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The Twilight Samurai Director: Yôji Yamada Number of Items: 1 Format: Color, Closed-captioned Audience Rating: NR (Not Rated) Studio: Empire Pictures Product Group: DVD Release Date: 2004-12-28 Buy from Amazon

Customer Reviews: Total numer of reviews: 29 Average rating: 4.5 "Jidai-Geki or Gendai-Geki?" Twilight Samurai, while resolutely jidai-geki genre, inhabits liminality between jidai-geki and gendai-geki genre playing at a sense of the intimate with modern day issues in a samurai setting. The movie plays out the life of Iguchi "Tasogare" Seibei (playfully, the "Twilight" Seibei) a down on his luck 50-koku samurai who plugs away under immense pressure to bring up his two daughters while taking care for his senile mother, after the death of his wife from consumption. Seibei is an exceedingly sincere man with a sense pride and dignity - yet he is an enigma, paradox: he is always disheveled, is clearly under extreme pressure, but in no way whines about his situation, keeps to himself and wishes no ill on anyone. Complication comes by way of Tomoe, who comes back unexpectedly, he experiences cognitive dissonance - not sure how to address this new scenario and his feelings. He is acutely aware that he is only a 50-koku samurai with little hope of supporting Tomoe's much less take care of his children and ailing mother. Seibei is compelled to act when Tomoe's violent husband appears and insists that Tomoe come back to him. Seibei finds himself compelled to defend her honor. In this duel, Seibei show his true colors -- he is apparently a master short-swordsman. News of his skill spreads and he is reluctantly drawn into mercenary service in an effort to save face. A far cry from his role in Twilight Samurai Hiroyuki Sanada becomes Seibei. The film is purposeful, succinct and gorgeous in every way. As mentioned previously, the movie plays out its jidai-geki angle but uses a unique approach. Despite the pandering to the jidai-geki genre by ending the movie in true grit violence, the story of Seibei resonates for me on a more personal and intimate level. The intimacies make the characters less of a caricature and have depth. My point is simple - despite the complexity that Mifune Toshiro brought to presence with say Rashomon, we never really knew his character - we never really felt his character. Hiroyuki Sanada takes Seibei to the next level - he keeps it real. These premises reverberate throughout Twilight Samurai and moves it to a level all its own. Twilight Samurai is truly something profound and it should not be missed. It should be seen over and over again to appreciate it on many levels. Miguel Llora "A lost way of life" Most people dream of a heroic way of life. Money, power, strength, these are the things most of us dream about. Imagine leaving work immediately each day rather than going out with your friends. Imagine going home to a senile old woman and two small daughters. Imagine having your family and friends scorn you for your poverty. And imagine wanting nothing more out of life. Seibei is a man who gave up most of his small fortune to give a scornful wife a decent burial, and looks forward to nothing more than time with his family. The beginning of the movie invokes sympathy for a man with no worldly glory in his life. But as it progresses, the viewer discovers that dispite all his hardships Seibei is a very happy man who's greatest love is serving and being near his family. Despite many opportunities for advancements in both rank and pay, he prefers to live humbly and spend every possible minute with his loved ones. The movie does indeed move slowly, but I hope the viewers are willing to give Seibei a chance to show us that the greatest happiness is in sacrificing for the ones we love. "Subtle and Sublime" Twilight Samurai is a quiet and subtle movie; the Twilight Samurai struggles more with duty to his family and his clan than with his opponents on the battlefield. In fact, there is little combat in this movie. This film is refreshingly slow and subtle, gathering pace while creating a sense of respect for the quiet life that the main character chooses, despite his talents. There are some lighter moments, and others that are quite tense, but in general, the film reflects the mundane life of the Edo period in Japan. For the patient and thinking viewer, Twilight Samurai can be immensely satisfying; if you prefer fun, whiz-bang summer blockbuster movies, look elsewhere. In short, this is a quiet, slow, and subtle movie, and deserved all 12 Japanese Academy Awards it won, along with its Oscar nomination for best foreign film. "Must-see" I didn't see the DVD--saw it on Japanese TV yesterday 12/26/2004, with subtitles by my better half. It is without doubt one of the best movies I have seen in years. Granted, my better half and I both know enough about Japanese history to understand the context--a poor, remote han (barony?) at the end of the Tokugawa period, just before the Meiji "Restoration" in the mid-19th Century; but some scene-setting in the subtitles or the opening would handle that adequately. Basic elements of fine drama--conflicting loyalties, character coming through in the face of apparently impending doom and the knowledge that the world is about to change dramatically, but has not yet changed. Retrospective by narrator at end hints at how the world did change. Incredible use of color, light, and lighting--and this by a director who made his reputation with the longest-running series of formula movie comedies in the world--the Tora-san films! I couldn't have imagined that he had such a film in him. The only thing in the movie that seemed discordant was the choice of music during the end credits. The story is a conflation of three short novels by an outstanding writer of historical fiction, but it works well. Side-note: In Japanese they aren't "samurai films," but "jidaigeki"--"old-time movies." So swordplay is not an inalienable part of the concept. And far more samurai were administrators and government workers--the equivalent of civil servants--than warriors, anyway. "Great film" I'll try not to repeat everything the other reviews have already said. There are 3 things I'd like to add: - the pacing in this film is slow and always interesting, never boring. - yes there are fighting scenes, but they are not added as an empty way to quicken the pace in the film. They serve a valuable role in furthering character development. The sword play however is very well executed- not the outrageous hack/slash and wire-work in Kill Bill (although I enjoyed that film a great deal too), but illustrates how deadly a real katana fight can be. Sanada is indeed a talented martial artist and his wielding of the sword shows that he is not simply an actor going through the moves but has had real training in the past. - in the Last Samurai you see Sanada playing the role of the always-stoic Ujio. In this film Sanada really shows the breadth of his acting abilities.