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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 "An astoundingly complex character study" This is a beautiful film from Japan that was nominated last year for Best Foreign Language Film. It is the story of a poor samurai who takes care of two adorable little girls and a senile mother while facing troubles at his job and the turmoil of his time. The film's emotional force lies in both the nuanced, delicate direction and Hiroyuki Sanada's amazing performance that would undoubtedly be nominated for, or even win the Oscar if the Acadamy members and voting actors were to see the film. It is that good. Apart from Kate Winslet, there has not been a better performance this year (in fact, the two are about tied in that respect). Sanada perfectly and precisely crystallizes every bit of complexity his character has to offer into a sympathetic man we care about and feel for throughout the entirety of the film, which is crucial to its success. There was also a notable performance from Min Tanaka as a dangerous, but deeply sad samurai cornered within a decrepit home. Tanaka managed to key in on the underlying depression and insanity of his dark character. You feel for him, and his presence adds an important sense of gravitas to the conversation both men have before the film's controlled, nerve-wracking climax. This is not your usual samurai film, and proves to be something revelatory, memorable, and, above all, satisfying. "Romance, adventure, honor and some very hard choices." This Japanese film, directed by Yoji Yamada, won many awards in Japan. I can certainly understand why. It breaks the mold of films usually associated with Samurai warriors, and instead shows us the human side of a man who lived for his honor and who also wanted to just simply live. The time period is 19th Century Japan. The strength of the Samurais is fading. And our hero, played by Seibei Iguchi, is a recent widower who is trying to support his two young daughters and aging mother. Yes, he's a Samurai, but of a minor caste. This means he works a day job, the equivalent of bookkeeper, along with a group of other men. He's a sad man, ignoring his personal hygiene, which embarrasses his boss. And he always goes straight home after work, never accepting the invitations of his co-workers to go out for a drink. His relatives want him to marry again but he rejects the marriage broker who comes to visit. And then a lovely woman does come into his life. She's a childhood friend who has married badly. Because she was so mistreated, she has come home to live with her family. She's beautiful and kind and gentle, ad the sad Samurai's children love her. Later, he shows his valor with some swordplay with her abusive husband. But as the story continues, and a romance blossoms, the man feels unworthy, even though it is clear that he and this woman would make a good match. And then, suddenly, the head of his Samurai clan calls upon him to commit a murder for the honor of the clan. Reluctantly, very reluctantly, he accepts, understanding that it is likely he will die. I learned a lot about Samurai life and the details of living in a harsh environment every day. I felt I was right there, in a culture that is indeed different from mine. And, as I absorbed the atmosphere, I also felt the plight of a very troubled human being who had to make a hard choice about what he personally felt was right as compared to what his culture demanded of him. This is a really fine film. The acting is extraordinary. The directing is flawless. There is romance, action and adventure. There's a serious glimpse in the world of the Samurai. And, most of all, there is a human story that tugged at my heartstrings. Highly recommended. "The Real Deal" For those of you that love slow movie, movie that sets at an even pace to allow for the characters to develop, a movie that is beautifully framed and crafted, a movie that pays homage to the story itself than idolising the main characters, I strongly recommend this movie to you. This is literally a Japanese rendition of the Last Samurai. Rather than portraying the main character as heroic where he would fight to his glorious death (in the same spirit of Tom Cruise's Last Samurai), the main character here is simply a samurai who has domestic chores to do at home after his duty as a samurai; societal expectation of him to socialise after work (akin to the salary men going to izakaya to drink after work) which he refused again and again, and of him remarried so that the woman of the house would take care of the household whilst he's outside being a bread-winner. The movie is narrated by the samurai's ageing daughter, about his beloved father & his father's love for a woman who was also his childhood friend. A samurai of that is expected to marry someone through omiyai (matchmaking dependent upon family status) and being a forward thinker, the samurai broke the mould and subsequently marrying someone that he fall in love with, enticing his daughters to have an education (readers, please be mindful that in the early 20th century, suffrage of female equality to the male is just about to kick-start). Perhaps, the samurai is a metaphor of the Japanese society that is gradually changing and having the courage to modernise itself in the end (truth to be told, Japan hasn't changed much these days in terms of its conformist attitude - generally speaking). As the story unfolds, we can sense the wind of change sweeping through Japan and the dying status of the samurai breed. I wouldn't trash The Last Samurai for being a Hollywood offering but rather, a movie that complements this Japanese rendition which says the same thing in a gracious and delicate manner. If you must know, the actor who played the main character in this movie is also involved in the Last Samurai, the one who had a stick fight with Tom Cruise in the rain when Tom Cruise was playing with the samurai children. A bittersweet movie but a movie that acknowledges the fragility of life and a life that oughts to be lived in full and at the moment. Highly recommended. In actuality, this movie is two years old and I'm truly gratified that it's available for the Western audience now as well. A gem that shouldn't be missed "The REAL Last Samurai" Except for the sweetened ending, which wanted to destroy what came before, the film is perfect. Not that the ending is horrible, it's just a touch too melodramatic for my tastes. Otherwise I really love films like this, taking its time to fully establish the characters and then letting the story naturally flow out of them. That is why its relatively simple action scenes (only two of them) work so effectively. When you make the audience care about a character, even the slightest danger can be thrilling, so there is no need for any overblown theatrics. Forget about Hollywood trashes like The Last Samurai, this thing is leagues above and beyond that candy-coated cultural fallacy.