I am utterly confused by the role of these lordless samurai. Why did they decide to fight to defend the Asano castle? And where are they now and what in the world is their role in this film? I gathered from the guy with the staff who tossed the haystacks that they could go and find wokr for anyone, but how did they become lordless in the first place? I would think that lord Asano's subjects would now be lordless, but they still seem to feel that they owe him their loyalty.
Posted by carlos at November 4, 2004 10:18 AMThey are surely "lordless" in that their daimyo is dead, but they are bound to him by a sense of loyalty that goes far beyond anything that we would entertain. As ronin perhaps legally they should simply disperse, and maybe take service with other lords... but the importance of the story is that they don't. As Buruma says, Chushingura is all about the exquisite conflicts of loyalties...
Posted by: Hugh at November 4, 2004 11:06 AMYea the juxtaposition (ridiculous word) of the haystack thrower and the 47 ronin seems to highlight a huge theme of the movie. As samurai, the ronin are responsible for their lord's bidding and his life. Once their lord dies, or releases them, their purpose in life disappears, and they would often honorably kill themselves. The way the haystack thrower ends up fighting with and for the ronin shows that he appreciates the bushido code, and puts across the movie's theme that that code should shape the lives of the samurai, not the overall forces of society. The way the haystack thrower says, "they couldn't pay me enough" might alude to the fact that they could not give him a sufficient cause to fulfil the void in his purpose left by his lost master.
Posted by: alex white at November 9, 2004 11:17 PM