The Last Samurai

Rating: 9/10 (22 May 2006)

A note for the uninitiated: this is not Braveheart (1995) in a different guise. Instead, this is a far more sophisticated piece of art, a film that makes history a subject well worth investigating further. With the Last Samurai, director Edward Zwick has created a film perfectly showcasing heroism at its fullest.
Tom Cruise stars in (arguably) his finest role to date, as the American Captain Nathan Algren, who is captured by the samurai warriors he is training the Japanese army to defeat. At first reluctant to explore the new world he has been pulled into, Algren slowly begins to see that perhaps these samurai are not the "barbarians" that he has been led to believe they are. Usually when you see a Tom Cruise film, the mega-star status shines through instead of the character he is playing, but in the Last Samurai Cruise has presented himself admirably, as the viewer is sucked into the samurai world with him. He at once shows strength and bravery, but also compassion and a weakness of spirit, not to mention a fine sense of humour, usually directed at his samurai guard, "Bob". Algren's development from a drunken waste to a samurai himself is utterly compelling, and comes through at its best when the samurai village is attacked by ninja's, and Algren instantly decides to side with his captor's leader, Katsumoto.
The film wastes no time getting to the point of Algren's capture, but when he gets to the samurai's village, the film takes its time showing the samurai's way of life, and many people may think that this is where the film begins to drag, but this is not the case. Throughout much of his time in the village Cruise says very little, but his silent wonderment at the samurai life gives off a dramatic effect unreachable by many effects-driven blockbusters, and it is this part of the film that Zwick shows off his talents as a director.
However, the real star of the show is Ken Watanabe's samurai leader, Katsumoto. He is the perfect actor to play a character driven by the need to keep up the ways of his ancestors, and to stop Japan being pulled into an industrial revolution, however futile this may be. He is the true embodiment of the samurai code, never giving up, and sticking to his principles even in the face of certain defeat. Watanabe is a hugely convincing actor, making you want to root for him all the way, despite the fact that the samurai are actually fighting against the emperor.
This film is an action film, though. Whilst there is plenty of drama, Zwick proves himself to be an admirable action-director, whether handling the large battles of the samurai versus Japan's army, or the more intimate one-on-one fights that Algren is involved in during his time in the samurai village.
The screenplay is very well written; not surprising as it was co-written by John Logan, the writer for the immensely popular Gladiator. Cruise is well backed up by the supporting actors, including Billy Connelly and Timothy Spall, in a film that has been carefully crafted rather than slapped together, producing a film that, despite its relatively unimpressive box office success, is still one of the finest mainstream films that has come out of America for a long time.
Rated: 9/10
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