Mat
01-31-2005, 07:22 PM
This got a R1 DVD release at the end of last year and is too important not to have it's own thread. . .
In most films (especially American) about Japanese culture, samurai are portrayed as glorified cowboys (ironically a few are adapted as westerns). Men whose sole purpose is to fight one another in elaborately choreographed duels. Akira Kurosawa was the master of these and a great filmmaker in his own right. Yoji Yamada’s The Twilight Samurai is about a samurai who is about as close to a peasant as one can be. It’s a masterful piece of filmmaking and was awarded just about every major Japanese Academy Award for good reason. Like Million Dollar Baby, it’s impossible to label it a genre film; it transcends them all and becomes one of the best films released in the US in 2004.
Set during the Meiji Restoration in Japan, a time of grave governmental turmoil, The Twilight Samurai concerns a impoverished and recently widowed samurai, Seibei “Twilight” Iguchi (Hiroyuki Sanada), as he takes care of his two daughters, his mother who evidently suffers from Alzheimer’s, and his meager residency in the clan. He’s a man whose satisfied with his life though and values his time with his family, though he has to build bug cages for extra money to support them. He meets a childhood friend, Tomoe Iinuma (Rie Miyazawa), who was recently divorced from a drunken and abusive samurai. The plot that unfolds after all of this setup is entrancing. Seibei is not a man who follows his orders for some higher honor but follows them for the sake of those he cares about and to maintain his way of life. He’s considered an outsider by his co-workers, passing up drinks for his family and frequently coming to work in ragged smelly robes. His values are put to the test, and the climax duel between himself and a man very much like him is a masterpiece of action and character development.
Writer/director Yamada gives the story and characters space to breath and develop over time, but the two hours flies by. The acting and technical components are all terrific. Sanada and Miyazawa’s romantic storyline is sweet and unforced but still exists in the same gloomy world as the rest. This isn’t an romantic opera or pageant but 19th century Japan at it’s dirtiest and most haunting. One such detail that lends to the feel is that corpses of famished peasants that float down the river. As they wash ashore, residents reverently push them back into the water. Such scenes make the realism and sadness of the time become much more potent.
There are no bright colors in The Twilight Samurai, and a darkness overshadows the film like it was filmed on consistently cloudy days. The cinematography is terrific at capturing the dirt and grime of Sebei’s dat-to-day toil. The sword scenes are played in an equally unflashy nature. Unlike most sword fighting scenes, the actors don’t struggle to stay in camera, nor are the scenes composed in a montage of quick shots. The camera just sits and takes it all in, no special effect, no string-work. The effect is stunning and heart-breaking at the same time.
The film opens up some real philosophical questions concerning the Bushido Code and it’s use by the ruling class, who deem it right to order anyone they consider unnecessary to commit suicide on command. I won’t pretend to be a Japanese scholar, but what I know of the Code is that it’s not to be used at the leisure of a leader. The film agrees and points out the hypocrisy of the whole system. Seibei is a samurai who doesn’t play by the rules for the sake of the rules but for the sake his own life.
The allegorical implications are only part of what makes this The Twilight Samurai great. The well-rounded characterizations set against a stark backdrop and a story that carries nearly tragic connections are the reasons it is great. It’s dramatic without being melodramatic. It has action without being buried in it. It’s a period piece without requiring a deep knowledge of the subject. It’s a superb example of Japanese cinema. Kurosawa would have loved it. I know I did.
A
It was released in Japan in 2002 but only released wide in America in 2004. That way it can make my top ten list.
In most films (especially American) about Japanese culture, samurai are portrayed as glorified cowboys (ironically a few are adapted as westerns). Men whose sole purpose is to fight one another in elaborately choreographed duels. Akira Kurosawa was the master of these and a great filmmaker in his own right. Yoji Yamada’s The Twilight Samurai is about a samurai who is about as close to a peasant as one can be. It’s a masterful piece of filmmaking and was awarded just about every major Japanese Academy Award for good reason. Like Million Dollar Baby, it’s impossible to label it a genre film; it transcends them all and becomes one of the best films released in the US in 2004.
Set during the Meiji Restoration in Japan, a time of grave governmental turmoil, The Twilight Samurai concerns a impoverished and recently widowed samurai, Seibei “Twilight” Iguchi (Hiroyuki Sanada), as he takes care of his two daughters, his mother who evidently suffers from Alzheimer’s, and his meager residency in the clan. He’s a man whose satisfied with his life though and values his time with his family, though he has to build bug cages for extra money to support them. He meets a childhood friend, Tomoe Iinuma (Rie Miyazawa), who was recently divorced from a drunken and abusive samurai. The plot that unfolds after all of this setup is entrancing. Seibei is not a man who follows his orders for some higher honor but follows them for the sake of those he cares about and to maintain his way of life. He’s considered an outsider by his co-workers, passing up drinks for his family and frequently coming to work in ragged smelly robes. His values are put to the test, and the climax duel between himself and a man very much like him is a masterpiece of action and character development.
Writer/director Yamada gives the story and characters space to breath and develop over time, but the two hours flies by. The acting and technical components are all terrific. Sanada and Miyazawa’s romantic storyline is sweet and unforced but still exists in the same gloomy world as the rest. This isn’t an romantic opera or pageant but 19th century Japan at it’s dirtiest and most haunting. One such detail that lends to the feel is that corpses of famished peasants that float down the river. As they wash ashore, residents reverently push them back into the water. Such scenes make the realism and sadness of the time become much more potent.
There are no bright colors in The Twilight Samurai, and a darkness overshadows the film like it was filmed on consistently cloudy days. The cinematography is terrific at capturing the dirt and grime of Sebei’s dat-to-day toil. The sword scenes are played in an equally unflashy nature. Unlike most sword fighting scenes, the actors don’t struggle to stay in camera, nor are the scenes composed in a montage of quick shots. The camera just sits and takes it all in, no special effect, no string-work. The effect is stunning and heart-breaking at the same time.
The film opens up some real philosophical questions concerning the Bushido Code and it’s use by the ruling class, who deem it right to order anyone they consider unnecessary to commit suicide on command. I won’t pretend to be a Japanese scholar, but what I know of the Code is that it’s not to be used at the leisure of a leader. The film agrees and points out the hypocrisy of the whole system. Seibei is a samurai who doesn’t play by the rules for the sake of the rules but for the sake his own life.
The allegorical implications are only part of what makes this The Twilight Samurai great. The well-rounded characterizations set against a stark backdrop and a story that carries nearly tragic connections are the reasons it is great. It’s dramatic without being melodramatic. It has action without being buried in it. It’s a period piece without requiring a deep knowledge of the subject. It’s a superb example of Japanese cinema. Kurosawa would have loved it. I know I did.
A
It was released in Japan in 2002 but only released wide in America in 2004. That way it can make my top ten list.