Skip to footer

Keanu Reeves: It was 'very special' to be part of '47 Ronin'

Keanu Reeves stars in '47 Ronin,' a film based on real events about a lord who was wrongfully put to death and his followers — the ronin — who sought revenge.

|
Shuji Kajiyama/AP
Actors and actresses, from left, Ko Shibasaki, Hiroyuki Sanada, Keanu Reeves, Tadanobu Asano, Rinko Kikuch and director Carl Rinsch pose at a press conference for "47 Ronin" in Tokyo, Japan, Monday, Nov. 18.
  • By Yuriko Nagano Associated Press

| TOKYO

Keanu Reeves, his co-stars, and film director Carl Rinsch appeared together in front of a Tokyo audience on Monday to discuss "47 Ronin.."

Reeves said the film tells of people who "share this journey to reclaim their land, their honor, their way. It was very special to me to be part of it."

"47 Ronin" is based on an actual historical event during the Edo Period known as "Chushingura." It involved a lord who was wrongfully put to death and his followers — ronin — who sought revenge.

Rinsch said he took on the film subject and sat down with Keanu Reeves about two years ago. They wondered how they were going to take on a popular Japanese tale and do it justice. Rinsch said they decided to make the story their own, making "it a Hollywood blockbuster and see it through that lens."

"These themes of revenge, loyalty, perseverance, were things we knew from the very beginning were universal," said Rinsch, who is making his directorial feature debut with the film.

Japanese actor Hiroyuki Sanada stars as the main supporting character, Kuranosuke Oishi, a leader of the men. Sanada said that during the filming Reeves became more and more of a samurai, while the character he played became more "wild" in style.

Sanada said he and Reeves hoped to depict the friendship of two characters, which transcended borders and social positions, in the film.

Reeves, who grew up attracted to martial arts movies, makes his directorial debut this year with the martial arts action movie "Man of Tai Chi."

The film "47 Ronin" premiers in Japan on Dec. 6 and opens in US theaters on Dec. 25.

You've read  of  free articles. Subscribe to continue.
Real news can be honest, hopeful, credible, constructive.
What is the Monitor difference? Tackling the tough headlines – with humanity. Listening to sources – with respect. Seeing the story that others are missing by reporting what so often gets overlooked: the values that connect us. That’s Monitor reporting – news that changes how you see the world.
editor@csmonitor.com
Subscribe
Mark Sappenfield
Editor

Dear Reader,

About a year ago, I happened upon this statement about the Monitor in the Harvard Business Review – under the charming heading of “do things that don’t interest you”:

“Many things that end up” being meaningful, writes social scientist Joseph Grenny, “have come from conference workshops, articles, or online videos that began as a chore and ended with an insight. My work in Kenya, for example, was heavily influenced by a Christian Science Monitor article I had forced myself to read 10 years earlier. Sometimes, we call things ‘boring’ simply because they lie outside the box we are currently in.”

If you were to come up with a punchline to a joke about the Monitor, that would probably be it. We’re seen as being global, fair, insightful, and perhaps a bit too earnest. We’re the bran muffin of journalism.

But you know what? We change lives. And I’m going to argue that we change lives precisely because we force open that too-small box that most human beings think they live in.

The Monitor is a peculiar little publication that’s hard for the world to figure out. We’re run by a church, but we’re not only for church members and we’re not about converting people. We’re known as being fair even as the world becomes as polarized as at any time since the newspaper’s founding in 1908.

We have a mission beyond circulation, we want to bridge divides. We’re about kicking down the door of thought everywhere and saying, “You are bigger and more capable than you realize. And we can prove it.”

If you’re looking for bran muffin journalism, you can subscribe to the Monitor for $15. You’ll get the Monitor Weekly magazine, the Monitor Daily email, and unlimited access to CSMonitor.com.

Subscribe to insightful journalism

QR Code to Keanu Reeves: It was 'very special' to be part of '47 Ronin'
Read this article in
https://www.csmonitor.com/The-Culture/Latest-News-Wires/2013/1118/Keanu-Reeves-It-was-very-special-to-be-part-of-47-Ronin
QR Code to Subscription page
Start your subscription today
https://www.csmonitor.com/subscribe