Tasogare Seibei

Plot synopsis:
At the start of the film, the main character, Iguchi Seibei, becomes a widower when his wife succumbs to tuberculosis. His wife receives a grand funeral, more than what a low-ranking samurai such as Seibei could afford. Seibei works in the grain warehouse, accounting for stores inventory for the samurai clan. His samurai colleagues mock him behind his back with the nickname Tasogare (Twilight). When evening approaches, Seibei rushes home to look after his elderly mother, who has dementia, and two young daughters, Kayano and Ito, instead of bonding with his supervisor and other samurai colleagues over customary nights of dinner, geisha entertainment, and sake drinking. Even though he is a samurai, Seibei neglects his appearance, failing to bathe and being shabbily dressed. The well-being of his young daughters and medicine for his mother take priority over new clothes or the monthly bath fee and his daughters say they are both happy, even without a mother.
Things change when Seibei's childhood friend Tomoe (sister of Iinuma Michinojo, one of his better, kinder samurai friends and much higher ranked in the clan) returns to town. Tomoe is atypical in that she was a tom-boy as a child and as an adult questions points of etiquette, such as obeying her elder brother's wife and not attending peasant festivals, if she believes them wrong. Recently divorced from an abusive alcoholic husband (Koda, a samurai captain), Tomoe finds comfort and solace with Seibei's daughters. Tomoe's ex-husband Koda barges into the household of Michinojo in the middle of night in a drunken demand for Tomoe and challenges Michinojo to a duel which Seibei accepts on Michinojo's behalf believing Michinojo could not win. This takes place with Seibei knowing his clan forbids duels and the penalty is usually death for the winner as the loser is already dead. Michinojo arrives before Seibei and is facing Koda. Seibei interrupts and decides to use only a wooden stick whilst Koda brandishes a steel katana. Koda, after being disarmed and asked if that can be the end of it, picks up his sword so Seibei knocks him unconscious, sparing both their lives. A few days later Captain of the Guard Yogo passes by Seibei while Seibei is working in the stores and quietly announces he is friends with Koda who has asked him for help in seeking vengeance on Seibei. Recognising that Seibei has some skill and learning that Seibei has learnt a particular style of fighting Yogo hopes they can duel someday. Seibei's workmates learn of the duel and wonder if they should stop calling him by his nickname.
When Iinuma Michinojo asks Seibei to marry his sister, saying she has turned down many offers and he will not force her, Seibei feels that Iinuma is teasing him for his strong feelings for Tomoe, like when he, Iinuma, and Tomoe were children. Iinuma knows Tomoe's feeling for Seibei, and Seibei is a kind man who would treat Tomoe better than Koda. With much deep regret, Seibei declines Iinuma's offer of his sister's hand in marriage, citing his inferior social status and how he did not want to see Tomoe share the burden of poverty despite Michinojo's protest that Tomoe is a grown woman who knows what she is up for. Seibei struggles to feed Kayano and Ito whilst caring for his ailing mother, who has dementia. Seibei stoically regrets how his departed wife suffered in his care who, like Tomoe, came from a wealthier family. Iinuma talks no more of it. Tomoe stops visiting Kayano and Ito.
In the final act, the ranking official of Seibei's clan, having heard of his prowess with a sword, orders Seibei to kill a samurai retainer, Yogo Zen'emon, who has been "disowned" and who stubbornly refuses to resign his post by committing seppuku. The young lord of the clan had died from measles and there was a succession struggle behind the scenes over who will be the new lord. Yogo ended up on the losing side of this conflict, hence his ordered suicide. Yogo has already killed a formidable samurai that was sent to kill him. Seibei is promised a rise in rank and pay if he accepts the dangerous mission.
Seibei is very reluctant to fight Yogo at first, requesting one month to prepare for it. He says that, because of great hardship in his life, he has lost all resolve to fight with ferocity and disregard for his own life, because of the experience of watching his two girls grow. As they continue to insist, he requests two days to get himself up to the task. The new clan leader is furious over this answer and orders him expelled from the clan. Seibei is finally forced to agree to attempt the mission. Upon parting that evening, Seibei's supervisor (who was present during the meeting) promises him that he will make sure the girls will be taken care of if the worst comes to pass.
The following morning, Seibei attempts to get ready, but there is no one to help him with the rituals of samurai before battle. With no one to turn to, he asks Tomoe for her assistance. Before he leaves, he tells Tomoe that he was wrong to decline the offer of marriage. He says that if he lives, he would like to ask for her hand in marriage now that there is promise of a promotion. She regretfully tells Seibei she has accepted another proposal. Seibei, feeling like a fool, tells Tomoe to forget about the silly conversation. Tomoe says that she will not be waiting at his household for him to return but that she hopes from her heart that he will return safely. Seibei says he understands completely. He thanks Tomoe for her generosity for assisting him in this final ritual. They part.
At Yogo's house, Seibei finds his target drinking alcohol in a dark, fly-infested room. Yogo recognizes Seibei and invites him to sit and drink. He then asks Seibei to allow him to run away. He explains he was only faithfully serving his master and describes how his wife and daughter also died of tuberculosis due to hardship and spending seven years as a ronin. Only thanks to his master's generosity could he afford a proper funeral. Yogo tells Seibei that he expects Seibei was promised a reward for this errand and that he too performed errands for his superior, taking the word of his superior as the word of the clan. Seibei commiserates and reveals further parallels in the two men's stories, such as that his wife's family demanded she have an expensive funeral and so he sold his katana to pay for it. He reveals that his long scabbard contains a fake bamboo sword. This angers Yogo who believes Seibei is mocking him. Seibei explains he has been trained with the short sword, which he still carries, but Yogo is not placated.
Seibei's kodachi fighting style is matched up against Yogo's ittō-ryū (single long sword) swordsmanship in an intense close quarters duel. Despite allowing Yogo to slash him several times and offering him chances to flee, Yogo presses the attack and Seibei kills Yogo when his longer sword gets caught in the rafters. Despite his wounds, Seibei limps home. Kayano and Ito rush to him in the courtyard, happy to see him. Tomoe is still there, waiting in the house. They have an emotional reunion.
In a brief epilogue set many years later, Seibei's younger daughter, Ito, now elderly, visits the grave of Seibei and Tomoe. Narrating, she explains they married but that their happiness was not to last: He died three years later in the Boshin War, Japan's last civil war. Tomoe took care of Seibei's daughters until they were both married. Ito often heard from fellow co-workers that Tasogare Seibei was a very unfortunate character, a most pathetic samurai with no luck at all. Ito disagrees: Her father never had any ambition to become anything special; he loved his two daughters, and was loved by the beautiful Tomoe.

Tags: dramatic, suspenseful

Review:
Hiroyuki Sanada (Western audiences may recognize him from his recent turn as Ujio from The Last Samurai, 2003), carries this film with his masterful acting, making the portrayal of "Tasogarei Seibei" (a.k.a. a samurai jokingly called "Twilight" by his colleagues), a poignant and memorable portrayal of a true hero.Sanada plays Seibei Iguchi, a poor, 50-koku ranked samurai who has to support his two daughters and a senile mother, due to the passing away of his wife.
The rest of the story is full of very interesting plot develoments, playing with the audience's expectations (especially with the relationship between Tomoe and Seiebi), and although the film is not a traditional samurai film in that it does not have alot of action scenes, the composition of the tale, and its "storytelling" invocation (one of the daughters narrates) is good enough to keep you watching.Hiroyuki Sanada playing Seibei is really a marvel to watch; he adds a very sensible depth and modesty to the character, and infuses it with some understated comic acting as well.
I approached director Yoji Yamada's period film anticipating the usual brew of flashing blades, unfathomable codes of honour and majestic arterial sprays but found instead a gently melancholic and beautifully played story of unspoken love and ethical struggle.Seibei (a mesmerising less-is-more turn from Hiroyuki Sanada) is a low-ranking widowed samurai with a senile mother and two daughters, working in the castle's stores and taking in piecework to get by.Grief at his wife's death has led him to turn his back on violence but he is confronted with it nonetheless, firstly as a result of the return of a childhood friend for whom he has strong feelings and who is fleeing her abusive marriage and, finally, when the politics of the day overtake his clan and he is ordered to carry out an assassination.Seibei's struggle is not for outward respect but to find integrity within a social order over which he has no influence, making the bursts of violence all the more jarring.Yamada's film is rightly compared to Kurosawa's work and its thoughtful, lyrical tone and themes resonate powerfully..
While I enjoyed the Last Samurai and it's message of questioning western cultural imperialism Twilight Samurai is a film on whole different level.LS is a bloated Hollywood epic that delivers intense battles with huge numbers and a unrealistic unsatisfying bullshit love story.
Do we really believe that the woman who lost her husband to Tom Cruise the smelly drunk white would fall in love with him?Twilight Samurai is the opposite in everyway and in everyway it is a better film that is bound to move to tears the hardest of yall out there.
It is the story of a petty samurai who after the long lingering death of his wife finds himself become a devoted father.When Twilight comes and the other samurai go out to drink, he rushes home to clean the house, tend the field and care for his daughters.
In the Nineteenth Century, in Unasaka, Province of Yamagata, in the Feudal Japan, the widow samurai Seibei Iguchi (Hiroyuki Sanada) works in the warehouse of the local Commissioner during the day and handicraftsman building cages in the night to have an income of 50 koku (meaning "a quantity of rice, historically defined as enough rice to feed one person for one year").
The humanistic story takes place in the period of the Feudal Japan and discloses a totally different samurai, who has a heart full of love for his daughters and mother.
"Twilight Samurai (Tasogare Seibei)" is a domestic drama and romance set in a very specific historical and cultural setting amidst civil strife, recalling "Cold Mountain."As in much of the cross-fertilization of samurai movies and Westerns such that one can easily imagine a Westernized version, the opening situation recalls "Unforgiven," where a retired gunfighter just wants to be left alone to farm and raise his children and tries to resist pressures to stop putting his fighting skills under a literal grubby basket.
If you make film - please, please go and see this movie and learn something from it!ps It occurs to me that Twilight Samurai is probably the single best antidote to "Kill Bill" known to man.
So this movie was a real breath of fresh air in how it showed the real place that such samurai fighting occupied in that bygone era in Japan.But the real star of this film is Seibei himself, his daughters, and his love, Tomoe.
Hiroyuki Sanada is phenomenal as 'Twilight' Seibei, he portrays the impoverished retainer perfectly, allowing Yamada's film to continue to exceed expectations.
I have seen many foreign films and many Japanese samurai films, but I rarely have seen anything that stands up to the master of Japanese cinema, Kurosawa; this movie does.I have studied Aikido for years and I believe the sword-play in this film to be some of the best I have ever seen.
This story is much more than a simple Samurai sword film but much more it was a beautiful story of a man content with his place in life and happy to just be with the ones he loved so dearly.
Along side Mutsuo Naganuma's splendid work, The Twilight Samurai has also had to accept numerous other rewards, besides from Awards of the Japanese Academy, such as Best Actor, Actress, Direction, Editing, Film, Music Score and Screenplay, Sound, Supporting Actor then Best New Comer of the Year (for Min Tanaka).
The Twilight Samurai is a marvellous story of love lost and love needed, and love found, the story telling of a great man who has nothing, who lives the simple life, but has the love of his daughters, mother and his childhood friend Tomoe.
The light presence of childhood friend Iinuma Tomoe at his home one day starts a relationship with her that he dares to hope could be more; however, once it is apparent that it could be, he feels unworthy and withdraws from her.Those expecting a blazing sword thriller will very quickly catch on that we join our samurai in essentially a dead end accounting job where he slaves to make enough to keep his family going and that honourable deaths and such are far from his mind.
This movie defied all the stereotypes of "samurai" films, portraying the gritty day to day details of staying alive during the tumultuous years composing the decline of Japanese feudalism while explaining the overriding cultural tradition of filial piety and duty engendered by their class ridden society.Only two sword fights, made all the more powerful by their realism and restraint.
I often thought if they would have just shown the movie without that obvious constipated clichéd Cruise in there what a great film it could have been.Then I saw Twilight the Samurai, and I was pleased.
His family life feels genuine, his reluctance and humbleness feels genuine, the action scenes lack slow mo bullet time and a theatrical score entirely, yet I couldn't help but be at the edge of my seat just hoping, for the best.This is a beautiful film, with characters that are enjoyable.
I don't like Japanese Samurai/sword fighting films, and I didn't want to go see a "chick flick" love story, and I'm sick of seeing Chinese "Do you think you life sucks?
The film starts off with the unfortunate death of his wife, and he's left alone to bring up 2 young daughters, and a senile mother, much to the neglect of his own welfare.Despite being a lowly-ranked samurai, life is adequately comfortable, in an era of change and the coming of the end of the Meiji era.
Protecting her from her violent ex-husband, love is rekindled between the two again, but Seibei, conscious of his low ranking status, is reluctant to declare his true feelings for Tomoe.It's a love story weaved into a Yoki Yamada samurai movie, and somehow I can't help but to compare and noticed some similarities between this movie, and The Hidden Blade.
But violence has never been Seibei's character, and fights are only seen as either a last resort (using a non-lethal weapon), or only when loathing and reluctantly carrying out orders from his clan.This is a simple story of a man struggling with providing for his family, and the coming to terms within himself to be honest with his feelings.
A different kind of samurai film - a special story of the simple life of a man who's a vessel of goodness and integrity.
By and by, we can tell we're listening to one of the daughters giving us the story of her father, how he was nicknamed as the "Twilight Samurai." Towards the end, at a snowy scene, we realize this is quite a tear-jerker - a romantic drama at heart.
The story of a humble samurai, full of goodness and integrity, a skilful and thoughtfully brave man Seibei Iguchi is, fondly reminisced by his loving daughter.
The subtle cinematography by Mutsuo Naganuma (especially the dim interior scenes of the philosophical duel between Sanada's Iguchi and Min Tanaka's Zenemon, and the memorable detail captures of Tomoe and Iguchi at the duel preparation segment), the authentic period costume design by Kazuko Kurosawa (daughter of Akira Kurosawa), and the subtitles translation by Ian McDougall complemented this special samurai film with human approach.
Told from the perspective of an impoverished samurai's daughter, the film becomes a study of a man of great character--meditative, caring for his two daughters and senile mother, reluctant to fight until ordered to by his clan.
"Tasogare Seibei" (2002) aka "Twilight Samurai" is set in the late 19Th century Shonal province of northeast Japan and tells the story of a low-ranking widowed samurai, Selbei (Hiroyuki Sanada), his love Tomoe (Rie Miyazawa), a woman from a high-ranking family and his struggles as he has to maintain loyalty to his clan's demands.
The film is a compelling and seemingly simple story of a man who had to follow the rules and traditions of the Era that was collapsing on him while all he wanted was to be able to take care of his family and be with the only woman he loved all his life Both Hiroyuki Sanada and Rie Miyazawa are wonderful - she is so gentle yet strong and he...
It was able to convey all that is good and noble in the human soul.The film successfully draws you in to the lives of the "Twilight Samurai", his mother, his daughters and of course, his childhood friend Ms. Tomoe.
In terms of character development/relationships, cinematography, and story, this restores your faith in the art of film making in light of what Hollywood is mostly producing.You do not have to be a fan of the samurai genre to love this movie.
The two scenes with swordplay are very realistic and skillful - no flashy techniques with no substance, just two men going about the gritty business of trying to kill each other.The character development and heartfelt relationship between Iguchi and his daughters, and his growing relationship with Tomoe, is the human touch that sets this film apart.As a footnote, but no less impressive, the film is shot absolutely beautifully.
Tasogare Seibei ('Twilight Samurai') is one of the most tender love stories committed to film.
This is a story of humanity and dignity put to the test and the results that inner beauty brings to the philosophy of the original Samurai codes.Seibei Iguchi (Hiroyuki Sanada, in a stunning performance) is recovering from the loss of the consumption death of his wife and lives with his beloved daughters Kayana (Miki Ito) and Ito (Erina Hashiguchi) and his senile mother (Reiko Kusamura).
One expects heroics with a movie that has "Samurai" in the title, lots of blood and throbbing hooves, Toshiro Mifune jumping up and down like Yosemite Sam, but Yoji Yamata is too subtle a thinker for that, he finds hypocrisy in the vaunted Samurai code, and questions the very meaning of heroism.Less Kurosawa than Ozu, the film zeroes in on the mundane details of life in feudal Japan for a low-rent Samurai with two young daughters, a dead wife and a senile mother.
Yoji Yamada shows us the life of the Samurai, his loved ones, the real problems that he faces and how he manages to survive in a fast changing society.The film opens with the voice-over from Ito, the 'Twilight' samurai's daughter at a later stage in her life.
There are elevated shots in Twilight Samurai where we see different characters in the same frame doing different things and walking in and out of the shot which lends a great deal of humanistic naturalism to the scenes and the film as a whole.Although the film is understated, quiet and intimate with real, relatable people, but Yamada still manages to use bigger themes.
Deep in debt from his wife's illness and death, all the work fell on his shoulders.Seibei's life could be better, but he was acutely aware that he was a low status samurai, and would not subject that on anyone, even one who really loved him like Tomoe Iinuma (Rie Miyazawa).A beautiful film, with outstanding cinematography and music.
It's a bold drama piece, focusing on the characters' thoughts and feelings.What most people expect from a samurai film is bloody fights with katana, but this movie has little action.
A compelling, emotional watch, with strong acting, fine cinematography, and realistic fights, The Twilight Samurai is a must for fans of such Japanese cinema..
Set in the middle of the Meiji "restoration" as times were turning (again) for still-lingering feudal Japan, this is a love story, a character study, and an emotional play on changing (and unchanging) standards of morality.Still under the illusion that we're on top of the world in the USA, this film will have more poignancy here in a few years, after we've been bashed into our first big shakeup as a people.Folks get by, and the lucky (or stubborn) ones get by without selling the one or two really important things about being human down the river..
Then I read some reviews which praised the film but described it as a romance, so it then slipped quite a few places down my list - I'm not a romance fan.Then my wife said she'd like to see it, so we went along despite my misgivings.I'm glad we went because Twilight Samurai is an enjoyable enough film with a good eye for detail and it re-tells a relatively engaging story in a pleasant enough fashion.I'm deliberately avoiding using any superlatives in this review - the film is way above average, but it just isn't *my* kind of film.
A true master piece in my opinion.Set in the early days of the Meiji Restoration, when power was being returned to the Emperor and Japan was in a period of rapid modernisation, this charming film shows that the choice of accepting change is a very personal one.The main character is a samurai clerk who has moved away from war, and has found delight in spending a lot of time with his daughters.
The irony of the story is that although Seibei is a laughingstock among other samurai, he leads a life of spiritual happiness where his daughters are proud.The cinematography is brilliant, the acting is brilliant and the directing is brilliant.
I found, again like him, that raising my daughter and watching her grow became my chief delight in life.The movie takes place at the same critical time in Japanese history that 'The Last Samurai' does.
"The Twilight Samurai" is the simple, but universal story of a quiet man's humanity, his complex sense of honor and responsibility, his deep love of family, his humility, his generosity and his genuine concern for others  even those who would be his enemy.
All of that of course is a perfect reason to see "twilight Samurai," but it is also worth your time for Seibei's home-life.
He comes alive in the presence of the women in his life -- his senile mother who needs constant reminders that Seibei is her son; his two young daughters; his childhood friend and romantic one-that-got-away Tomoe; even his memories of his dead wife.
Sometimes there are scary scenes, for example; a duel between samurais, however I want many people who don't know about Japan at all to watch the film and to feel Japanese beautiful spirit..
Family man love story with Samurai Sword fighting...Awesome.
But unlike The Last Samurai, Yamada's film has a much more human side, and a more affecting story, enough to make the period backdrop seem insignificant.Hiroyuki Sanada, maybe more famous for his role in Ring, is brilliant here as Seibei, a lowly Samurai regularly humiliated by his peers, more concerned about looking after his two daughters and senile mother than working for the system he serves.
The perspective, a story told by an old woman about her father when she was 5 years old, also adds to the beauty of the film.To summarize, Twilight Samurai has plot, great acting, very nice background and directing, history, love story and a way to make the ideas stick over time.
Distinctly old-fashioned and as unwilling to move with the times as the samurai himself is, this is a film fan's film, a movie that embraces all the good things about modern cinema.Hiroyuki Sanada is one of my favourite Japanese actors.
In the end, THE TWILIGHT SAMURAI is a fine movie and a film up there with the best of Kurosawa..
A very beautiful movie full of very realistic (for the Japanese culture and its time setting) acting and excellent work from everyone, including the daughters..
The Twilight Samurai is a story, set at the turn of the century, about a petty samurai father, Seibei (Sanada), narrated by his then five-year-old daughter.
They are there just enough to work their way into your heart and make you sympathize with Seibei; one can understand why he wants to stay at home, take care of them, and watch them grow.Overall, The Twilight Samurai is a very good movie.