An Example of What We've Lost

Rating: 10/10 (25 January 2004)

I loved this movie because it shows what we've lost. I'm not of any asian descent, purely mutt American, but I can relate to this movie. It calls to something within me that is so basic, so simple. We've lost the idea of Honor and how to simply live with one another as human beings. I watched an episode of the History channel yesterday about The Last Samurai and Tom Cruise said this or something cose to it...so it's not a verbatum quote, "The Samurai, the lifestyle, begged us to remember that man was more than just a body, he was a spiritual creature too." There is such simplicity in that way of life and yet it was complicated too. It's so hard to describe the feeling within thinking about how this movie effected me. It gave birth to a craving, a yearning for what was embodied within the movie. Honor, Loyalty, Duty, Purpose, Harmony, Respect. I admit that both times I saw the movie...I cried. I can even cry now for what was lost. To see such courageous men knowingly give up their lives for something they believed in, something that was good and should not have left this world. So many times we like to say that we have honor. Personally, I feel that we delude ourselves. The ideal of Honor has become twisted and self-serving. It's not an easy thing, but with it, true honor, life become simpler. One other thing that stayed with me from this movie..."Life in every breath." Too often we become drowned in simply trying to survive in this world. We should all remember this, "A life spent looking for the perfect blossom...is not a life wasted."