Well directed picture / mistaken romanticism

Rating: 8/10 (22 September 2005)

This picture is beautifully directed. Both the long shots, indoor shots and close ups are rich, warm and evocative. The quality of the direction is sustained throughout the picture.
The acting is consistently excellent. The picture is well cast, both American and Japanese. Cruise, of course, gives another fine performance. This one lacks some of his usual intensity, but I think this reflects his maturity as a person and an actor. His performance is more subtle and refined. Like fine wine, he is improving with age.
This picture is based on historical fact. The theme is the nobility of the Samurai Way and the Code of Bushido. Like any apologia, it overlooks the less wholesome aspects of Bushido. For instance, all the people beneath the Samurai were serfs whose sole purpose in life was to support the Samurai 'way of life'. In other words, a beautiful life.. if you could afford it. And like all feudal societies, the nobility lived on the backs of the peasants.
In 1942 the Marine garrison at Wake Island surrendered to the invading Japanese. They had driven off a previous invasion, the only successful defense against an amphibious assault in the entire war.
As the prison ship made its leisurely way back to Japan the Marines were taken out, one by one, and beheaded.
Bushido.
When the United States invaded Saipan there were Japanese civilians living there. As the Americans pressed inland it became apparent they were going to be victorious. The Japanese women took their children to a nearby sea cliff. They threw their children over the cliff then jumped after them. Japanese speaking Americans with bullhorns begged them not to, to no avail. They watched helplessly until all were dead.
Bushido.
I recommend you watch this film, it is a good picture.
There are many admirable aspects of Japanese society. The Samurai Way and the Code of Bushido is not one of them.