Movie Analysis Essay on The Last Samurai

Introduction

History is often characterized by numerous events that have been captured and replicated by many films. Some of the movies offer a succinct replication of the events while others, while others provide an overview of such events or are far from the past realities. The Last Samurai is a historical film since it is a replication of different battles rolled together that occurred in the past (Cruise, Zwick, Kerskovitz, Wagner, Kroopf, Engelman, & Zwick, 2003). The war was propagated by rebellion, but not all facts about the cause of the battle were accurately presented in the film.

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Plot Summary

The Last Samurai was first shot in the 19th century in Japan and was directed by Edward Zwick in 2003 after he failed to do so in 1998. The Samurai at first protected the Japanese monarchy, but they later on rebelled and stepped away from the warriors and formed a contemporary military. The film has different characters with different roles. Nathan Algren, in the movies, is Tom Cruise in real life, and as stated by Provencher (2017), his role was to train an army whose objective was to bring down the Samurai. Algren was captured by the Samurai and assimilated. He subsequently suffered from an identity crisis and was undecided on which side to fight for. Katsunoto is the co-star to Algren, and Ken Watanabe plays the role. He was also captured by the Samurai and was taken care of by Algren, an act that cemented their bond, and they became very close to each other (Provencher, 2017). As the movie ends, one can easily observe the deep respect that Katsumoto accord Algren based on how he initially treated him.

Historical Background

Japan experienced a deep fight in the 1860s when the conservative-minded daimyo and Samurai attacked the foreigners and the government to recover the nation's isolation and the ideals that they cherished and believed (Ravina, 2011). Samurai was at the forefront of the fight since he felt that the foreigners were threatening their ways of life, and he had to protect it. The Japanese economy was dwindling, and their honor was being squashed. The end of Samurai was, however, marked by the Meiji Restoration of 1868. "After centuries of Samurai rule, however, many members of the warrior class were understandably reluctant to give up their status and power. They also believed that only the Samurai had the courage and training to defend Japan from its enemies, internal and external" (SHIN, 2010, p. 1).

The Samurai Rebellion was massive, and it posed a considerable threat to Japan. However, it was subdued since it had fewer weapons and soldiers. They were slaughtered and killed when they faced the imperial army. Rebellions at the beginning were more comfortable to organize and be successful since the Samurai were quick in organizations and attacks. However, their attacks could not last long since, as soon as the Imperial armies engaged them, they could easily be defeated since they could not match the imperial army.

Historical Accuracy

The movie The Last Samurai covered the Satsuma Rebellion and other rebellions. Some of the aspects of the film do not capture the reality of the uprising. For instance, the film portrayed the Samurai to be having an early decisive victory over the Katsumoto army when, in fact, most of the resistances were doomed to fail from the start. The depictions of the movie also differ with the realities of the war in that the film portrays the Samurai wearing their armor, with Algren wearing the Samurai's armor during the battle. This contrasts with the realities of the historical battle in that the Samurai armor had been abandoned since it could not stop bullets. The movie also fails to portray the Samurai practice of squashing the lower classes.

Time in History and Western Intervention

Different actual events drove the creation of the movie The Last Samurai, and historical accuracy was not one of them. The story revolves around the stories by Jules Brunet, who was a French army captain. The movie assembles and blends different characters and their features before the restoration period to the end of the Samurai. Hence, it cannot be historically accurate concerning specific times and historical characters. However, film timeliness is precise. The last parts of the film are exact, also given how fantastic it appears in the movie (Provencher, 2017). Some of the costumes and the sceneries are not accurate, but the scenes of Algren walking in town before and after his time with the Samurai indicate the results of the quick and disjointed modernization (Provencher, 2017).

Conclusion

In summary, the Last Samurai was a movie that compiled different historical events and figures in Japan, and it was created for the American audience. The film expertly blended most parts of history but failed to be realistic with some parts. Different lessons can be learned in the movie and one of them being that one person can go into something with a clear objective but in the process transform their focus as portrayed by Algren, who went in to train with the troops and got confused in choosing the side to fight for. The movie is entertaining since it is a reflection of the past lives of the Samurai and how they went through their daily lives.

References

Cruise, T., Zwick, E., Kerskovitz, M., Wagner, P., Kroopf, S., Engelman, T., & Zwick (Director), D. (2003, November 20). The Last Samurai [Video]. Youtube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8rUJN1XbViw

Provencher, K. (2017). Blood and Blades: Transnational Heroic Violence in Twilight Samurai and the Last Samurai. Exploiting East Asian Cinemas. https://doi.org/10.5040/9781501319686.0011

Ravina, M. (2011). The Last Samurai: The Life and Battles of Saigo Takamori. John Wiley & Sons.

SHIN, M. (2010). Making a Samurai Western: Japan and the White Samurai Fantasy in the Last Samurai. The Journal of Popular Culture, 43(5), 1065-1080. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1540-5931.2010.00787.x