The vengeance of the retainers of LordAsano in 1703 following his forced hara-kiri formed the basis for a classickabuki drama and several films. Mizoguchi's was based on a more recent kabukiversion by Seika Mayama, an austere and meditative interpretation centering onthe personal drama of Kuranosuke Oishi, who suffered having to play a false role(the dissipated roué) while awaiting the protracted day of vengeance.Mizoguchi was given a lavish budget-during the war, no expense was spared toinvoke the spirit of "the loyal 47"-but the joke was on the government."The tone is intriguingly ambiguous: although the sentiments seem to accordwith the military's concept of bushido, the warrior's code of devotion, Mizoguchiconsistently avoids the large gestures and obvious action scenes and invests thestory with a subdued, elegiac feeling for both the dead and the living.Stylistically, it is one of his most extraordinary achievements." (JohnGillett)