Set in late-medieval Japan, the 2013 fantasy action drama 47 Ronin stars Keanu Reeves as Kai, the member of a real samurai group that continues to be immortalized in Japanese folklore. 47 Ronin revolves around the titular group of ronin (wandering samurai with no master) who set out to avenge the death of their master at the hands of a cruel shōgun (military ruler). This arduous quest also makes Kai and his fellow warriors cross paths with witches and a dragon. Despite its blend of history and fantasy, 47 Ronin bombed at the box office and earned mostly negative reviews from critics and audiences.
Despite its failed performance, 47 Ronin is still interesting for those who wish to know more about Japanese history. Its central story has been reinterpreted in several movies and shows, but 47 Ronin sets itself apart with higher stakes and mythological overtones. While Keanu Reeves’s half-Japanese half-English hero Kai is a fictional character, many other of the 47 Ronin cast play real-life figures. Hiroyuki Sanada as the ronin leader Yoshio Oishi and Min Tanaka as their former master Lord Asano Naganori are a few such cases that make 47 Ronin somewhat based on a true story.
Who Were The Real 47 Ronin?
As 47 Ronin director Carl Rinsch revealed, the movie was always inspired by a real Japanese story. This is the tale of an actual group of 47 master-less samurai who once used to serve the daimyo (feudal lord) Asano Naganori. But when the lord attacked the influential court official Yoshinaka Kira in a fit of rage, the dishonorable act compelled Naganori to perform a ritual known as seppuku where he took his own life. Left without a master, Naganori’s samurai devised an elaborate plan to avenge his death a year later. The 47 warriors achieved their goal by killing Kira. This act finally helped them achieve their master’s honor.
The chronology of these events, however, is not specified, and there are multiple sources to determine the exact year. To quote Rinsch, “47 Ronin is a historical event. It really actually happened, [in] 1702 or 1703, depending on which scholar you believe.” William E. Deal, in the nonfiction book Handbook to Life in Medieval and Early Modern Japan, adds that even though the attack against Kira was supposedly carried out on January 13, Japanese people commemorate the event every year on December 14. Rinsch also mentioned how December 14 “is a big deal” with the Japanese closing schools and banks and paying respect at the graves of the 47 ronin.
Did The Real 47 Ronin Kill Themselves?
At the end of the 47 Ronin movie, Kai and the rest of the samurai are sentenced to death for Kira’s murder, as they had been prohibited by a shōgun to avenge their late master. However, it is decided that the warriors still followed the samurai moral code known as bushido. This allows them to die an honorable death as they all perform ritual suicide together. This is indeed the tragic fate that the real 47 ronin had to undergo after attaining their revenge. With public in favor of the ronin, the Japanese authorities were forced to offer them an honorable death instead of punishing them like criminals.
This true story of the seppuku that the samurai were involved in became the perfect moral tale for the years to come. Symbolizing unwavering loyalty and honor that people should strive for, the popularity of the story kept on growing until the Meiji era of Japanese history (1868-1912). Even though the country was modernizing itself and undergoing radical cultural changes during this time, the story of the 47 ronin helped in retaining pride in national culture and identity. Commenting on the philosophical themes of their sacrifice, Carl Rinsch adds, “It has real emotional resonance to that culture. We in the West know very little about it.”
Kai Is A Fictional Character
What some people might not know about Keanu Reeves is his mixed ethnicity. The Canadian actor’s father is of Hawaiian, Chinese, English, Irish, and Portuguese descent. Similarly, Reeves’s protagonist Kai in 47 Ronin is treated like an outcast among the Japanese for his mixed origins. This racial angle as well as the character of Kai himself were created solely for the film. In reality, there was no half-white samurai warrior involved in the group. As it is also obvious, the elements of witchcraft and dragon-like beasts are fictional plot points that are just meant to dramatize the original narrative.
The Real Characters In 47 Ronin
The movie that director Carl Rinsch describes as “Kurosawa on meth” is ultimately a work of alternate history with heavily fabricated details just like how the Meiji-era drama The Last Samurai changed its true story. It must still be noted that many other historical figures are accurately portrayed in 47 Ronin. What the movie doesn’t change is the inclusion of the group’s leader, Yoshio Oishi, and their dead leader, Asano Naganori, along with the shōgun Tokugawa Tsunayoshi. It was this shōgun who had branded the samurai as ronin and prohibited them from seeking revenge. And of course, the ronin’s primary target, Yoshinaka Kira, also features significantly in 47 Ronin.
The 47 Ronin True Story Started A Genre Of Its Own
Despite its fantasy narrative, 47 Ronin isn’t the first fictionalized version of the original story; some of Japan’s best samurai movies have dramatized it in the past. In fact, the true story has achieved such a legendary status in the country that its fictional retellings in literature and popular culture are collectively labeled as Chūshingura (which literally translates to The Treasury of Loyal Retainers). The 1928 black-and-white Japanese classic Chūkon giretsu: Jitsuroku Chūshingura was the first movie to tell the story of the 47 ronin. This was followed by several other movies and TV shows. English adaptations include another movie starring Keanu Reeves: Last Knights.
For Carl Rinsch, his own 2013 movie is very much a work of Chūshingura as it reinterprets the historical event much like what other Japanese takes on the 47 ronin have done. “Chūshingura is not just a historically accurate story. It's taking it and making it your own. There's the Hello Kitty Chūshingura, they've told the '47 Ronin' with all women,” Rinsch said while also mentioning how Japanese directors have come up with prequels and sequels to the true story. While 47 Ronin failed to create an impact, the tale of those brave 47 warriors from 18th-century Japan continues to endure in the modern-day world.
