MINOR SPOILERS
'They say Japan was made by a sword'
The Last Samurai 8.1
The opening narration sets a wistful tone, we see an Asian man, meditating alone, seeing mental images of fighting with a tiger. Next, we see tom cruise, swigging liquor, he is introduced as a 'true American hero' but he doesn't act like one. We quickly learn he is at the end of his tether, and clearly feels disillusioned with his American army.. a common theme in certain war-drama films. He has visions of past battles, he is racked with guilt, he is trying to forget.
This is a good role for Tom Cruise, who does a good job of it. It could almost be a sequel to another of his top films Born on the Fourth of July, where he prouldy goes to war with starry eyes, only to return to be overlooked and abandoned by his country, he was essentially mis-sold the noble idea of fighting for a cause (a storyline pretty much perfected in the superb original All Quiet in the Western Front)
Within 15 mins we have seen and heard some of the stark differences between the American and Japanese cultures, this is the overarching theme of the film. (For a truly great film about the Japanese culture see Scorsese's Silence) Tom is informed as he arrives in Japan that 'the emperor is mad for all things western' and that 'the ancient and the modern are at war for the soul of Japan', so clearly there are contradictory influences to weigh up, much like in America at the time. He seems intrigued by the culture, having already excelled in the american army-and being no better off for it, a fresh way of thinking is too much to resist. We learn he is unhappy with the lack of respect in the american way (specifically the mistreatment of the native Americans) so this may be the perfect place for him.
The two worlds collide when, during a small battle, we see the Asian meditator from the beginning again, who spots cruise and is impressed with his fighting skill. There is a hint of divine intervention, as per his visions, and he decides to capture and use him to learn about his enemies. Tom is taken to a simple hillside village and trained.. as the two sides learn more about one another, they are surprisingly tolerant of eachothers customs, and fascinated with the differences between them. As soon as he is in the Japanese village, Tom seems to be more focused.. something about this land agrees with him. I like how, once cruise is in the village, we have no insight in to what's happening outside of it, with the Americans or the war effort.. it is cut off from the rest of the world, so we are too.
The American commander, who Cruise has history with, 'I would happily kill you for free', is the embodiment of Cruise's resentments.. he believes that superior fire power is the key to victory and is detached from the human side of war - I suppose the broad idea is that the Americans are loud uncouth brawlers, and the Japanese (at least the ancient samurai) are introverted, contemplative and skillful.. the film sides with them pretty quickly.
One of the main strengths of the film for me is the patience in learning the ways of the samurai, only a small part of which is combat. We see from cruise's perspective as the details of the Samurai life are revealed to us gradually, and is mostly shown not told. Who knows how accurate it all is, but too many times in Hollywood Samurai are used as a clichè (e.g. wolverine, kill bill) maybe as their honour and discipline are easily romanticised on film. The Last Samurai is much more sympathetic to the cause and therefore much more interesting to me and helps us to really feel for the main characters. The king of the samurai film will always be Seven Samurai but this one i think is worthy of the genre. There are many parallels with Dances with Wolves - not least the narration from cruise - and many other military culture shock films, this one is pretty high on the list of these for me.
The battle scenes are done pretty well although this film isn't really about the action. Although there are lots of quick cuts to show the frantic action (which i don't particularly like personally, and to be ultra picky-isnt in keeping with the rest of the film) they are mostly staged fairly simply and on a relatively small scale which I do like.. they look more like the great Glory (which I have since realised is the same director) than Lord of the Rings. This is a really great looking film beginning to end, mostly set in rural Japan, but also the settings in america are all very nicely done.
Despite all this undeniably good stuff, I still find the film falls just short of greatness, I'm not quite sure why i don't love it overall as I do love the look, the themes and most of the story.. There are negatives, forgivable as they are; the american commander should have had more screen time, a couple of moments are a touch too Hollywood for my liking, the script doesn't properly explain the attack on the village in the middle (except to just show another fight) and Billy Connolly is curious casting, you can't not think of comedy when you see him and there's no room for that here-a forgettable part and I thought he had little effect overlall.
I have seen a fair few Japanese films, and films set in Japan, and they are almost always beautiful to look at, this is no exception, and that is what sticks with me most.
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