2013 American film
47 Ronin
is a 2013 American
historical
fantasy
action film
directed by
Carl Rinsch
in his sole theatrical directorial effort. Written by
Chris Morgan
and
Hossein Amini
from a story conceived by Morgan and
Walter Hamada
, the film is a work of
Ch?shingura
("The Treasury of Loyal Retainers"), a fictionalized account of the
forty-seven r?nin
, a real-life group of masterless
samurai
in
18th-century
Japan
who avenged the death of their
daimy?
Asano Naganori
by battling his rival
Kira Yoshinaka
. Starring
Keanu Reeves
in the lead role along with
Hiroyuki Sanada
,
Tadanobu Asano
,
Rinko Kikuchi
and
Ko Shibasaki
, the film bears little resemblance to its historical basis compared to previous adaptations, and instead serves as a stylized interpretation set "in a world of
witches
and
giants
."
[4]
Development on the film began in 2008 with Rinsch, who has previously filmed "visual and stylish"
blurbs
for various companies, signing on to direct the following year. After five Japanese actors were cast alongside Reeves between March and April 2011, filming took place in
Budapest
the same month before moving to
Shepperton Studios
in England, while additional filming in Japan was planned.
Reshoots
took place in
London
in August 2012.
47 Ronin
first premiered in Japan on December 6, 2013 before being released theatrically in the United States on December 25, 2013 by
Universal Pictures
in both
3D
and 2D formats. Upon release,
47 Ronin
received generally negative reviews from critics
[5]
[6]
[7]
and grossed a total of $151.8 million against its production budget of $175?225 million, becoming a
box office bomb
that left Universal in the red for 2013.
[8]
Variety
listed
47 Ronin
as one of "Hollywood's biggest box office bombs of 2013".
[9]
A
standalone sequel
,
Blade of the 47 Ronin
, was released on October 25, 2022 on
Netflix
.
Plot
[
edit
]
In
late-medieval
Japan
, Kai is a half-Japanese and half-English outcast who gets adopted by Lord
Asano
, the benevolent ruler of the
Ak? Domain
. Kai and Asano's daughter Mika fall in love, despite the scorn her father's samurai hold for Kai’s mixed ancestry.
Lord
Kira
, the
Sh?gun
's master of ceremonies, seeks to take Ak? for himself with the help of Mizuki, a shapeshifting
kitsune
. She sends a
kirin
to kill Asano and his men on a hunting trip, leading Kai to ride to their aid. Taking up a fallen sword, Kai slays the monster and spots Mizuki in the form of a white fox with
different-colored eyes
. When the Sh?gun
Tokugawa Tsunayoshi
visits Ak?, Kai notices Mizuki disguised as a concubine with the same multi-colored eyes. He tries to warn Asano's principal counselor,
Oishi
, about the witch in Kira's household, but is dismissed.
For the entertainment of the Sh?gun, Kira arranges a duel between his best warrior, a
golem
, and Asano's chosen combatant, whom Mizuki incapacitates with magic. Kai secretly dons his armor to fight in his stead, but is unmasked during the duel, and the Sh?gun orders him severely beaten. That night, Mizuki bewitches Asano into believing Kira is raping Mika, causing him to attack the unarmed lord. Sentenced to death, Asano is compelled to perform
seppuku
to preserve his honor. The Sh?gun gives Kira domain over Ak? and Mika, granting her one year of mourning before she must marry Kira. The Sh?gun brands Oishi and his men
r?nin
, forbidding them from avenging Asano, and Kira has Oishi imprisoned and Kai sold into slavery.
Nearly a year later, Oishi is released by his captors, believing him harmless. Having realized that Kira used sorcery to frame Asano, Oishi and his son Chikara reunite the scattered r?nin, and rescue Kai from the fighting pits of the Dutch colony of
Dejima
. Kai leads them to the mystical
Tengu
Forest, which he escaped as a child, to obtain the special blades of the Tengu. Warning Oishi never to draw his sword inside the Tengu temple, Kai faces the Tengu Master who once trained him. Faced with an illusion of his men being slaughtered by the Tengu, Oishi resists the urge to draw his sword, while Kai bests his former master. Having proven themselves worthy, the r?nin receive their blades.
They plan to ambush Kira on his pilgrimage to a shrine to seek blessings for his wedding to Mika, but the procession is a trap and most of the r?nin are killed. Believing them all dead, Mizuki presents Kira with Oishi's sword, and taunts Mika with their deaths. Oishi and Kai, having survived the attack, lead half the remaining r?nin to infiltrate Kira's castle, disguised as a band of wedding performers. With Kira's men distracted during the performance, the other r?nin scale the castle walls and attack the guards. While Oishi fights Kira, Kai and Mika face Mizuki in the form of a dragon, and Kai finally draws on the mystical powers of the Tengu to kill her. When Oishi emerges with Kira's severed head, Kira's retainers surrender.
The r?nin and Kai surrender themselves to the authorities of the
bakufu
and are sentenced to death, having violated the Sh?gun's prohibition on avenging Asano. However, the Sh?gun declares that they followed the principles of
bushido
and restores their honor as samurai, allowing them to perform
seppuku
and receive the honor of burial with Asano. The Sh?gun returns domain of Ak? to Mika, and pardons Chikara so that he may preserve Oishi’s bloodline and serve Ak?.
Cast
[
edit
]
Production
[
edit
]
Development
[
edit
]
47 Ronin
was first announced in December 2008, with
Keanu Reeves
attached to star. According to
Variety
, the film would "tell a stylized version of the story, mixing fantasy elements of the sort seen in
The Lord of the Rings
pics, with gritty battle scenes akin to those in films such as
Gladiator
.
"
Universal Pictures
planned to produce the film in 2009 after hiring a director
[13]
and entered talks with
Carl Rinsch
, who has previously filmed "visual and stylish"
blurbs
for various companies, to direct the film in November of that year.
[14]
In December 2010, the studio announced that the film would be produced and released in
3D
.
[15]
Between March
[16]
and April
[17]
2011, five Japanese actors -
Hiroyuki Sanada
,
Tadanobu Asano
,
Rinko Kikuchi
,
Ko Shibasaki
and
Jin Akanishi
- were cast alongside Reeves, as Universal wanted the film to be more authentic instead of casting actors more recognizable in the United States.
[16]
Universal provided Rinsch with a production budget of
$175 million
for the film despite his inexperience with feature-length films, which was considered by
The Hollywood Reporter
to be a "large-scale, downright risky" move on behalf of the studio.
[18]
Filming
[
edit
]
Principal photography
for the film began on
March 14
, 2011 in
Budapest
.
[18]
Origo Film Group contributed to the film. Production moved to
Shepperton Studios
in the United Kingdom while additional filming in Japan was planned.
[11]
Reeves revealed that various scenes were first filmed in the Japanese language to familiarize the cast, and were then filmed again in English.
[4]
The film featured a total of 998 costumes and 400 suits of armour designed by British costume designer
Penny Rose
, who stated that "We decided to base it on the culture and what the shapes should be?i.e., everyone's in a
kimono
?but we've thrown a kind of fashion twist at it. And we've made it full of color, which is quite unusual for me."
[19]
[20]
Reshoots
were done in
London
in late August 2012, which were delayed by the
2012 Summer Olympics
and the filming of Reeves' directorial debut,
Man of Tai Chi
. Universal pulled Rinsch from the project during the editing stages in late 2012, with Universal chairwoman
Donna Langley
taking over the editing process.
[21]
In addition, the studio added a love scene, extra
close-ups
and individual lines of dialogue to try and boost Reeves' presence in the film, which "significantly added" to the film's budget.
[21]
Music
[
edit
]
47 Ronin: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack
is a
soundtrack album
containing the
film score
composed by
Ilan Eshkeri
, which was released on December 17, 2013 by
Varese Sarabande
.
- Soundtrack list
- Oishi's Tale
- Kirin Hunt
- Resentment
- The Witch's Plan
- Ako
- Shogun
- Tournament
- Bewitched
- Assano Seppuku
- Dutch Island Fugue
- Reunited Ronin
- Tengu
- Shrine Ambush
- The Witch's Lie
- Kira's Wedding Quartet
- Palace Battle
- The Witch Dragon
- Return To Ako
- Shogun's Sentence
- Mika and Kai
- Seppuku
- 47 Ronin
Release
[
edit
]
47 Ronin
was originally scheduled to be released on
November 21
, 2012,
[22]
but was delayed to
February 8
, 2013 due to the need for work on the 3D effects.
[23]
It was moved once more to a final release date of December 25, 2013, due to the need for work on the reshoots and post-production.
[24]
An endorsement from the cast of
Sengoku Basara
was held until January 23, 2014, stating that Japanese fans who tweet with the
hashtag
#RONIN_BASARA could win
Sengoku Basara 4
for the
PS3
or a
47 Ronin
poster signed by the film's cast.
[25]
Home media
[
edit
]
Universal Pictures Home Entertainment
released
47 Ronin
on
DVD
,
Blu-ray
and Blu-ray 3D on April 1, 2014.
[26]
Reception
[
edit
]
Box office
[
edit
]
47 Ronin
originally premiered in Japan on December 6, 2013, where it opened to 753 screens and grossed an estimated $1.3 million, opening in third place behind
Lupin the 3rd vs. Detective Conan: The Movie
and
Kaguya-hime no Monogatari
(
The Tale of Princess Kaguya
)
.
Variety
reported that the Japanese debut was "troubling", considering the well-known local cast and the fact that the film is loosely based on a famous Japanese tale.
[27]
The evening tabloid newspaper
Nikkan Gendai
reported that its dismal performance were "unheard-of numbers" generated by the Japanese distaste for a Hollywood rendition of
Ch?shingura
which bore little resemblance to the renowned historical epic.
[28]
In the United States, the film grossed $20.6 million in five days after its release on
Christmas Day
2013, opening in ninth place and facing heavy competition from
Frozen
,
The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug
,
Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues
,
The Wolf of Wall Street
,
American Hustle
,
Saving Mr. Banks
,
The Secret Life of Walter Mitty
and
The Hunger Games: Catching Fire
. In the United Kingdom, the film grossed $2.3 million upon debuting in fifth place.
[29]
The film was a
box office bomb
, unable to recover its $175 million production budget.
[30]
[31]
Critical response
[
edit
]
47 Ronin
received predominantly negative reviews from film critics, failing to impress Japanese audiences where studio expectations were high.
[5]
On
Rotten Tomatoes
, the film holds a 16% approval rating based on 90 reviews, with an average score of 4.20/10. The critical consensus reads: "
47 Ronin
is a surprisingly dull fantasy adventure, one that leaves its talented international cast stranded within one dimensional roles."
[6]
On
Metacritic
, the film has a score of 28 out of 100 based on 21 critics, indicating "generally unfavorable reviews".
[7]
Audiences polled by
CinemaScore
gave the film an average grade of "B+" on an A+ to F scale.
[32]
[33]
Kirsten Acuna of
Business Insider
stated that the film flopped for three reasons: First, it opened in December when there is an oversaturation of films for the Christmas season; second, the film took "too long in the vault" after having undergone editing and lost momentum as a result; and third, audiences had not been drawn to Reeves as an actor since
The Matrix Revolutions
(which was released ten years prior) and that he had not yet reestablished his stardom prior to making
John Wick
.
[34]
Accolades
[
edit
]
Sequel
[
edit
]
A stand-alone sequel, titled
Blade of the 47 Ronin
, was released exclusively on
Netflix
on October 25, 2022.
[41]
[42]
[43]
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External links
[
edit
]
Wikiquote has quotations related to
47 Ronin
.