremony, and their bodies were buried with the lord. On the same day, the shogunate confiscated Kira Ieru and his son was exiled. This is the "Yuanlu Ako Incident" known in history as "Zhongchenzang".
The "Motoroku Akatsuki Incident" was a major event of the Edo period, along with the "Once My Brother Revenge Incident (曾我兄弟のち Hate)" and the "Keyhouse No Tsuji Duel Incident (鍵屋の辻の決闘)" and called the three major revenge events in Japan. The "Loyal Subjects" reflects the loyalty to the lord, as well as the persistent belief and super endurance, which has always been talked about by the Japanese people and still has a profound impact on Japanese society and national character.
"Zhongchen Zang" has also become a long-lasting theme of Japanese film and television dramas. The earliest film works can be traced back to the "Tadaozo Godanmu" (1910), and the most influential after that was the "Tadanozo" series directed by Makino Shozo, which was also used by famous directors Hiroshi Inagaki, Kenji Mizoguchi, and Shinji Fukasaku. In 1994, Toho launched "The Assassin of Forty-Seven", directed by Daidai Ichikawa Kun, which brought together a number of big names, including Ken Takakura, Kiichi Nakai, riki Miyazawa, etc., and became the most sensational era drama of the year. 2010's "The Last LoyalIst Collection", written by Hiroshi Seisho and Hiroshi Sato, tells a story similar to that of another legend, which is equally fascinating.
【As dazzling as a triumphant song】
That's right, the kaige mentioned here is Chen Kaige! All the officials can't help but ask: A Japanese era drama directed by an American director has a relationship with a Chinese director?! Yes, yes! Remember the 2005 strange movie "Wuji" directed by Brother Kaige? This film can be completely regarded as its sister article - just as dazzling! Same rotten!
Dazzling - special effects that are called a dazzling ah! Due to the joining of the milk team behind the scenes of "Ice Age", whether it is the "demon girl" Kikuchi Rinko who is sometimes foxes and sometimes "mops" and sometimes flying dragons (that is, the short female doll in "Pacific Rim"),the "Voldemort" with a long nose in the Tengu Forest, the tall and mighty and indestructible iron armor samurai, or the fallen Ako Mountain Castle, the dark and oppressive Dejima Island, the miasma-filled Tengu Forest... Therefore, the mysterious imagination and the exaggerated color are almost the same as the possession of "Wuji". It is estimated that director Carl Rinsch must have seen Chen Kaige's mysterious work that year, and the suspicion of stealing the teacher is extremely high.
Rotten - the plot is really called a rotten! The monotonous, lengthy narrative is a fatal wound, and the characters are as thin as a piece of paper, completely blinding the special effects team. As for the actor - the "Bright General" Sanada Hiroyuki in "Wuji" this time dressed as a loyal minister, or did not change the style of the previous work, except for a lame Chinese replaced by fluent English, still can not support the entire plot; as the biggest point of view, Keanu Levi's played "Kui" is like a fool, every time it appears to be either eaten or beaten, it is easy to survive to the last battle looking forward to breathing, and there is no hero at all, and finally I don't know what he calls "learned and can't easily show people's magic" What the hell is it. As for the villain played by Tadanobu Asano, the princess played by "Japanese Takamoto" Shibasaki Yuki, and the "little handsome brother" Akanishi Ren, each performance is stylized and formal, and it is not as good as the gods and ghosts and crazy people in "Wuji"!
In short, all the essence of this film has been "super level played" in the first film flower - all the wonderful shots have not fallen! If you give this film a star, the positive film can only give 2.5 stars, but the film flower must give 5 stars - the conscience of the industry!
Behind the scenes:
1. The bows and arrows in the film are all from the hands of the famous European archery master Michael Reape, and the degree of refinement is staggering, and a small number of bows and arrows even reach the harsh "museum level".
2. In order to conform to the aesthetics of American audiences and respect the truth of history, the director has for the first time in the world to equip Keanu Levis with five big Japanese actors (Sanada Hiroyuki, Tadanobu Asano, Akanishi Ren, Kikuchi Rinko and Shibasaki Yuki) to co-star, but looking at these Japanese natives fluent in English, it is really nonsense. It is said that when it was screened in Japan, except for Xiao Li, who still spoke English, everyone else showed up in his native language.
3, the most disturbing is the film production team, how can such a pure Oriental story be packaged into a legend of gods and ghosts that Westerners can understand? Seems like an impossible task. As a result, the script changed several times, and even more radical trimmings were made in post-production.
4. This film is not only Carl Rinsch's directorial debut, but also Akanishi's first stop in Hollywood.
(Original film review, all rights reserved, welcome to reprint)