Watch it, smell it, taste it, grasp it!

Rating: 9/10 (15 February 2012)

This is a movie I will stop and watch again, and understand something valuable that I never noticed before. And that fact alone makes The Last Samurai an excellent movie.
First of all, I love cross cultural movies and this is one of the best. You can learn so much from the approaches of people in different cultures, and their interactions. The Last Samurai can be compared to Dances with Wolves. Both movies have an epic quality about them, well directed, wonderfully filmed and scored. Both movies are a cinematic sensual experience. But as strong as these aspects of The Last Samurai are, it is the human life themes that are important. It is the movie's message to the mind that matters.
Lieutenant Nathan Algren, played by Tom Cruise, is a post Civil War cavalry officer who suffers from the guilt of killing women and children on the raid of an Indian village. Ironically, he is recruited by Colonel Bagby who led the raid, and by Mr. Omura of Japan to train a modern Japanese army. Omura represents the modernists of Japan, who wish to wrestle away political control from the remaining traditional Samurai war lords of Japan.
Algren, who would prefer to drink himself into oblivion and at times wishes for death to take him, is actually a wonderful trainer and leader of men. He knows how to communicate and encourage his young Japanese peasants to become effective fighters. But Omura and Colonel Bagby have their own time-line, because Lord Katsumoto is raiding Omura's railroad. They believe Katsumoto's forces cannot stand up against a modern army with rifles. Algren knows his young trainees are not ready, and this fight will be a bloodbath.
If there is a formula for success in recent movies it is action scenes, and this movie has four such action/battle scenes. They are important to the movie's structure, and in the battles many people are killed. Still, the plot structure allows the movie to move to the valleys in between the action scenes, and this is where the beauty of this movie occurs. Characters are explored, and viewers see the growth of people.
In the first battle, Algren refuses to retire to the rear and fights with his trainees against a full-blown traditional Samurai force attack. He sees his friend Sergeant Zebulon Gant killed in the charge, and fights to the very end, somehow avoiding death and taking the life of Katsumoto's brother in a last desperate attempt to survive. Katsumoto is moved, perhaps by the tiger banner of the spear that Algren uses to fight off the Samurai's forces, to take the American prisoner.
As Algren recovers from his serious battle wounds in Katsumato's sister-in-law's (Taka) house, and in the presence of Katsumoto's son (Nobutada), he also begins to heal spiritually isolated in this village from the rest of the world because the mountain passes have been closed by winter snows. He relates well with the children of Taka's house, and these small personal moments help show the normalcy of daily living salving the captain's troubled soul.
He admires the diligence of the people of Katsumoto's village, each seeking to be as perfect in their duties as they are able. He develops a friendship with Katsumoto; Algren understanding the honor and courage of this man, and his people, and Katsumoto and his village admiring the perseverance of this stranger.
At one point in the movie, Katsumoto finds out that Algren knew George Custer, and mentions how marvelous he was to fight to the death. However, Algren counters that 'Custer was a terrible general whose arrogance needlessly cost the lives of 200 men.' In that statement there is the contrast of the two cultures. The Japanese culture valued honor and courage in death, while the American saw honor and courage in life.
Algren is a good student of the Japanese language, and the use of the Samurai sword, so good in fact that he is able to help defend his adopted family, village, and Katsumoto from a band of ninja assassins hired by Omura. The American has gone from being a prisoner to an honored friend, with respect from each party growing into admiration. When he returns to Tokyo, his loyalty has shifted from Omura and Colonel Bagby to Katsumoto and his village.
The third action scene is his helping Katsumoto to escape back to his village, and then Algren organizing resistance against the more highly trained Imperial army that now has cannon and Gatling guns in the dramatic final battle, with Algren somehow again surviving.
This movie is about life and death, and honestly writers John Logan, Edward Zwick (director), and Marshall Herskovitz communicate well the beauty, and sometimes the struggle of life; and the terrible waste of life in war. Tom Cruise does an excellent job of understating his character--he is extremely believable. Ken Watanabe is also excellent as Katsumoto, but all the actors in this movie are believable, particularly the villains.
This movie is not perfect. Some situations seem a little unlikely. But sometimes real life seems unlikely. A viewer can enjoy the scenery, the musical score, the acting, and indeed the entire film. But hopefully the viewer will also perceive the contrasts of the cultural philosophies, and ultimately the complimentary natures of differing cultural philosophies.