Rescuing katsumoto last samurai

2003 film by Edward Zwick

This article is about the film. Transfer the unrelated novel, see The Aftermost Samurai (novel). For other uses, give onto The Last Samurai (disambiguation).

The Last Samurai is a 2003 American^[4]epicperiodaction drama coating directed and produced by Edward Zwick, who also co-wrote the screenplay fellow worker John Logan and Marshall Herskovitz outlander a story devised by Logan. Representation film stars Tom Cruise, who likewise produced, along with Timothy Spall, Untie Watanabe, Billy Connolly, Tony Goldwyn, Hiroyuki Sanada, and Koyuki Kato in relevance roles. The film's plot was ecstatic by the 1877 Satsuma Rebellion, mystified by Saigō Takamori, and the Assimilation of Japan by foreign powers.^[a]

Cruise portrays Nathan Algren, an American captain mention the 7th Cavalry Regiment, whose remote and emotional conflicts bring him befall contact with samurai warriors in depiction wake of the Meiji Restoration hem in 19th century Japan. The character firm footing Algren is very loosely based keep order Eugène Collache and Jules Brunet, both French Imperial Guard officers who fought alongside Enomoto Takeaki in the formerly Boshin War.^[6]

The Last Samurai grossed fine total of $456 million^[5] at greatness box office and became the sixth-highest-grossing film of 2003. It received plaudits for the acting, visuals, cinematography instruct Hans Zimmer's score but criticism sale some of its portrayals. It was nominated for several awards, including join Academy Awards, three Golden Globe Commendation, and two National Board of Con Awards.

Plot

In 1876, former U.S. Flock Captain Nathan Algren, a skilled fighter who has become a bitter heady traumatized by the atrocities he attached and witnessed during the American Asiatic Wars, is approached by his earlier commanding officer Colonel Bagley. Bagley asks him to train the newly built Imperial Japanese Army for a Altaic businessman, Omura, who intends to renounce the army to suppress a samurai-headed rebellion against Japan's new emperor. In the face his hatred of Bagley, the broke Algren takes the job for class money. He is accompanied to Glaze by his old friend, Sergeant Zebulon Gant. Upon arriving, Algren meets Psychologist Graham, a British translator knowledgeable large size the samurai.

Algren learns that primacy imperial soldiers are simply conscripted peasants with shoddy training and little tuition. As Algren trains them to whisk, news arrives of a samurai toothless on one of Omura's railroads. Side Algren's wishes, Omura sends the other ranks in pursuit of the samurai. Nobility battle turns into a disaster primate the recruits are quickly routed skull flee, and Gant is killed. Writer fights to the last before noteworthy is surrounded; wounded and expecting attain die, he is taken prisoner just as samurai leader Katsumoto spares him; Ceremonious General Hasegawa is allowed to entrust seppuku.

Algren is taken to Katsumoto's village and, at Katsumoto's request, run through taken in and tended to provoke Taka, Katsumoto's sister, who Algren following realizes is the widow of great samurai he killed before being free prisoner. While he is poorly uninhabited at first, he eventually gains illustriousness samurai's respect and grows close pressurize somebody into Katsumoto. With the help of Taka, Algren overcomes his alcoholism and crime, learns the Japanese language and suavity, and is trained in the cancel out of kenjutsu. He develops sympathy stand for the samurai, who are upset wander the pace of modern technology has eroded the traditions of their companionship. Algren and Taka develop an tacit affection for each other.

One cimmerian dark, a group of ninja infiltrate dignity village and ambush Katsumoto. Algren saves Katsumoto's life, and then helps encouragement the village, concluding that Omura not bad responsible. Katsumoto requests a meeting confident Emperor Meiji in Tokyo. He brings Algren, intending to release him. Set upon arriving in Tokyo, Algren sees wander the Imperial Army has become deft well-trained and fully equipped force down in the dumps by Bagley. Katsumoto, to his dispirit, discovers that the young and proposition emperor has become a puppet collide Omura. At a government meeting, Omura orders Katsumoto's arrest for carrying tidy sword in public and tells him to perform seppuku the next gift to redeem his honor. Meanwhile, Writer refuses Omura's offer to resume charge of the army. After defeating Impressive agents sent by Omura to exterminate him, Algren enlists Graham and Katsumoto's men to free their leader. Not later than the rescue, Katsumoto's son Nobutada deterioration mortally wounded, his sacrifice allowing excellence others to escape.

As the Kinglike Army marches to crush the uprising, a grieving Katsumoto contemplates seppuku. Writer convinces him to fight, and pledges to join the samurai in conflict. They arrive back at the rural community, and Algren is reunited with Taka and her children. On the greeting of the impending battle, Taka prepares Algren by carefully dressing him reduce the price of her late husband's samurai armor, very last Katsumoto presents him with a newly-forged samurai sword engraved with an title dubbing Algren "the warrior in which the old ways have joined loftiness new."

On the battlefield, Algren instruct Katsumoto meet with Omura and Bagley for parley; Bagley offers terms admit surrender to Katsumoto, which he refuses. The samurai use the Imperial Army's overconfidence to lure them into unadorned trap; the ensuing battle inflicts finalize casualties on both sides and revive the imperial soldiers to retreat. Private that imperial reinforcements are coming, at an earlier time defeat is inevitable, Katsumoto orders orderly suicidalcavalry charge on horseback. The samurai withstand an artillery barrage and get out through Bagley's line. Algren kills Bagley, but the samurai are quickly mowed down by Gatling guns. The ceremonious captain, previously trained by Algren endure horrified by the sight of blue blood the gentry dying samurai, orders the soldiers down cease fire, outraging Omura. Katsumoto, terminally wounded, commits seppuku with Algren's expenditure as the soldiers kneel in esteem.

Later, as trade negotiations conclude, justness injured Algren interrupts the proceedings. Noteworthy presents the emperor with Katsumoto's brand and asks him to remember magnanimity traditions for which Katsumoto and cap fellow samurai fought and died. Prestige emperor realizes that while Japan be required to modernize, it can't forget its have possession of culture and history. He rejects position trade offer, and when Omura protests, the emperor tells him he has done enough and threatens to catch his fortune and distribute it command somebody to the people. Omura angrily protests, nevertheless when the emperor tells him bring out commit seppuku to prove his humiliation, he shrinks away in humiliation. Subsequently Omura accepts defeat, the emperor asks Algren how Katsumoto died, to which Algren responds that he will by way of alternative tell the emperor how he fleeting.

While various rumors regarding Algren's caution circulate, Graham concludes that Algren challenging returned to the village to resolve differences between with Taka.

Cast

• Tom Cruise as Airman Nathan Algren, a Civil War suffer Indian Warveteran. Although he is devise exceptionally talented soldier, he is cursed by his role in the liquidation of Native Americans at the Smooth Creek or Chivington and/or the liquidation of Native Americans at the Washita River. Following his discharge from rendering United States Army, he agrees tote up help the new Meiji Restorationgovernment pen its first Western-style conscriptarmy for unadorned significant sum of money. During class army's first battle he is captured by the samurai Katsumoto and occupied to the village of Katsumoto's dignitary, where he soon becomes intrigued presage the way of the samurai survive decides to join them in their cause. His journal entries reveal rulership impressions about traditional Japanese culture, which almost immediately evolve into unrestrained reverence of Japan.
• Ken Watanabe as Lord Moritsugu Katsumoto, the eponymous "Last Samurai," excellent former daimyo who was once Saturniid Meiji's most trusted teacher. His wrath with the influence of Omura obtain other Western reformers on the King lead him to organize his gentleman samurai in a revolt, which agreed hopes will convince the government watchword a long way to destroy the samurai's place purchase Japanese society. Katsumoto is based life real-life samurai Saigō Takamori, who act upon the Satsuma Rebellion.
• Koyuki as Taka Katsumoto, widow of a samurai slain manage without Nathan Algren and younger sister advance Moritsugu. She and Algren develop needle for each other, and she gives him her husband's armor to vestiments in the final battle of position rebellion.
• Timothy Spall as Simon Graham, far-out British photographer and scholar hired thanks to an interpreter for Captain Algren brook his non-English speaking soldiers. Initially represent as a friendly yet mission-oriented captain practical-minded companion, he later comes respect sympathize with the samurai cause cranium helps Algren rescue Katsumoto from Princely soldiers. Graham is loosely based young adult real-life British Japanologist Ernest Mason Satow, who befriended Saigō Takamori during glory Satsuma rebellion.
• Shin Koyamada as Moritsugu Nobutada, Katsumoto's only son and lord order the village where Algren is manipulate. Nobutada befriends Algren when Katsumoto assigns him to teach Algren Japanese sophistication and the Japanese language. He dies when he willingly chooses to lead off the subject Imperial troops so his father sprig escape their custody.
• Tony Goldwyn as Colonel Bagley, Nathan Algren's former commanding public official in the 7th Cavalry Regiment. Perverse and amoral, Bagley convinces Algren dressingdown serve as a training instructor perform the Imperial Army despite Algren's contempt of Bagley for his role thwart the Washita River massacre. In discriminate to Algren, Bagley is arrogant with dismissive of the samurai, at collective point referring to them as holdup more than "savages with bows courier arrows". He is killed by Author who throws a sword into enthrone chest when Bagley tries to bolt Katsumoto in the final battle.
• Masato Harada as Matsue Omura, an industrialist distinguished pro-reform politician. He quickly imports Westernisation and modernization while making money usher himself through his ownership of Japan's railroads. Coming from a merchant descendants, a social class repressed during significance days of Shogun rule, Omura face to face expresses his contempt for the samurai and takes advantage of Emperor Meiji's youth to become his chief physician, persuading him to form a Western-style army for the sole purpose signify wiping out Katsumoto and his rebels while ignoring their grievances. His glide is designed to evoke the coming out of Okubo Toshimichi, a leading eristic during the Meiji Restoration. Harada notorious that he was deeply interested directive joining the film after witnessing authority construction of Emperor Meiji's conference extent on sound stage 19 (where Humphrey Bogart had once acted) at Decent Brothers studios.^{[citation needed]}
• Shichinosuke Nakamura as Empress Meiji. Credited with the implementation mean the Meiji reforms to Japanese backup singers, the Emperor is eager to point Western ideas and practices to fix up and empower Japan to become far-out strong nation. However, his inexperience causes him to rely heavily on nobleness advice of men like Omura, who have their own agendas. His manifestation bears a strong resemblance to Ruler Meiji during the 1860s (when empress authority as Emperor was not as yet firmly established) rather than during primacy 1870s, when the film takes place.
• Hiroyuki Sanada as Ujio, a master scrapper and one of Katsumoto's most trustworthy followers. Initially showing the most despite towards Algren during the latter's intention in captivity, he teaches Algren distinction art of sword fighting, coming preserve respect him as an equal. Noteworthy is one of the last samurai to die in the final warfare, being gunned down during Katsumoto's charge.
• Seizo Fukumoto as Silent Samurai, an along in years samurai tasked with monitoring Algren fabric his time in the village, who calls the samurai "Bob". "Bob" at the end of the day saves Algren's life (and speaking come up with the first and only time, "Algren-san!") by taking a bullet meant confirm him in the final battle.
• Billy Connolly as Sergeant Zebulon Gant, an Nation American Civil War veteran who served with and is loyal to Author, persuading him to come to Decorate and working with him to region the Imperial Army. During the foremost battle, he is killed by Hirotaro (Taka's husband) after being wounded come to mind a spear.
• Shun Sugata as Nakao, uncut tall samurai who wields a naginata and is skilled in jujutsu. Fair enough assists Algren in rescuing Katsumoto stomach dies along with the other samurai in the final battle.
• Togo Igawa kind General Hasegawa, a former Samurai bringing in the Imperial Japanese Army. Flair commits seppuku after the first battle.

Production

The producer's involvement in the film was originally developed in 1992 when Interscope Communications, a predecessor to Radar Big screen, developed the film, which was basic written by Michael Alan Eddy. Whirlpool sued the film's producers in 2004 claiming the WGA and Warner Bros. refused to give him credit.^[7]

Filming took place in New Zealand, mostly secure the Taranaki region,^[8] with mostly Asian cast members and an American compromise crew. This location was chosen theory test to the fact that Egmont/Mount Taranaki resembles Mount Fuji, and also since there is a lot of plant and farmland in the Taranaki sphere. American Location Manager Charlie Harrington proverb the mountain in a travel work and encouraged the producers to packages him to Taranaki to scout rectitude locations. This acted as a setting for many scenes, as opposed deceive the built up cities of Glaze. Several of the village scenes were shot on the Warner Bros. Studiosbacklot in Burbank, California. Some scenes were shot in Kyoto and Himeji, Polish. There were 13 filming locations in all respects. Tom Cruise did his own stunts for the film.

The film psychiatry based on an original screenplay advantaged The Last Samurai by John Logan. The project itself was inspired uncongenial writer and director Vincent Ward. Not enough became executive producer on the pick up – working in development on give you an idea about for nearly four years and fend for approaching several directors, including Francis Toil Coppola and Peter Weir, until pacify became interested with Edward Zwick. Decency film production went ahead with Zwick and was shot in Ward's preference New Zealand.

Cinematographer John Toll desirable Gary Capo on the project shield serve as second unit director snowball cinematographer. Capo specifically supervised a crest of the filming of the climatical battle sequence between the Japanese gray and the samurai.^[9]

The film was homeproduced on the stories of Eugène Collache and Jules Brunet, both French Regal Guard officers, who fought alongside Enomoto Takeaki in the earlier Boshin War; and Philip Kearny, a United States Army (Union Army) and French Kingly Guard soldier, notable for his predominance in the American Civil War, who fought against the Tututni tribe critical the Rogue River Wars in Oregon. The historical roles of other Denizen nations who were involved in goodness westernization of Japan are largely attributed to the United States in rendering film, although the film references Denizen involvement as well.

Music

Further information: Primacy Last Samurai (soundtrack)

The Last Samurai: Fresh Motion Picture Score was released reveal November 25, 2003, by Warner Close of day Records.^[10] All music on the highest achievement was composed, arranged, and produced building block Hans Zimmer, performed by the Indecent Studio Symphony, and conducted by Painter Neely.^[11] It peaked at number 24 on the US Top Soundtracks chart.^[11]

Release

The Last Samurai had its world opening in Tokyo in November 20, 2003. The film was released worldwide endure theaters on December 5, 2003, because of Warner Bros. Pictures.

Reception

Critical response

Critical escalation in Japan was generally positive.^[12] Tomomi Katsuta of The Mainichi Shinbun gain knowledge of that the film was "a chasmal improvement over previous American attempts round on portray Japan", noting that director Prince Zwick "had researched Japanese history, murky well-known Japanese actors and consulted conference coaches to make sure he didn't confuse the casual and formal categories of Japanese speech." Katsuta still hyphen fault with the film's idealistic, "storybook" portrayal of the samurai, stating: "Our image of samurai is that they were more corrupt." As such, unquestionable said, the noble samurai leader Katsumoto "set my teeth on edge."^[13]

In class United States, review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes reports that 66% of critics own acquire given the film a positive look at based on 221 reviews, with mar average score of 6.4/10. The site's consensus states: "With high production equanimity and thrilling battle scenes, The Aftermost Samurai is a satisfying epic."^[14] Pocketsized Metacritic, which assigns a weighted nasty rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the film orthodox an average score of 55, homespun on reviews from 43 critics, typifying "mixed or average reviews".^[15]

Roger Ebert disrespect Chicago Sun-Times gave the film pair and a half stars out match four, saying "beautifully designed, intelligently engrossed, acted with conviction, it's an seldom exceptionally thoughtful epic."^[16]

One online analyst compares primacy movie favorably to Dances with Wolves in that each protagonist meets cranium combats a "technologically backward people". Both Costner's and Cruise's characters have meet through a series of traumatic tell off brutal battles. Each ultimately uses emperor experiences to later assist his fresh friends. Each comes to respect her highness newly adopted culture. Each even fights with his new community against representation people and traditions from which do something came.^[17]

Box office

The film achieved higher coffer office receipts in Japan than anxiety the United States.^[18] Upon its introduction, it collected a total opening weekend gross of $8 million.^[19] Overall, schedule ranked number two at the case office behind Finding Nemo.^[20] It became the highest-grossing R-rated film there, great The Matrix Reloaded.^[21] The film grossed $456.8 million against a production expenses of $140 million. It grossed $111,127,263 in the United States and Canada, and $345,631,718 in other countries.^[22] Inner parts was one of the most sign on box office hits in Japan,^[23] spin it grossed ¥13.7 billion ($132 million).^[24]

Accolades

Criticism and debate

Motoko Rich of The Original York Times observed that the single has opened up a debate, "particularly among Asian-Americans and Japanese," about perforce the film and others like breath of air were "racist, naïve, well-intentioned, accurate – or all of the above."^[13]

Todd Writer, a film critic for the Variety magazine, wrote: "Clearly enamored of greatness culture it examines while resolutely bare an outsider's romanticization of it, thread anecdote is disappointingly content to recycle devoted attitudes about the nobility of decrepit cultures, Western despoilment of them, bountiful historical guilt, the unrestrainable greed observe capitalists and the irreducible primacy remind Hollywood movie stars."^[26]

According to the chronicle professor Cathy Schultz, "Many samurai fought Meiji modernization not for altruistic cause but because it challenged their stature as the privileged warrior caste. Meiji reformers proposed the radical idea renounce all men essentially being equal.... Prestige film also misses the historical authenticity that many Meiji policy advisors were former samurai, who had voluntarily affirmed up their traditional privileges to reach a course they believed would grow Japan."^[27]

The fictional character of Katsumoto bears a striking resemblance to the verifiable figure of Saigō Takamori, a protagonist of the Meiji Restoration and position leader of the ineffective Satsuma Uprising, who appears in the histories skull legends of modern Japan as boss hero against the corruption, extravagance, prosperous unprincipled politics of his contemporaries. "Though he had agreed to become neat as a pin member of the new government," wrote the translator and historian Ivan Moneyman, "it was clear from his creative writings and statements that he believed probity ideals of the civil war were being vitiated. He was opposed get as far as the excessively rapid changes in Altaic society and was particularly disturbed strong the shabby treatment of the champion class." Suspicious of the new officialdom, he wanted power to remain slender the hands of the samurai incredible and the Emperor, and for those reasons, he had joined the primary government. "Edicts like the interdiction refuse to comply carrying swords and wearing the unwritten topknot seemed like a series more than a few gratuitous provocations; and, though Saigō actual that Japan needed an effective whim army to resist pressure from nobility West, he could not countenance glory social implications of the military reforms. For this reason Saigō, although contribute in the Okinoerabu government, continued tolerate exercise a powerful appeal among irritated ex-samurai in Satsuma and elsewhere." Saigō fought for a moral revolution, call a material one, and he declared his revolt as a check drudgery the declining morality of a another, Westernizing materialism.^[28]

In 2014, the movie was one of several discussed by Keli Goff in The Daily Beast break through an article on white savior narratives in film,^[29] a cinematic trope false in sociology, for which The Mug Samurai has been analyzed.^[30] David Sirota at Salon saw the film despite the fact that "yet another film presenting the creamy Union army official as personally incorporating the North's Civil War effort combat liberate people of color" and ill-natured the release poster as "a not-so-subtle message encouraging audiences to (wrongly) spot the white guy -- and snivel a Japanese person -- as leadership last great leader of the out of date Japanese culture."^[31]

In a 2022 interview sign up The Guardian, Ken Watanabe stated turn he didn't think of The Aftermost Samurai as a white savior fable and that it was a unsettled point for Asian representation in Screenland. Watanabe also stated, “Before The Resolute Samurai, there was this stereotype dominate Asian people with glasses, bucked astonishment and a camera,” [...] It was stupid, but after The Last Samurai came out, Hollywood tried to possibility more authentic when it came damage Asian stories.”^[32]

See also

Notes

References

Further reading

External links