The 47 Ronin: Film Facts

Film Facts:
The 47 Ronin
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The Japanese military commissioned director Kenji Mizoguchi (Ugetsu) to make THE 47 RONIN--they wanted a ferocious morale booster based on the familiar story of The Loyal 47 Ronin. Instead, Mizoguchi chose for his source Mayama Chushingura, a cerebral play dealing with THE 47 RONIN. However, it was a commercial failure-released in Japan one week before Pearl Harbor, the military and most audiences found the first part to be too serious, but the studio and Mizoguchi both regarded it as so important that Part Two was put into production despite Part One's lukewarm reception. Renowned by postwar scholars lucky enough to have seen it in Japan, THE 47 RONIN wasn't shown in America until the 1970's.

Released in Japan a week before the attack on Pearl Harbor, the film was a qualified critical success but a box-office failure, sending the director into an 18-month depression.

During shooting, director Kenji Mizoguchi's wife went mad, but the director was forced, by government edict, to continue working.

This epic was the most expensive film produced in Japan during the war years.

The executives in charge of the exorbitant production were forced to resign after its box-office failure.

Director Akira Kurosawa stated that Mizoguchi was "no good at samurai."

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