A Classic Revisited. Review on The Last Samurai Movie

The Last Samurai (2004)

Cast: Tom Cruise, Ken Watanabe

Directed by Edward Zwick

Plot Outline: An American military advisor embraces the Samurai culture he was hired to destroy after he is captured in battle

SYNOPSIS:

In one of this year?s two epic releases, there are times I wish I could find some fault with ?Samurai. But just this once, I?ll be gracious and generous. (Tom Cruise), a one-time Captain in the American forces, plagued by nightmares of his fiendish killing sprees, agrees to becoming a mercenary of sorts, and return to doing what he does best ? cold-blooded genocide. He is assigned to a mission by an agent of the Emperor of Japan to squash a local rebellion, led by Katsumato, (Ken Watanabe) the Emperor?s one-time teacher. He has to do this by training peasants to use superior American firepower.

Fate deals an uncanny blow and he is captured by the fierce Samurai (who, BTW live by the sword?die by the sword). But, interestingly is left alive and spends a year in recovery at the house of the warrior he murders in personal combat. Thereafter he is surrendered back to the Japanese Imperial Army. A lot changes since he left. He must take sides with one of the two dissidents, which he does. The story is an open-ended one, sparking speculations of a sequel.

REVIEW:

Epics are long poems. The strains of the inherent music has its adagios and its altos, woven around carefully selected words. Looking for the beauty in the notes, in the stanzas, is a tedious task, at best. Very little is left to be desired, as far as the telling of a complete story goes.

Period dramas usually reek of melancholy. But this particular movie, is relatively light fare, in those terms. Cruise shines, and if anything, carries the burden of his character?s pain and guilt, with incredible panache. You hate him, are repulsed at times, by his inexplicable weakness. While the movie is supposed to be a war movie, the blood and gore is not an issue.

Though, it is a tale set in the late 1870s, it has a contemporary feel. The story is an ageless one ? one that tells of human exploitation, of human weakness, of selling your soul, of forgiveness, and one of a love that might never be, of a dream that might never see daylight, of friendships forged through months of hatred, disgust et al.

Katsumoto (who has been nominated for the same movie), is the soul of the movie. He is all at once, a warrior-philosopher-poet. As the chieftain of the dreaded Samurai, his word is worshipped, yet he is human enough, humble enough to mingle with the least of his followers. He commands undying loyalty from all his men. He blows you away with his terse conversations, his twinkling eyes, and his smooth tenor vocals. While a substantial part of the movie needs to be understood through subtitles, this has not been its undoing.

The one fleeting kiss between RW?s widow (also K?s sis) and Cruise, reminds one of the sort of magic, classics are made of. Very, very sensual, yet possessed of a purity of the highest virtue. Through most of the movie, very little is spoken. Action is the driving factor of this storyline. Comic relief comes most unexpectedly, and adds to the charm of a tale well told. Not only in parts, but also as a whole.

Verdict:

-The story is not difficult to follow, though at times the dialogues are.

-Follow the eye movements, most of the exquisiteness of this tale, lies therein.

-The scenery (I suspect the location is NZ) is breathtakingly beautiful, as is the cinematography.

-The war scenes, as well as the combat scenes (in close-up, long-shot and panoramic) are at par with the best.

-You?ll relate to the story because the hero doesn?t die.