The Flipcritic

Of all the warrior clans in the world, are there any more honored than the samurai? With their elegant yet fearsome armor, lithe katanas, and noble ethos, they are probably the most respected fighters in all of filmdom. Every boy has idolized them growing up (myself included), and now with THE LAST SAMURAI, here is a film that honors them.

The manner of its reverence is ingenious, using a foreigner’s eyes as its audience’s, to peer into a culture dedicated to self-perfection, discipline, and honor, contrasting its standards with those of his own. I have read several complaints that it is another Hollywood film that depicts Americans saving Asians from themselves. But on the contrary, the film reverses the superiority of such cultures, by scrutinizing the value of Western modernism at the cost of Eastern traditions. There is much to be said about a Hollywood film that praises Japanese principles and mourns the loss of such venerable warriors.

The film is based on the events of the late 1800s. It depicts the onset of the Meiji Restoration, where Emperor Meiji (loosely personified in the film as Omura) has begun the dismantling of the shogunate. Hoping to catch up on other Western countries, he attempts to acclimatize his nation to all things Western. Japan’s trade with Western nations is in its fledgling stages, with preference given to the United States when it comes to armaments, in an attempt to quell rebellious fervor from the samurai class.

We then come to know Nathan Algren (Tom Cruise). A former U.S. army captain turned alcoholic, hounded by personal demons from past injustices. Through his old colleague Zebulon Grant (Billy Connolly of MRS. BROWN), he comes into the employ of the Japanese government, who wish to use his expertise of fighting the American Indian, in fighting the samurai. He performs his duty under the command of Colonel Bagley (Tony Goldwyn of AN AMERICAN RHAPSODY), who also holds a key to understanding Algren’s inner torment.

Circumstances lead Algren to front an under-prepared peasant army to suppress the local samurai contingent. With his troops easily defeated, he is captured by his foes’ leader, Katsumoto (Ken Watanabe), and brought to their village. It is here where he learns of his enemy’s ways, as they do his. And here it is revealed what the movie is also about, not just of Japan, its warriors, and its values, but of two men, separated by the seas, but of one mind, philosophy, and creed.

The movie unveils its theme mainly through conversations between these two protagonists, which flow as philosophical contemplations. Together they discuss what it means be alive; to die in battle; to be honorable even to one’s enemy. In a time when action movies and adventurous epics seem to be awash in combat, it is refreshing as a Japanese hot spring to listen to these introspective exchanges. Though the film is advertised as an epic, its two heroes know all too well what being a warrior means.

The movie is also skilled in its small revelations without insulting our intelligence. It trusts us to figure out how Algren’s anguish slowly fades away; how even the most belligerent of the samurai learn to respect him; how he discerns his combatants technique. It doesn’t telegraph explanations (as the LOTR movies do, although necessarily), and doesn’t fabricate falsity.

One such example is the treatment of Algren, and the widow of his victim, Taka (Koyuki Katou), Katsumoto’s sister. He killed her husband and as a result she cannot stand being assigned to his healing. One might ask how she could ever think of liking a man who has robbed her of a patriarch, but the film makes its small points here and there through her children, his sincerity, the passage of time, and a crucial apology.

Koyuki’s sweet guise along with Cruise’s good looks understandably creates a wanting in the audience for them to make love on screen. But in God’s name, how could they? In a time and place where a person’s honor (man or woman) was put above everything else, how could she sleep with a foreigner? With a man who had killed the father of her two children? Yes, there was sexual tension between the two, but there are too many things that dwarf their own instinctive desires, and both of them know it. Besides, their longing eyes communicate more caring than any caress could give.

Though the film is meditative, it is also on the other hand a rousing action picture. Where KILL BILL (another samurai movie I love, but for different reasons) is extravagant with bloodshed and short on swordplay, THE LAST SAMURAI gets its swordsmanship executed (dare I say it) perfectly. All of the action contains high tension, with multiple swordfights choreographed with no sense of compromise or lethargy. I found it wonderful to finally see the use of bowmen on horseback in full stride, displaying their archery as traditional Japanese archers do. And in all of the countless bad B-movies that I have seen ninjas in, this one finally gets it right.

The film’s climax contains a thrilling ground battle that reminded me of Kurosawa’s RAN (with flags color-coding the different troop formations). Though its scale is nowhere near the size of those in the LORD OF THE RINGS series, the combat seems more personal, with much more at stake, and imbued with a larger sense of loss after it is all said and done. The cavalry charge of Katsumoto and Algren are just as elegiac as that of Faramir’s in THE RETURN OF THE KING, if not more so (it also just so happens to occur on one of the most pristine real estate you will ever see).

Most of the performances are well done. Koyuki Katou is able to connote a gentle sweetness and inert sensuality as Taka. Tony Goldwyn portrays spiteful men as a trademark (remember GHOST?). And Tom Cruise gives a rather interesting performance as Algren. This is not the clean cut Cruise that I am accustomed to. I think that he is becoming aware of his age (his is 42 going on 23) and is beginning to try roles of silvering men, even though there isn’t a gray hair on him. His long hair and scruffy beard give him a more rugged demeanor and he fits easily into the role.

The real star of this movie is Ken Watanabe as Katsumoto (and I say this with great joy). Not since Toshiro Mifune of THE SEVEN SAMURAI has there been an actor who has so fully embodied the ideal samurai warrior. Ferocity with grace, depth with power, presence with essence. He has it all. I cannot remember how much a single character has affected a film’s entire constitution with such dignity and poise. It is my most fervent wish that he be given great roles in the future in appreciation for his truly magnificent performance (he’ll be nominated for an Oscar -- write it down).

So why not four stars? Because of its ending, which is a travesty. I will say nothing else but that it is a cop out; a plot requirement to please the Hollywood establishment. I cannot explain the displeasure I felt at seeing the convenience that is revealed towards the end. How I wish things could be otherwise, but the point is moot. Edward Zwick, director of some of the most thoughtful films about war and its contexts (GLORY, COURAGE UNDER FIRE, & THE SIEGE), has fashioned another elegant addition to his resume. THE LAST SAMURAI, esteems esteem, treasures the beauty of Japan, and honors the memory of those who brought it honor. It reaches far and had greatness in its grasp. Now Mr. Zwick, about the ending…

Posted by FLIPCRITIC at January 22, 2004 06:48 PM