The Best Film of the Year

Rating: 8/10 (1 December 2003)

Where to start? Well, lets scratch the surface by talking about the obvious commercial draw of the film: Tom Cruise. This is Cruise's best film in a long career filled with great films. Here, Cruise is able to utilize his unparalleled action skills and showcase his underappreciated acting talent as Captain Nathan Algren. I have always believed Cruise to be one of the best actors in Hollywood; he is the only action star to put so much effort into each and every scene he does. In Samurai, he is surrounded by an equally talented cast headlined by Asian cinema star Ken Watanabe. Watanabe's performance as Katsumoto is one of the best this year and his chemistry with Cruise is incredible. Katsumoto is a man who demands respect with his looks, but obtains it through his actions. Lets put the performances aside for just a second. The overall look of the film is beautiful. Granted, to most western audiences any movie set in the Orient has beautiful scenery, but Samurai doesn't try to just showcase Japan's grand landscapes. Instead, the scenery flows effortlessly into each and every scene and compliments it. Even further complimenting the look of the movie are the simple yet beautiful sets. I cannot comment on the historical authenticity of the sets having only been to Japan once, but regardless the small, simple Japanese homes are adorned with vastly different personalities in each individual room. The transition between the simple Samurai life and the hectic battle scenes is perfect. Some will complain about the shakiness of the camera at times and that the shots are cut to quickly. Even I had that complaint at small parts here and there, but that's how a battle is: hectic, random, and unpredictable. The battles are among the most epic ever filmed, paralleled only perhaps by those in Braveheart. There are a few fight sequences that had the audience, including myself, applauding afterwards. The most well choreographed in terms of swordplay is one that will have the nerds inside many of us bubbling with joy. Just know this: Ninjas vs. Samurai. Usually when you have a western actor in a role that requires eastern skill (ala Keanu Reeves as Neo), there is huge disappointment among the masses. In this case a man like Cruise has worked his ass off so much that his mastery of a katana blade is as good as Watanabe's or anyone else's. Granted, I'd still put my money on someone like Watanabe in an off screen skirmish, but onscreen the two are equals as warriors. Reverting back to the Ninja vs. Samurai scene, the music is similar to the fast drum beats of Yo-Yo Ma in the first fight sequence of Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon. At the end of the scene my pulse was as high as ever and my jaw was wide open. The quickness and ferocity of the show that Zwick and the fight choreographers will not back down just because this movie is meant primarily for mainstream America. Almost as if to poke fun at that, there is a short but equally heart-pounding sequence where Algren kills a number of Japanese agents with swords. Initially, the scene is showed in real time, but it pauses after, goes back to the beginning of the sequence, and shows everything in slow motion. It actually means to show Algren's reflection or recollection of the fight that just occurred, but the fact that it works on the two aforementioned levels is even more inspiring. The inevitable final battle sequence is just as good mainly because it doesn't follow any of the common clichés found in other epic war films. Enough about the battles, the real brilliance of this film comes from its short and sharp dialogue and its patient but captivating pacing. The biggest surprise I found was that there were not corny dialogues or lines in the entire movie. Usually movies that showcase words like "honor" in their trailers have a cheesy scene somewhere in the movie. In Samurai, ideas and themes like honor and courage are practiced, not talked about. There are no speeches, only dialogues. Characters we don't like strike a chord as much as the protagonists. There is a point in the movie when Algren is leaving to go back to the Samurai when his commanding officer (Col. Bagley) asks him "what is it about your own people that you hate so much?" There is no answer from Algren, which makes the question and the point it tries to make all the more chilling. The most impressive dialogue is that written for the Japanese characters, particularly the samurai. Japanese characters consistently talk to each other in Japanese, and Algren eventually learns Japanese instead of vice-versa. The samurai dialogue never lapses into the typical "dumb foreigner" dialogue that just about every Hollywood movie showcases these days. Instead, the script, penned by John Logan and Marshall Herskovitz, treats Japanese just as importantly as English, and the Japanese just as important as the Americans. A few things both in and out of the screenplay that I appreciated about the film were the realism of injury and the patience and confidence to let the story unfold by itself. At about an hour-and-a-half, Samurai isn't a second too long or a second too short. It owes this to gorgeous editing and directing which allows the movie to start slowly and then take off when Algren reaches Japan. I mention the realism of injury because our main characters are constantly stabbed or shot and actually take time to heal. Algren himself is nearly killed in the initial encounter with the Samurai, and he is shot and stabbed numerous times in the final scene. A substantial part of the movie deals with his rehabilitation at the Samurai town. So, do I have any complaints at all? No. Upon second viewing maybe I'll find something that could have been a little better. Maybe the beginning could have been a little more interesting. Maybe the action could have been just a little less choppy. I don't know, but for now The Last Samurai is as great as epic filmmaking gets. It represents everyone at the top of their game with the utmost confidence in their artistic abilities. Cruise shows why he has consistently been Hollywood's leading man over the past two decades, and the cast of Asian stars and unknowns doesn't flinch for a second. Most people cringe to mention any movie as comparable in brilliance to Kurosawa, but Samurai places itself in those lofty ranks. This isn't just the best movie I've seen this year, it is one of the best movies I have seen from the past decade.

Grade: A+ (only one every few years) IMDB Rating: 10/10