The Last Samurai

filmmakers choose to tailor the plot and visuals of their film to their intended and expected audiences. In doing so, they have to chose to either accurate depictions of the plot’s time period or forego historical accuracy in hopes of pleasing their audience. This was the case for Yoji Yamada’s 2002 Japanese film, The Twilight Samurai, as well as Edward Zwick’s 2003 American film, The Last Samurai. Once each film is examined and analyzed past face value, it is apparent that both Yamada and Zwick different routes when considering the authenticity of their films. The Twilight Samurai is more historically accurate in its depiction of the realities and mindsets of the Bakumatsu period while The Last Samurai falsely presents Japanese…

The Last Samurai Review: Set in 1876, The Last Samurai is about American mercenary Nathan Algren (played by Tom Cruise) who goes to Japan to help train and modernise their army. Along the way, Algren is taken in by the very samurai rebels he had been sent to help destroy. Algren adopts traditional Japanese ways and is soon fighting alongside his former enemy against the imperial forces. The film's samurai leader Katsumoto (Ken Watanabe) and his rebellion against the Japanese government are…

Heiji Scroll The scene depicted in the first segment is surely about a battle that occurred in the ancient Japanese society. The people in the scroll are dressed up, ready for battle with thick armoury and weapons. However not everyone are riding on horses, this could be due to the ranking of the warriors. Therefore only the people of the highest ranks could receive a horse, and even so the colour of the horse is different among them, so perhaps it would be easier to distinguish who was the…

According to me, in the movie “The last samurai”, the Natural Law theory is shown when captain Algren San is sent to train Japanese men for modern warfare so that they may develop westernized means of war as opposed to their traditional samurai system. In this process a war against these men and the samurais takes place in which the newly trained Japanese army is defeated and Captain Algren is captured by the samurais and taken to their village. The head of these samurais does not kill Captain…

move forward with modernization. In the novel Keeper N’ Me by Richard Wagamese, the cultural traditions of the Anishanabe become very important to Garnet Raven who is a disconnected member of the tribe. The major theme in the Movie, The Last Samurai, directed by Edward Zwich is this very issue: tradition versus modernization. The protagonist of this movie Nathan Algren played by Tom Cruise, become disillusioned with using war to suppress tradition and gains appreciation for the values of the…

A tragic hero is typically known as someone who has heroic qualities, but bears a major flaw which either leads to their death or an ultimate punishment. Shakespeare’s play, Othello and Edward Zwick’s film, The Last Samurai both have characters that portray all of the elements of a tragic hero. Although Othello and Nathan Algren both demonstrate that they are flawed and noble, it is clear that Othello is a better example of a tragic hero because of how he is affected by the war, his perception…

White Messiah in Movies Avatar is one of the famous 3d movies in the world. Over 40 million people watched the movie. Some people like this movie because of the beautiful graphic design and showing wonderful alien planet. However, others see the movie as racist movie. Why? In Race Relations Light Years from Earth, Mitu Sengupta, the author of the article, assumes that Avatar is a racist film because Jake Sully, a former U.S. Marine in the movie, stands for native aliens and fight against U.S.…

The bushido as a code of ethics may has fade away, but the its power will lives on. In the Bushido: The Soul of Japan, the last two chapters discussed about the the bushido in the context of morden japan and the future of bushido. In the chapter “Is Bushido alive?” , the author believes that although the bushido as a code of ethics is dead the effect is still there deep-rooted in the morden-day Japanese society. "We are told every day how Europe has influenced Japan, and forget that the change…

Step inside the arena and grab a seat. We have a great show for you tonight! Prepare yourself because the most anticipated fight in Edo era Japan begins immediately. This fight will involve the supernatural, in one corner, and societal norms, in the other. Tonight, the term supernatural refers to anything that exists beyond scientific understanding or natural laws. Furthermore, the term, “myth,” interchanges with the term, “supernatural,” throughout the night. The setting of this bout occurs…

The samurai are some of the most well known and recognizable figures found in history. But how did they come to be and what was their life like? The samurai warriors developed from the three major clans battling for land and power in Japan. They became their own class just before the start of the 10th century and were known by two names, one of them was samurai and the other bushi. No matter what name they went by, total loyalty was given to whomever they served and in return, the samurai…