L'ultimo samurai

The Last Samurai is a brilliantly crafted aesthetic pleasure, studded with supernal performances from Ken Watanabe and Tom Cruise. In fact, Tom Cruise unarguably gives his best ever performance, surpassing his portrayal of Jerry Maguire in the eponymous flick. His plaintive portrayal of Nathan Algren, not only evokes pathos but also seeks sympathy of the contemporary viewer, who can vicariously relate to Algren's disconcertion, owing to his inner conflicts of patriotism vis-à-vis humanity.

However, it is Ken Watanabe, who steals the show with his mesmerizing and poignant portrayal of Katsumoto, the leader of the last clan of Samurai. His screen presence and delivery is truly amazing and even outshines that of Tom Cruise, which is a compliment in itself. The scenes between Watanabe and Cruise are pure gold, depicting fluctuating feelings of hostility, compassion and camaraderie.

Watanabe's intense and powerful performance in which he displays a wide range of emotions, is definitely worthy of the coveted statuette, but the academy never fails to disappoint. Watanabe's brilliant portrayal, not only mesmerizes the viewers, but also convinces the critics of his acting abilities. The tacit adoration between Algren and Taka (subtly played by Koyuki), enormously adds to the beauty of the movie. All this coupled with some brilliant cinematography and a mesmerizing score, makes it a treat to watch and a truly surreal experience.

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"The Last Samurai" 2003 and "The Last of the Dogmen" (1995 d: Tab Murphy, with Tom Berenger and Barbara Hershey in the lead) are both films with the theme of the 'last' of warrior spirits (one is Samurai, one is Cheyenne). The production of The Last Samurai is well worth seeing - the glory of a large-scale Hollywood production it is. From the research of the historical Japanese Meiji period, the mannerisms, the way different classes of people dress, the settings, the battle weapons and armory, how the Samurai train and fight, to the study and appreciation of the Art of War - where men of honor and integrity in service to the Emperor is the thing to die for. The film title in three Kanji characters means The Way of the Warrior (Samurai). The one character shown on screen at the very beginning (romanization: Sze) meant in the service of the King. Hence the definition of Watanabe's Samurai lifelong one true goal - to serve his Emperor, one and only, and to die in the service of the Emperor would be an honor.

The film, directed by Ed Zwick, is truly a combined labor of love of everyone involved. From the producer-lead actor Tom Cruise and Zwick's film-making partner Marshall Herskovitz, cinematography by John Toll and film score by Hans Zimmer, to the costuming details, diverse casting, location scouting all the way to New Zealand and training of the supporting cast - even the official Web site with extensive production notes - all provide enhanced appreciation of this remarkable film. The storyline and drama of "The Last Samurai" evoke various level of emotions, pulling the heartstrings of the audience with high emotional energy - suspense, sadness, smiles, empathy, joy.

"Kagemusha" by Akira Kurosawa, of course, is the ultimate grandeur of a historic Samurai epic. "The Last Samurai" is comparable in drama and treatment if not with equal passionate efforts all round. Both are available on DVD with special features of audio commentary and the making of 'featurette' and more.

The Last Samurai is a strictly by-the-numbers samurai epic set in 1876-1877 Japan. All the necessary ingredients are here - beautiful Japanese landscapes and costumes, larger than life battlefield sequences, and eastern philosophy.Although the pageantry is not as beautiful as such samurai epics as "Heaven and Earth", it is more than adequate.

Do not, however go into this film expecting "Kill Bill", grindhouse type swordplay nor the poignancy of a Kurosawa piece. Instead, "The Last Samurai" occupies the middle ground; a human story of one Westerner learning to embrace another culture kind of a mixture of "Dances With Wolves" and "Shogun", films from which it derives almost directly. And this is the films greatest flaw. It is utterly predictable. No spoilers here, we all know what happens to the samurai. If not, the title ought to give you a clue. Every scene is one that you were expecting to see. And the ending is the ending you expect.

But Zwick and co. still manage to weave an engaging story with panache, and a climactic (despite it's predictability) ending, and that is why "The Last Samurai" is such a great film. As the Zen saying goes, "Success is a journey, not a destination". It is equally applicable to the samurai in the film, and the film itself. A success. 8/10.

This movie is filled with such excellent performances, beautiful cinematography, well choreographed action scenes, that me not understanding the movie, still liked it anyway.

I don't know much about Japanese culture or about the history of Japan during the late 1800s, so I could not fully understand what was happening in this movie. What impressed upon me is that Nathan Algren, a disallusioned, alcoholic American soldier who went to Japan to train the emperor's troops, was able to find friendship and respect the great samurai, Katsumoto. These two men, from different countries and cultures, were able to become friends because they are both warriors under their very different exteriors.

Tom Cruise is so good in this movie, but it is easy to overlook his performance and just think, wow, this man is so hot! He's even sexy as an alcoholic! This guy is so good looking that it took me awhile to see him as Nathan Algren, and not just Tom Cruise, sexy superstar actor. But once I got use to seeing him in this character, I believed him totally. But Ken Watanabe's emotionally, intense performance, totally blows away Tom Cruise's performance. One can't help but grow to respect this samurai who opposes the western influence in Japan and wants to retain the samurai way of life. This japanese actor is terrific! I hope to see him more in American movies. Even if you don't care for historical movies, you should still go just to see the performance of Ken Watanabe and Tom Cruise.

I won't go into the plot. I think everyone has a pretty good idea of what the plot is. I just have to say, I don't see anything wrong with the japanese emperor trying to modernize Japan by associating with the Western powers, and I don't understand why Katusomoto is so against that. That's the one major problem I have with this movie, is that I don't understand enough of the politics during that time in Japan. Otherwise, this is a pretty great action flick and I enjoyed it immensely.

With `The Last Samurai', director Ed Zwick appears to be aiming for an epic on the scale of a David Lean or Akira Kurosawa film. He couldn't possibly aim higher, and if he is not entirely successful he has nevertheless produced a film which will leave audiences grateful for the ways in which he is.

Impressively, Zwick never forgets that a great epic is based in equal parts on quiet moments of personal growth as well as on spectacle, and the two are in proper balance throughout `The Last Samurai'. Furthermore, this film never falls into the trap of presenting its American hero as the savior of a group of savages. It's presentation of the Japanese culture as represented by both the government forces and the Samurai warriors is informative, entertaining and never less than three dimensional.

The film's opening (and, later, closing) moments are its weakest. Simply stated, Tom Cruise is completely unconvincing as an embittered and alcoholic Civil War veteran. Watching him deal with stock characters (such as the photographer played by Timothy Spall), we are reminded of school-level productions in which a young cast can not possibly understand much less convey the life experience we are supposed to believe they have had.

Fortunately, things pick up considerably when Cruise finds himself in the hands of the Samurai warriors he has come to Japan to train the soldiers against. Not only is the actor convincing in the physical daring-do we have come to expect of him, but he is able to project a subtle variation on a theme he has explored before. His characters always seem to exist for the purpose of getting some form of comeuppance. Here it comes not in the form of a big emotive scene, but gradually, over the course of time, as he gives himself over to a world based on ritual, respect and honor. These quiet moments, juxtaposed with his learning the ways of the warriors, are the heart and soul of this film. Cruise is greatly abetted by the excellent actors Ken Watanabe and Koyuki in these sequences, as well as by the boys who play Koyuki's sons. Indeed, the greatest example of Zwick's skill in piloting this film can be found in the ease with which the film alternates between two languages, with none of the clunky feel too often associated with joint international ventures.

Not surprisingly, the film leads up to a spectacular battle sequence which, if anything, is even more impressive than any found in `Braveheart' or `Gladiator'. "The Last Samurai" can not help but recall "Dances With Wolves", with which it has a great deal in common, as well.

There is, however, a hokey quality to the film's final half-hour which brings it back to the level of its opening, with an unrealistic coda that its title portends to. There are, in fact, too many endings, and none of them are on the level of the film's best moments.

But if `The Last Samurai' sometimes falls short of its epic aspirations, it nevertheless is far more successful than many of its recent peers. It will be interesting to see how it holds up with time.