the adventures of Tom Cruise in Japan

Rating: 5/10 (3 May 2006)

1876. A hero of the American Civil War, the general Nathan Algren (played by the famous star whom it is useless to introduce) has however a strong bias for alcohol and is haunted by his murky past. However he is given the chance to start a new life in Japan where he has to command the army of the Japanese emperor who wishes to modernize his country. It is however more his counselor Omura who guides him in his choices and decisions. One day, Algren's army is slaughtered by a platoon of samurais. Algren becomes prisoner of them and is taken to their village. At first mistrustful because he is in a state of captivity, he ends up embracing the samurai way of life and gaining the friendship of the chief Katsumoto, apparently mesmerized by this bearded stranger with long hair with whom he thinks he has a lot to learn. Alas, the emperor (or rather Omura) wants to put an end to this archaic way of life and endeavors of negotiation with Katsumoto come to nothing. The samurai chief decides to attack maybe for the last time the army of the emperor now under Grant's command and as for Algren, he's stuck between a rock and a hard place...
Japan exerts a vivacious fascination on American cinema these last years and of course the Hollywood industry couldn't resist it. One year before "the Last Samurai" opened, Gore Verbinski made a remake of "the Ring" with satisfying results. Would this fascination serve to conceal a block from the most famous cinematographic firm in the world supposed to convey dream and escape? Here, if one goes on uncharted waters or rather uncharted lands at the level of the backdrop, one can't say the same thing for a story which is academic to a fault and to a film full of tasty tastelessness. I don't want to be malicious towards Edward Zwick but it seems to me that his scenario (even with the help of two partners) is like a catalog of clichés and commonplaces about several points. Just check the persona of Algren and his adventures: alcoholic, a mind eaten by past demons, a chance to redeem himself and to find a new sense to his stranded life by adapting to the samurai way of life which he embraces with pleasure and fascination. Then, after the emperor's denial to negotiate with Katsumoto, he's haunted by the sense of honor and sacrifice. So guess what camp he will choose. I forgot that there was also the obligatory idyllic love affair between him and the Japanese inhabitant which put him up under her roof. The story has unfortunately a stale Hollywood whiff which pervades the whole film and makes it formulaic from the first to the last image. I must say that I began to stay out of the film very quickly.
Apart from being compelled to the Hollywood codes and trademarks, the story also partly acts as a pretext to make the audience discover the treasures and secrets of the samurai way of life (Cruise is the intermediary between the two faces of Japan the film presents) but I must say that there's absolutely nothing wrong about it if one has kept his sensitivity and his thirst for knowledge about different peoples with different cultures. Zwick and Cruise manage to make us share their fascination for this ancient culture in which silence, patience and wisdom help to an improvement of one's personality.
But some qualities emerge of this linear story and this spate of clichés. The cinematography is clean, splendid. The fighting and war sequences are superbly organized and filmed and momentarily get the film out of its lethargy even if the final combat through its organization smells the reheated but Zwick tried to insert at all costs a happy-end to stop the film to end in a bitter way. Given the weight of this happy-end it's an artificial way to end his film.
"The Last Samurai" is also handicapped by weak dialogs and his main star. Tom Cruise is as expressive as a brick wall, except in the sequences when he is supposed to be in anger. Then, he manages to shade his acting. His partners aren't well served because they have to act cardboard characters. Only Ken Watanabe, through the intensity of his looks and the eloquence of his lines is the stand-out of a lackluster cast. He even beats Cruise hands down.
So, "the Last Samurai" will appeal to you if: a) you are interested in Japanese culture b) you are a Tom Cruise devotee c) you are deeply attached to the standards of the Hollywood industry.
The others can easily do without it.