Although “Chushingura”—the name given to fictionalized accounts of the story of the revenge of the Forty-seven Ronin—has been a staple of Japanese TV dramas over the past two decades, it’s been 15 years since the last big screen adaptation by Kon Ichikawa. That’s about to change, however, because it’s been announced that Shigemichi Sugita will be directing a new Chushingura film starring Koji Yakusho and Koichi Sato called Saigo no Chushingura for Warner Bros.

The 47 Ronin story is very well-known in Japan, and has been referred to as the country’s national legend for its portrayal of samurai honor, self-sacrifice, and strict adherence to the bushido code. In the early 1700s, a group of samurai became ronin (masterless samurai) after their lord was forced to commit seppuku for assaulting a court official named Kira Yoshinaka even though he was goaded into it. The ronin planned their revenge for over a year and eventually murdered Kira knowing they’d all be forced to commit seppuku themselves.

In 1748, Takeda Izumo II, Miyoshi Shoraku and Namiki Senryu adapted the events to a puppet play called “Kanandehon Chushingura”, but had to change the time period to a few hundred years earlier and alter the names of the characters to avoid shogunate censorship. This version is the basis of most modern adaptations.

Based on a 1994 novel by Shoichiro Ikemiya which was previously adapted to an NHK drama in 2004, the new film stars Yakusho and Sato as two survivors of the raid. Yakusho’s character, Senoo Magozaemon, is an “unworthy samurai” who flees the night before and goes into hiding, establishing himself as a pariah. Meanwhile Sato’s character, Terasaka Kichiemon, is a loyal retainer who’s secretly ordered to escape the raid by the leader of the Forty-seven Ronin, Oishi Kuranosuke, in order to relay the facts of the incident for the sake of posterity.

Other cast members include Narumi Yasuda as a woman living in Magozaemon’s neighborhood, Koji Yamamoto, and Masato Ibu.

Filming of “Saigo no Chushingura” will begin in Kyoto on November 8, with a release planned for January 2011.

Source: Cinema Today

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