Chūshingura

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An important work, but most viewers can pass it by. DVD

Summary

This is essentially the same story as 47 Ronin, The (1942) with a few plot variations and a vastly more sophisticated and human tone. Chushingura lacks the stark beauty of the other work and is certainly more approachable.

But at the end of the day, the story itself is steeped in politics and and what to many would be a peculiar sense of honor that ultimately limits how much one can sympathize or feel the tragedy of the characters. Culturally, the contrast between a film like Chushingura and Seppuku is fascinating, but while I wouldn't call the virtues and culture behind the former "foreign", they are perhaps peculiar to a particular time and place.

We end up respecting the sacrifice of the noble samurai and shaking our heads at the corrupt official, but the larger questions about the human condition, the cycle of tragedy this kind of thinking engenders, and the imperial corruption all go not only unanswered, but entirely unaddressed. For myself, this makes the story more "sad" than "tragic".