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MOVIE REVIEW
Last Samurai,
The
(2003)
Starring:
Tom Cruise, Ken Watanabe, Koyuki
Director:
Edward Zwick
Rating: R
Studio:
Warner Bros.
Release Date: 12.05.03
Review
Posted: 12.05.03
By
Sara M. Fetters
Conflicted,
Unfocused "Samurai" Showcase for Japanese Superstar
What to make
of Tom Cruise’s latest epic adventure, “The Last Samurai.” Is it
really nothing more than a big-budget “Dances with Wolves”
retread with sword-swinging armies on horseback substituting for
Native Americans charging across the tundra with bows and
arrows? Or, does “Courage Under Fire” and “Glory” director
Edward Zwick elevate this into something special, treading into
territory the likes of which only Kurosawa (“The Seven Samurai,”
“Ran”) and Mizoguchi (“The 47 Ronin”) have trod with consistent
honor?
It’s a
valiant, epic scale effort by Zwick and Cruise. Armies sweep
across pristine green fields with restless fury, and the
brutality of war fought with both howitzer cannons and samurai
sword is not shied away from. But where the visuals astound, the
story is lacking. It gets the pulse racing and asks tough
questions to be sure, the picture just doesn’t know what to do
with either once they are produced. Unfortunately, “The Last
Samurai” is a rousing disappointment.
Cruise is
Captain Nathan Algren, Civil War hero and a renowned soldier
lauded for his participation out west during the Indian
Campaigns. But Algren is haunted by those events, especially his
hand in the brutal massacre of women and children in a native
village. Now he’s nothing more than an alcoholic, burned-out
shell reduced to showing off his skills with a firearm for
profiteering gun manufactures. So when former commander Col.
Bagley (Tony Goldwyn) – the vile leader who ordered Algren’s
village rampage – comes with an offer from the Japanese
government to train their soldiers in modern warfare, the former
Calvary officer sees as a chance get far away from his past
demons and hopefully leave his evening nightmares long behind.
For the first
time in 200 years, Japan has opened its doors to the outside
world and the United States – the devastation and financial ruin
of a post-Civil War South still hanging over the country – wants
in on all the potential economic advantages this new policy
could bring. Algren’s assistance in helping the Emperor (Schinosuke
Nakamura, in his film debut) stop a burgeoning rebellion is the
first step towards treaty and potential union, the U.S. more
than willing to supply the latest in lethal hardwire to help
facilitate the rebel’s demise.
But the local
magistrates and Col. Bagley grow impatient with the Captain’s
seemingly continuous training of the conscript army. After the
rebel leader’s – distinguished samurai warrior and the Emperor’s
former teacher Katsumoto (Ken Watanabe) – fighters raid a local
village, Algren is ordered to take his men up into the hills and
hunt him down. The army isn’t close to being ready and their
ranks are decimated by the well-trained and vicious samurai
forces. Nathan, fighting side-by-side with his men even though
ordered to the safety of the rear, is wounded and taken captive
by Katsumoto, the rebel leader impressed with the Civil War
veteran's willingness fight and die with the Japanese peasants
under his command.
In the
village, Algren is slowly nursed back to health under the
watchful eye of Taka (Koyuki), a woman he windowed back on that
bloody Japanese hilltop. Soon, Nathan’s mournful shell begins to
crack as he learns the way of the Bushido – the way of the
warrior – coming to embrace many of the ideals held dear by
Katsumoto and his followers. So much so, the Captain takes up
the samurai sword himself, joining the rebel leader on the
battlefield up against the very soldiers he once commanded.
It’s all very
visually exciting, and there are some heady concepts and
questions brought up throughout the picture. Notions of western
– primarily American – imperialism during the latter half of the
19th century are put forward, as are the ideals of
cultural hegemony in a society in the midst of social and
political upheaval. If that isn’t enough, there are the epic
battle sequences bristling with energy and vicious activity. The
scenes are kinetically enthralling; a legion of samurais appear
out of an unholy mist, blue-suited legionnaires march across a
field of green, galloping horsemen charge down cannons in heroic
splendor; and Zwick definitely knows how to grab the jugular
when exploring all the ramifications of battlefield violence.
So where does
“The Last Samurai” go wrong? Blame Zwick and his fellow
screenwriters, longtime “Thirtysomething” collaborator Marshall
Herskovitz and “Gladiator” scribe John Logan. Their screenplay
and story is at times almost so wrongheaded to be insulting.
With only a very base knowledge of the historical events
surrounding this picture, even I know that in reality the
samurai were very much fighting to keep a feudal way of life
alive that went out of its way to promote societal class
structures akin to the very same our country just decried in
regards to Afghanistan’s Taliban ruling class. While Zwick and
company are quick to embrace the Bushido ethos of honor, loyalty
and sacrifice – concepts definitely worth promoting – they’re
just as quick to gloss over the rigidly conservative and
stifling tactics and mores the samurai preached and enforced at
the same time.
This wouldn’t
be so bad if Algren’s conversion to the warrior code was more
believable. At first, I was positive the director was going to
make it all work; the Captain and Katsumoto entering into at
what first appear to be a set of intriguing and beguiling
tête-à-têtes. But, as soon as they start to have these
conversations, they are just as suddenly over, Zwick instead
choosing to lead with Algren’s journal entry voiceovers which
unfortunately come off more pedantic and unbearable than
anything else. Once again,
Hollywood
has given us the all-knowing, all-seeing white man to lead the
way, and while I understand this technique – and casting a movie
star of Cruise’s caliber in the role – is the only way a movie
like this could ever be made, I still don’t have to like it. I
couldn’t help but feel my ambiguity over it all – especially in
regards to the seemingly abundant historical inaccuracies –
wouldn’t easily have been diffused if Zwick and Cruise had the
courage to allow Katsumoto to be the movie’s central figure.
That is what
is probably the most egregious mistake made by the picture.
Japanese superstar Watanabe owns “The Last Samurai.” As the
titular character, his performance is one for the ages. It is as
if Kurosawa regular
Toshirô
Mifune (“Throne of Blood”) sat up in his grave and
gave Watanabe all his secrets of portraying conflicted men of
honor. His multi-tiered work runs the gamut of painful to
passionate, forceful to tender, and I cannot image the movie
without him.
In fact, many
of the Japanese actors make a deeply indelible impression. The
beautiful Koyuki is soft and gentle, yet there is an air of
purposeful conviction always hovering all around her. Even
better is Shun Sagata. A veteran of over fifty films including
Quentin Tarantino’s “Kill Bill,” he plays Katsumoto’s right-hand
man Nakao, a powder keg of passionate pride that galvanizes the
proceedings. Two moments with the actor stand out. The first is
a rain-soaked encounter with Algren, the fury cascading off the
warrior’s face like pulsating raindrops as he witnesses the
military officer’s own resolute courage firsthand. The second is
near the end, a blood-splattered Nakao climbing back upon his
horse one final time for a last heroic charge.
As for
Cruise, he does what he can with his underwritten role. It is an
impressive physical performance if nothing else, the actor
shaping his body into lithe, combative perfection to take on the
part. But dramatically, Cruise has mined many of the depths
required in “The Last Samurai” before, most recently in an
Oscar-nominated turn in P.T. Anderson’s “Magnolia,” and in
Cameron Crowe’s mind-bending “Vanilla Sky.” Don’t get me wrong,
he’s quite good, just not good enough to make me forget about
the film’s almost fatal flaws.
I say almost
because “The Last Samurai” does linger in my thoughts. I wanted
it to work quite badly, and much of it does resonate. If nothing
else, I cannot help but have trouble shaking off Watanabe’s
titanic acting. He hints at the beautiful, mythically tragic
life of Katsumoto with subtle moving grace, capturing the time
and spirit of an age long departed. And while the film is sadly
lacking in many ways, his performance is Oscar-worthy, and alone
worth the price of admission.
Rating:
êê1/2 (out of 4)
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