The Twilight Samurai [DVD] [2002]

Almost certainly, this is the best introduction you will get to Japanese period drama. The title refers to a brow-beaten clerk who quietly endures daily humiliation from colleagues and neighbours. He cares nothing about his ragged appearance or infrequent washing & only comes alive when at home with his two daughters. They, and an aged woman are all that remain of his family & the focus of his effort to secure a future in an all too fast changing country. He also, though is about to change, being drawn into another man's feud and surrounded with unthinking violence & vanity, his calmness and humility stun and shame those who taunted him the twilight samurai.I've several hundred titles on VHS & disc, covering a wide area of interest and without hesitation, place TWILIGHT SAMURAI in my top twentyA slow-burning love between these pair, reunited after years apart (Tomoe Linuma & Seibei Iguchi ) is restrained by the demands of others; not the least her abusive ex-husband.Seibei's measured responce, easily beating him without killing, does however bring his own skills to the notice of others who expect his obedience, defending their ambitions.

Let me first say that this is a really great film perhaps only slightly spoiled by the ending. If the ending was as good at that for say 'The insider (the best ending ever in my opinion)'.I think a lot of stuff has been written by people about the beauty of Japanese poverty and about Japanese simplicity / nobility / restraint etc..I think that this commentary is a a little overdone.These things are not presented in the film in an abstract way; the simplicity and poverty is due to the unlucky life that Seibei (the main protagonist) has had with his sick wife etc.. and following on from this his low rank in the clan (which is why he is poorly paid). He's a single father really struggling to make ends meet doing the job of both parents and this holds back his career and keeps him in poverty. He's in the situation despite being a very handy swordsman; an illustration that the time of the Katana is over.In the midst of all this the film shows you the change that are occurring; there's a funny scene where soldiers are trying to get to grips with gunpowder; there's a poignant moment where Seibei's daughter is studying the Classics (Confucius) which at that time only boys were supposed to do. Seibei tells his daughter to read on because it will help her learn how to think; if she learns to do that she will always be ok whatever happens. There's the moment at the end when the erstwhile loyal captain of the guard Zenemon Yogo refuses to commit ritual suicide when he was ordered to by his clan, so goes rogue. Change, change, change.The funny thing is that Seibei; a man who has had to make do with ill luck , who saw his childhood sweetheart marry someone else because he wasn't well off enough; a man who when all his own dreams have been shattered sees a light in his children. This man gets an opportunity to make his dreams comes true by benefiting from this change. The building tension in the film is due to the growing realisation of both Seibei and you the viewer of this fact.The film toys with your emotions in this regard; Things are looking up for Seibei!! No, actually they're not. Yes they are!!! etc..etc..Ultimately the film isn't about the big things (that films are generally always about, including The Insdier). It's about the fact that being s poor single father is ultimatley more heroic than being a famous swordsman.It's about how a person can deal with the real problems that life throws at you, and that dealing with them with grace and dignity may lead to joys and rewards long despaired of.Like many others, I've seen it more than once. I own a copy having bought it after I had watched a rented copy. I can't say that I do that for many films

This is a great movie, well desserving five stars. This story of a poor samurai, Seibei Iguchi, who struggles valiantly to take care of his sick wife, senile mother and two little daughters (and one devoted although not very clean servant), is one of the best movies I have seen in a long time.Because he doesn't laugh (or speak for that matter) a lot and never has time (or money) to drink with his fellow samurai, Iguchi earns finally the nick name "Twilight Samurai". A simple, calm, honest and gentle man, Iguchi never was very ambitious - he has however much more steel (and talent) in him than anybody expects... As you will see in the movie, the fate will accumulate more and more hardships on his way, until one day he finally has the possibility to greatly improve his material situation and his standing in the clan... but for a price which he is not ready to pay. No more details here.As it is strongly hinted at the very beginning of this movie, to understand it fully, we should consider some of the teachings by Confucius. There are two confucianisms - the original one, created by Confucius in V century BC and the official one (greatly stressing the obligation of blind obedience to the superiors), which was developped by court appointed officials under the emperor Han Wudi in II century BC. Here the original teachings are the main point of the movie. Confucius insisted a lot on the acceptance of one's situation and of his place in the society and encouraged to obey and respect the superiors - but on another hand he also called every person to cultivate the virtue, and precised that the higher is one's station in life, the greater should be his virtue. Obedience to superiors and personal virtue HAVE to collide occasionally and in this movie they do... even very much so. Confucius knew better than to try to give a ready procedure how to solve those conflicts - instead he recommanded a lot of common sense, patience and reflexion. He knew that there is no good solution in such a situation, but one can limit the damage... the best he can. And this problem is precisely described in this movie. And it is described with a breathtaking perfection!This is a long and slow movie, so if you lack patience, you will not like it. If you like martial arts displays, you will be disappointed too, because even if there are some (not much), this is REALLY not the point of this movie. However if you like great cinema and especially if you like great Japanese cinema, this is what you need to see!At least one of the female reviewers claimed that this is the kind of man, that every man should be, an example to everybody... but I believe she somehow missed one moment in the movie, during the conversation between Iguchi and Zenemon Yogo (this is the most important moment in the movie - do NOT miss it!). During this conversation, and especially at the end, you will see, that Iguchi is not as kind, simple and innocent you would believe... there is a part of the snake in this angel and there is some Dark Side in his Force... You will see it by yourself.I loved this movie very much and I recommend it with all my heart.

What a great film. Well cast, well acted, well scripted and well directed. It's a slow moving film but what a cracker! You can see why it was nominated for an Oscar. If you look on IMDb it's scored numerous 10/10s. Definitely a thumbs up from me.