Last Samurai, directed by Edward Zwick, is inspired by real historical events in 19th Century Japan. Japan has recently opened up to the outside world and is rapidly modernizing. In order to accomplish this successfully, the Meiji government brings in many foreign advisors to build them up. The main character is Captain Nathan Algren (Tom Cruise), who comes to Japan to train its army. He is also expected to help lead it against the titular Last Samurai, rebellious warriors under Lord Moritsugu Katsumoto (Ken Watanabe) who believe that Japan's rapid modernization has enabled corrupt and greedy individuals to gain power over the Emperor at the people's expense. Impressed by Algren's ferocity and courage, Katsumoto has him taken prisoner rather than killed after a major defeat for the government. Algren, suffering from personal demons, becomes fascinated by the samurai and finds renewed purpose by helping them instead. It's a bit like Dances with Wolves.
This movie is heavily inaccurate, yet it's awesome and I recommend watching it. It's inspired by the 1877 Satsuma Rebellion, in which incorruptible samurai Saigo Takamori led a revolution. It also combines elements with the Boshin War (1868-1869). Katsumoto, the coolest characters thanks to Watanabe's performance, is based on Saigo. Like the character in the film, Saigo felt that the Meiji government was moving too fast, and that this enabled many to enrich themselves at the expense of good governance. He and other samurai were also distressed by the loss of privileges they once held, such as guaranteed rice payments and the right to carry swords anywhere. The movie's inspired version on the other hand is more purely conservative, with him and his followers effectively maintaining a pre-modern lifestyle. Thus their war with the government in the film borrows elements from the Boshin War, in which the more conservative shogunate warred with the Meiji faction. Even then the Shogunate employed modern weapons in its armies. Only politically and culturally was it old-fashioned.
Zwick's decision to alter the nature of the Satsuma Rebellion leads to the most glaring inaccuracy of the movie, which is the samurai's refusal to fight with modern arms. They say that it is dishonorable to do so. Anybody with a fair knowledge of samurai and Japanese history rightly finds this baffling. In the 16th Century the Japanese enthusiastically purchased European firearms and quickly learned how to produce them on their own. In the movie they don't even use antiquated matchlocks, relying on bows for ranged fighting and charging in to use their spears and swords (this does make for a couple cool battle scenes). What makes this decision even odder is that in real life Saigo built up an impressive arsenal of artillery. In fact when he besieged an imperial force it was the government soldiers who had almost no modern weapons!
Those with historical knowledge will also realize that the samurai are heavily romanticized. The movie seems to suggest that the traditional samurai way of life was a wonderful system of honor. The samurai village where Katsumoto is based is idyllic. Peasant villagers happily go about their everyday duties while the benevolent warriors spend their spare time honing their fighting skills. In reality the samurai were not uniformly benevolent overlords and were a hereditary and heavily privileged bureaucratic force. They could boss around lower classes and kill them for the slightest offenses. By contrast the movie is vague about what exactly is wrong with the Meiji government. It's said that the new political elite is uncaring for the poor, but we never see any visible examples. After the final battle the emperor decides to honor and incorporate the samurai way of life while still modernizing Japan. This romanticization of pre-Meiji Japan for the modern world actually occurred much later in the 20th Century, and some may argue that this reinforced Japan's imperialist aggression before and during World War II. Despite this the general message is nice. The positive parts of the past can be acknowledged and utilized while a nation moves forward.
I should probably discuss Tom Cruise's character. Thanks to the poster people though the Samurai in Last Samurai referred to him (it is a word that is both singular and plural). It actually refers to the group he eventually joins. His character, Nathan Algren, is an American officer who's turned to the bottle to deal with the trauma of his past. He is haunted by his participation of the Washita River raid (in which American soldiers gunned down dozens of women and children). His observance and then embracement of the samurai way of life helps him overcome his past by giving him a noble cause to fight for. Algren, like Katsumoto, is loosely based on a real historical figure. This one is Jules Brunet, a French officer who helped train the Shogun's troops in the 1860s. When the Boshin War broke out he was told to leave with the other French officers. He instead resigned and fought for the Shogunate, evidently impressed by it in some way. Of course he was Americanized for Hollywood.
The other characters are generally good. Taka (Koyuki Kato) is Katsumoto's sister and Algren's love interest. She's fine. Ujio is a stock character of these types of films, the guy who is angry and distrustful towards the outsider and tries to make things rough for him. He is played by Hiroyuki Sanada, one of the more recognizable Japanese actors for western audiences. Timothy Spall provides exposition as Simon Graham, a good-natured British journalist and photographer. On the antagonists' side there's slimy industrialist and politician Matsue Omura (Masato Harada) and Algren's more culturally (and perhaps racially) bigoted former superior Colonel Bagley (Tony Goldwyn). Finally there is Emperor Meiji himself, played by Shichinosuke Nakamura. Here he is shown as a very young man who is easily overwhelmed and controlled by bureaucrats and industrialists, much to the sadness of Katsumoto.
The battle scenes are great. There's the first confrontation with the samurai in the fog. The final battle is fantastic, with the samurai using their wits to even the odds against the emperor's modern army. There's even a ninja attack! By the way, this movie is Rated R for violence, with no nudity and not much in the way of foul language. There's lots of blood and several decapitations. Finally I want to mention Hans Zimmer's musical score. It's one of his best, expertly blending Japanese instrumentation with his own style.
Overall this is a movie that's arguably even more inaccurate than Braveheart. Still, it's a great movie with good actors and awesome action. It's also done a great job drumming up interest in Japanese history outside of World War II. Even with the factions and motivations scrambled, it looks at the issues facing Japan in the 19th Century. I've actually read a book about Saigo that you can look up here if anybody is interested.
Rating: 8/10
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