So above all, the film is so inspiring

Rating: 9/10 (11 January 2007)

Its title brings me in a new sense, whenever I recall it  The Last Samurai. When I went through the description at the back of the DVD case, to me, it was a foreign solider torn apart two worlds: Modern Japan and its traditional counterparts. Now the most interesting factor holistically is that the foreign-born military officer gets to know about the traditional flavour whereas Japan's own people do fail to identify it. My recent cram for the exam reminded how Japan switched into an open-foreign policy from a close-foreign policy during Meiji's ruling. However history records indicate Meiji continued with the Samurai backing. And I quite well remember how the Samurais were described under Meiji rule; they had reputation but no wealth because they loved their tradition. May be the Meiji's officials wanted a Samurai-free reign open to foreign policies. The Emperor must have been a cat's paw in this phenomenon hence so shown in the film. He is shown as somebody  like a protégé  of his council. When the Samurai chief approaches him for the help in presence of the council, he remains silent. But alone he renders a great helping hand to the Samurai chief by reappointing him to the council. The movie's irony is perhaps the war that happens between two peoples of a same tribe. But it reaches a crescendo when Kotsubo, the Samurai chief and the last Samurai breathes his last giving in to the enemies, his fellow people. The incessant release of skirmishers against Samurais keeps the Japanese Army General warm. He begins feeling his heart  the Japan. He suddenly commands the halt of the firing ignoring his superior's presence. When the Last Samurai breathes his last, the whole Japanese Army kisses the earth in respect of their fellow rival. This scene is followed by the signing of the agreement between US and Japan on free trade policies. However the scene is interrupted by the foreign military official's visit to the Emperor. He is here to hand over the last Samurai's sword to the Emperor. The irony here again is that it is a foreign official who leads the Emperor to trace his traditional ways and means. With receiving the sword, the Emperor becomes sentimental; he realises the futility, or perhaps the danger of maintaining the foreign relations. The Emperor remains almost silent all along the film, and begins his oratory consequently abolishing the treaty signed between US and Japan. Nathan Algren is American but Japanese in heart. Omuro is Japanese but American in deed. The encounter between Taka and Nathan is also charming. The relationship so grows gradually along with the movie itself. The relationship reaches a kind of climax with a light oral kissing. Apart from this, the bond is always shown on facial expressions. Taka's richness in her facial expressions of her feelings towards the foreign-born is really amazing. And what caught me very much is a line in Captain's journal that from the moment they wake, the Japanese devote themselves to the perfection of whatever they pursue. Captain's words pervade the film and the Japan's history on the practical end. There is not a single moment they are seen just gossiping around; all the time they are busy: men with their fights, women with their household chores. So above all, the film is so inspiring.