47 Ronin story with Keanu Reeves: A fucking disaster or cool idea?

The 47 Ronin ballin' out on the dudes house. Supposedly, this wasn't in line with the Bushido code, but what do I know?

I would love to hear what the Japanese think of this movie. It doesn’t make any sense to me. Whether or not the spirit of Bushido, and loyalty to one’s master, still exists in the Japanese day-to-day persona is up for debate.

I took a 400 level class about the Tokugawa Shogunate period and my professor seemed convinced that the story of the 47 Ronin was party of the national identity. I don’t know what a similar national legend would be in America, so I can’t really compare it to anything. Probably pretty close to Australians and Gallipoli, but that wasn’t as “mythic”. Numerous productions of the story are still made in Japan in the twenty years and I think it should stay that way.

47 Ronin is an incredible story about a group of Samurai who became Ronins after their master was forced to kill himself by an official named Kara. They waited over a year or two, planning Kara’s murder in detail, and executed bloody revenge against their victims. They were then ordered to kill themselves for his murder and all just straight up committed Hara Kiri.

If Americans were to step into the fray and make a 47 Ronin story, it is really important that they retain the spirit of the story and give it a certain degree of respect. The difference between this story and its obvious comparison, 300, is that the 300 story doesn’t hold the same amount of fame in Greece as 47 Ronin does in Japan. Keaunu Reeves is set to star in the new movie and if it really is just a cool 300-type action movie (it is)  then this movie could be totally fucking awesome.

To give the movie an A-lister, the writers wrote in a part for a half-Japanese/half-British dude. That is actually kind of a cool idea so we’ll have to see how the whole thing works out. Don’t get me wrong by the way, I want this movie to be fucking awesome, I’m actually excited for it.

Moreover, if you can’t wait until 2012, when the movie gets released, check out Throne of Blood or Hara Kiri, my two favorite samurai flicks. Hara Kiri is a fantastic movie that examines the true motivations behind ritual suicide and hypocrisy of the honor system. Just talking about it makes me remember how much I love Japanese post-war cinema. If you can, catch Double Suicide as well.