See it on a big screen

Rating: Null/10 (21 January 2004)

This posting is probably going to be lost in the sea of reactions this film will get. But I want to make a point or add to a similar one. Of course this film is commercial, when you have Mr Cruise in it, one has to make the big bucks to pay him. This is probably why the producer turned a blind eye/ear when Mr Cruise compared the Samurai philosophy with the church of scien-you-know-what. (see his press conference in Madrid, for the opening of Last Samurai) OK, now about the film itself: I think it's fabulous! It's a film with a film director, as opposed to a comics book fan turned into a film director or a video rental clerk who flirts with all cultures and types of guns. (was this more than a hint?) I also felt the camerawork and the rest of the team believing in their work. The sword fighting is beautiful choreographed, without strings attached and therefore very realistic. (I personally had enough of flying Keanus. That's flight from acting. But I digress) The scenery is photographed with great sensitivity and I didn't find any scene too long, too short or there just to show you what the post production can achieve with the computers. I think Kurosawa would have liked the direction. The story is made for us, the ticket payers. It must be the only way one can attract the public so my `blaming' finger is pointing towards the street, and not the film crew. And to end: believe me, I'm not a Cruise hater but I didn't understand the decision of casting him in this film. Powers dictating?