Produced over a two-year period, Kenji Mizoguchi's version of the oft-filmed Seika Mayama story The 47 Ronin was too big to be confined to a single film. Thus, it was released in two parts, each running between 105 and 115 minutes. The story begins in feudal Japan in December of 1701, when warrior leader Lord Asano is tricked into committing Hara-Kiri. Oishi, Asano's loyal clansman, holds the wicked Lord Kira responsible. 14 months after Arano's death, Oishi assembles 47 loyal Ronin (samurai) to exact vengeance. Director Mizoguchi abandoned his usual fascination with modern-day social problems in favor of epic patriotism (remember, the film was made while Japan was still winning World War II.

Part Two contines to follow the course of vengeance plotted by Ronin (samurai) warrior Oishi. It is now 1703, nearly two years after the suicide of Oishi's leader, Lord Arano. Knowing that Arano was hoodwinked into committing hara-kiri by the evil Lord Kira, Oishi has assembled 47 loyal warriors to lay waste to Kira's domain. Remarkably, this spectacular production was made while Japan was deeply embroiled in World War 2. Not the first movie adaptation of Seika Mayama's classic story, and far from the last, the 1942 version of 47 Ronin was undoubtedly the best and most popular; it was also one of the least typical filmic efforts of director Mizoguchi, who was more at home with sociological and feminist dramas.