Release Date: December 5, 2003
Starring: Tom Cruise, Ken Watanabe, Timothy Spall, Billy Connolly, Tony Goldwyn, Sanada, Koyuki
Directed by: Edward Zwick
Written by: John Logan, Edward Zwick, Marshall Herskovitz
Distributed by: Warner Brothers
MPAA Rating: R (strong violence, battle sequences)
The Last Samurai tells a powerful story, one that is both the study of a dynamic character and a hefty tale about Japan’s fall to Western influence in the late 19th century. It also spends a considerable amount of effort trying to be an incredibly accurate work of historical fiction and an epic that features one of Hollywood’s biggest stars, Tom Cruise. Glory director Edward Zwick succeeds at all of these tasks in what is a well-acted and visually thrilling period drama.
In a role that he had reportedly been interested in for some time (most likely for its awards potential), Tom Cruise plays an alcoholic American war hero named Nathan Algren. A brilliant strategist, Algren won victory over the Native Americans and the Confederacy in days past. Now, despite his inebriated state of embarrassing self-pity, he has been hired to train the military forces of Japan at the behest of the Japenese emperor, who is eager to modernize his nation and quell the rebellion of those who refuse to end a tradition that has lasted nearly one thousand years.
That tradition is the way of the samurai, peaceful, perfected warriors that are now looked upon as savages -- just as many of Capt. Algren’s past enemies have been. After being captured in his company’s first confrontation, the American eventually learns the truth about these people and builds a relationship with them as he strives to regain his personal integrity.
Writers Zwick, John Logan, and Marshall Herskovitz have crafted a solid screenplay to make this period of history all the more intriguing, but they seem a bit too anxious to get to meat of the story in Japan without giving us background for Algren. The transformation of Cruise’s character and his mutual understanding with the samurai makes up the bulk of the plot, yet there isn’t quite enough behind the American’s past to make this conversion the emotional arc it should be. A number of brief flashbacks, complemented by the occasional reading from Algren’s journal, fill in many of the holes, but none of these elements are vivid enough to give an appropriately strong representation of what Cruise’s character went through earlier in his life.
The characters he meets along the way, however, are impressively established and costumed, and delivered in noteworthy performances. Algren’s main interaction is with the samurai leader, Katsumoto (Ken Watanabe), a strong and intelligent man who keeps Algren alive in order to learn as much as possible about the emperor’s plans for modernization. The two men are wary of each other at first because of their different customs and uniforms, but they respect each other greatly and Algren eventually transforms himself from a washed-up drunk into an honorable man in the eyes of both Katsumoto and his people. A firm chemistry exists between the samurai leader and Algren, one that forms the backbone of The Last Samurai, and the men, who were once enemies, grow to become friends in life and allies in battle.
Algren gains most of his honor from the other samurai and their families through his adamant effort to perfect his battle techniques. This gives both Cruise and Zwick the opportunity to show off with very exciting and well choregraphed action. More than a few scenes stand out, like Algren’s continuous sword training with an angry and brutal samurai, a night battle between samurai warriors and ninjas, and a four-on-one fight that apparently took Cruise months to prepare for. Also, the film’s climactic battle looks like a cross between Glory and Braveheart, but the overall sequence does justice to the admirable action scenes that precede it and deserves comaprison to those other historical epics.
It’s easier to enjoy the interesting characters and the equally impressive sets and camerawork behind these scenes because of the brilliant attention to detail Zwick and his crew give to the entire film. Shot mostly in New Zealand, the landscapes, sets, and costumes completely transport the viewer to Japan in the 1870’s. Notice that places like the Emperor’s temple are complete with everything from authentic architecture to Eastern floor mats. (When foreigners visited the temple they weren’t used to taking off their shoes, as Japenese custom requests, so the Emperor laid out these floor mats as a courtesy.) The samurai armor, weaponry, and decor also look straight out of a museum. And what do you know: the Japenese only speak English when it makes sense that they might, fully immersing us in this foreign land.
The original score by Hans Zimmer, too, works very well in the picture despite that remains more Western than its subject matter. The good thing is that it’s as rousing and well written as the composer’s music for Gladiator and Black Hawk Down.
Zimmer’s work is almost as helpful to Zwick as the leading performances. Yes, the director displays an outstanding amount of visual and historical detail, but like with his other films -- such as Glory, Courage Under Fire and Legends of the Fall, all well-meaning films about history -- he adds little personality to the overall piece. Glory, for example, would have been a glorified encyclopedia article if not for its fine acting. Similarly, The Last Samurai could have been just a glossy and expensive picture book had the actors, choreographers, and artistic designers not worked as hard as they did.
-- Andy Zientek (zfilm@earthlink.net)