Forty-Seven as One

A samurai attempts to kill a wealthy lord. He fails but his 47 friends rally to the cause in 1978's The Fall of Ako Castle (赤穂城断絶). One of the many film adaptations of the The 47 Ronin, this one's a pretty straight forward celebration of collectivist thinking. The highlight is Sonny Chiba as the wayward fighter who comes back into the fold, though it takes quite some time for his best action sequences to commence.

The action is mostly led by Yorozuya Kinnosuke who leads the forty-seven after Asano, the man who attempted to kill the lord, is ordered to commit seppuku. Yorozuya was a popular actor in Japan, though he's not as well known as Chiba is in the U.S. He has a majestic enough presence in the film.

Chiba plays a Fuwa, a man with wild hair who apparently lives in the woods, eating his meals by campfire. He's turned his back on the group, yet the situation gradually draws him back in until he finally joins his brethren, another limb functioning in tandem, for a final, long, extravagant fight sequence. It's pretty glorious.

Those seeking something more intellectual will prefer Kenji Mizoguchi's 1941 version of the story called Genroku Chushingura (I reviewed the film back in 2014 here). That movie has almost the opposite philosophy to that expressed in The Fall of Ako Castle and is much more insightful and intelligent. However, it has almost no action, something that truly distinguishes The Fall of Ako Castle marvellously.