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The
Last Samurai
Opens Jan 22 Cast: Tom Cruise, Ken Watanabe Lost in Samurai The last authentic samurai movie that springs into mind bears the Kurosawa mark. Now American director Edward Zwick, famous for his 2 war movies Legend of the Falls and Courage Under Fire, can say that his vision of samurais in the latest historical epic The Last Samurai gets as high marks for trying to be genuine as does Ken Watanabe's earnest attempt at conversing in English.
It is 1876 San Francisco and ex-U.S. 7th Cavalry officer Captain Nathan Algren (Tom Cruise) slouches with guilt and immerses himself in alcohol. A veteran of the Civil War against the Red Indians, he takes no pride in being part of General Custer's victory against his unarmed opponents. Algren seems to count the days while slowly wasting away. He takes an unexpected job offer to train the Japanese Emperor's army in modern firearm warfare. It is a job that's both demanding and deadly rather than the escapist holiday he had in mind. He arrives in the land of the rising sun at a time when Japan is ostensibly emulating the Western modernisation and ruthlessly eradicating her past. And the samurais' rebellion is standing in the Emperor's wayward vision of modernising Japan. As Algren leads the inexperienced Japanese troops into battle with the samurais, he is captured by them. However in his capture, Algren slowly regains the inner peace that alluded his pre-Japan days. He earns his Zen-like peace from an unlikely source - samurai leader Katsumoto (Ken Watanabe). In an ironic twist, Algren soon holds the fate of Japan and its traditions in his hands. A painful journey of forgiving and finding oneself again, The Last Samurai keeps the viewer seated throughout the 154 minutes with more than landscapes from picturesque Japan and New Zealand, where the movie was shot. This is an epic movie that is dichotomised by 2 complex characters from extreme cultural backgrounds who against all odds, understand each other and provide the audience with a visceral experience of brotherhood, loyalty and love. With the simplicity and gracefulness of the samurai sword, each battle scene was simply but beautifully choreographed unlike the complications of the epic battle scenes in The Lord of the Rings: Return of the King and the exaggerated killing sequences in Kill Bill: Vol. 1. Hans Zimmer, composer for Pearl Harbor and Black Hawk Down, provides a lovely score, which was nominated for Best Original Score at the Golden Globes. The Last Samurai is not a movie that one would imagine Cruise being part of. His Oscar-nominated roles as a political activist in Born on the Fourth of July, a fanatic sports agent in Jerry Maguire and an estranged son in Magnolia, are a far cry from wearing a heavy metal costume and prancing around with a sword that can actually kill. But then again, he did do his own stunts in Mission Impossible II.
Already nominated for a Golden Globe in the Best Actor category, Cruise could very well be looking forward to a 4th Oscar nomination in this year's Academy Awards. The 40-year-old knew the demands of the role deeply as he took 2 years to master the art of sword fighting and learning Japanese to prepare himself for the role. Still, a star is only as good as what his co-stars make him out to be. Special mention must go to Watanabe for his portrayal of a Confucius-like Katsumoto and his, at times, inaudible English. A fellow student of war like Algren, Katsumoto seems a lonely man with only disarrayed but rather philosophical and poetic thoughts of being a disgrace to his Emperor. Though he seems to show no sign of empathy to his sister Taka's loss of her husband and has an ambivalent relationship with his son Nobutaka, this warrior wears his heart on his sleeves when his family is endangered. Perhaps Watanabe looks upon the characters of Taka and Nobutaka as his own children, since in reality he is a divorcee and a father of 2. Allow Zwick to show you the beauty of Japan's traditions and culture without even being there. However, don't allow the much griped about "Hollywood ending" override your enjoyment of this wonderfully pieced epic. As Nobutada said, this is "jolly good". Rating: |
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