"I think a man does what he can - until his destiny is revealed."
Hello everyone!
Which basically means you'll be seeing a bunch of links down at the bottom since, you know, been there and done that kind of thing.
Still, since reviewing the movie for the first time, both my style and my commentary have changed somewhat, so I thought I might add some extra light to the entire factor without really taking away from what I had previously already done.
I'm talking, of course, about The Last Samurai.
And yes, I'm having a Tom Cruise kind of week.
As already said, you'll find both the link to my original blog post for this movie and links to some other history-related movies at the bottom of this page.
On with the show!
First off, I'm beginning to think The Last Samurai may genuinely be Cruise's best work from that era. I mean, sure, he'll always be Maverick and he'll probably never escape the fact that everyone wants him to sing 'You've Lost That Loving Feeling', but that being said, Samurai was the movie which cemented him in my mind the most.
Why?
Well, for a starter, it's a visually breathtaking movie with a ton of Asian actors in it that know their job and do it well.
Also, it has Tony Goldwyn, which I now find hilarious for reasons I shall explain soon enough.
And to top everything off I usually text back and forth with my sister for the entire duration of the movie (she's at the capital and I'm home) and we debate the current happenings on-screen.
The story of the movie goes like this: Japan wants to become more modern. Japan turns to America for help. America sends people there for negotiations. Japan starts remodelling itself. Old Japan traditions rear their head and butt against the modern. America sends war machines and soldiers to teach Japan how to fight "the modern way". Everyone dies except Tom Cruise.
Okay that's a gross exaggeration, but the gist of the matter remains:
Tom Cruise, aka Captain Algren, is a washed-out soldier who's been drowning himself in alcohol since his superior officer (one Tony Goldwyn) ordered an attack on a Native American village as some sort of retribution which resulted in the deaths of innocent people. He gets contacted to travel to Japan where he will help train the Imperial troops in the use of Western weapons and machinery.
He does so diligently enough, but while his superiors want him to go and fight Samurai leader Katsumoto AT ONCE, he demonstrates that, not only are the troops not yet ready, they're probably going to die without even hitting anyone with the musket balls first.
He's overruled, and of course once Katsumoto DOES make an appearance on the battlefield, it's every man for himself.
I mean, they're fighting in a foggy, misty forest, from which emerge shrieking banshees wearing terrible horned masks and riding at them full-tilt.
With regards, Katsumoto & the Gang, as my sister would say.
Algren is caught and taken with the Samurai to the village ruled by Katsumoto's son, but he also kind of gets in trouble even before that when he kills a warrior in red armour who turns out to be Katsumoto's brother-in-law, but Katsumoto (Ken Watanabe) thinks this is all fate and sticks Algren with the grieving widow and her two sons.
Yes, Katsumoto probably knew what he was doing. Yes, he also could have been a bit more tactful about it.
Anyway, slowly, Taka and the rest cure Algren of his alcoholism (this involves painful scenes of Cruise wailing like the before-mentioned banshees and gorgeous shots of Taka and her long, long hair) and he begins wandering about, followed by an old Samurai whom he cheerfully names Bob. My sister, in contrast, calls him Bobu-Sama, so that's what he'll be for the rest of the review.
He learns he's deep in the mountains for the winter, and tha Katsumoto apparently wants to talk to him, more or less - but Katsumoto is also an infuriating individual (if handsome) and so Algren needs to learn that patience is a virtue.
Also, he's getting daily beat-downs by L'oreal (a Samurai who I should probably know the name of but I can't for the life of me get past his LONG AND CLEAN HAIR, seriously), learns how to use a Samurai sword, makes eyes with Taka (who knows this is wrong, but dang, the Yankee, when clean, is pretty neat) and generally learns the way of the Samurai, half of it by accident.
Katsumoto explains that bushido is a way of life for them - and for him, personally, he is searching for the perfect sakura blossom. Why is this important? Keep reading.
After winter - and a botched assassination attempt on Katsumoto which gives Algren a chance to save him, L'Oreal to be royally pissed, and Bobu on the move - Katsumoto explains that the emperor has granted the Samurai safe passage to Tokyo, and that they'll take Algren with them, where he will be released. Once in Tokyo, however, things go very south very fast.
Omura, the minister for all progress, passes a law basically forbidding the Samurai, and puts Katsumoto under house arrest after Katsumoto fails to move the Emperor so the boy would do something and not just sit there. Katsumoto's son is humiliated on the streets of Tokyo despite Algren's protestations, and Algren is about to go back to America when he decides, f this, he's going to fight.
Making use of old Wormtail (yeah we have Harry Potter actors in this!), who paints him as the POTUS (and I fall down laughing because, ironically, Tony Goldwyn does play POTUS in Scandal) they get L'Oreal and the rest into Katsumoto's home to spring him. Unfortunately, this is the part my sister wails at, because Katsumoto's son doesn't make it.
Still, the show must go on, and Algren convinces Katsumoto to MAKE the Emperor hear him, an the two lead a Samurai rebellion against a now highly-trained Japanese army (but not before Taka and Algren share an almost-kiss and she dresses him in the armour previously worn by her husband, whom Algren killed - yeah, this is INTENSE).
Of course, they're doomed from the start, which they both realize, but they put up a hell of a fight and decimate the first couple of regiments sent at them, but their cavalry charge against machine guns doesn't quite go well.
Horses against bullets? Yeah ...
Finally, one of the underlies who liked Algren from the start orders a cease-fire despite an outraged Omura; on the field, Algren helps Katsumoto commit the traditional suicide against loss, at which point he realizes that ALL sakura blossoms are perfect.
And every Japanese soldier standing goes to his knees in honour of probably the greatest man Japan had ever seen.
Algren then delivers Katsumoto's sword to the Emperor, who finally finds his voice and tells the American ambassadors that he's taking back the reins and they can cheerfully sail back to their homeland; he also lets Omura know he'll be confiscating his wealth for obvious reasons, and asks Algren to tell him about Katsumoto.
Algren does in fact explain how Katsumoto lived - bushido - and the movie ends with Wormtail's narration that no one knows what, exactly happened to him.
Option 1 - he died of his wounds.
Option 2 - he went back to America.
Option 3 - he returned to the village in the mountains where he found peace with Taka.
Sis and I are all for option 3, and the movie suggests it, too. But the question remains: how did the village survive with so many men dead?
You tell me after you watch the movie.
xx
*images and video not mine
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