I do not like war movies. Well, what I mean by that is most war movies coming out today serves as a purpose to sell the brand America rather than bringing out the true essence of the war, the reasons for the war, the motives of the two sides and of course, the ideologies of the warriors..
But ’’The Last Samurai’’ is different, it goes beyond the horizons set by the conventional war movies like ’’Saving Private Ryan’’, ’’Behind Enemy Lines’’. It delves into the lives of the warriors, not of soldiers..
Why does man fight? He fights when his identity has been challenged..
What maketh a man’s identity? A man’s identity is defined by the virtues he keeps, by the actions he carries out to maintain his virtues..
What is a warrior? What maketh a warrior? Is a warrior a common man, who in the possession of his weapon, becomes an uncommon? What drives a warrior to perform the deeds he performs on the battlefield?
Gone are the days when men fought for honour, when loss was considered a shame, and dying in honour, on a battlefield, being killed by another warrior of higher might was considered a privilege. Similar is the anguish faced by Captain Nathan Algren (Tom Cruise), a captain in the American army, who feels cheated, cheated by his superiors, by their ideology of war, by himself... Because he is sick of the relentless killing of unarmed Native Americans by his army.. He is sick of his medalled jacket, earned by spilling the blood of innocent children and women.. He is sick because he has been reduced to a stage actor for the mighty American army, a commercial enterprise, which has lost all sense of the one word all warriors live by - Honour.
Amidst his strife, for which he seeks refuge in a bottle of whisky, he is invited by a Japanese council to train the Japanese Army in the latest weaponry.. with an financial offer that would pay him in three months what he would not earn in five years at home. He is told that the Japanese emperor seeks refuge from a band of Samurais led by Katsumoto, who once were a part of his famed council, but are now posed as a danger to the civility of Japan..
Samurais are laughed off as a band of savages, who in the modern age of firearms and ammunition, seek refuge in the age-old weaponry of swords and spears. Nathan, along with is Lt. Colonel, whom Nathan hates, lands up in Japan to train the army. The Samurais attack a railroad and Nathan’s untrained team is summoned to reply to the Samurai attack. The Samurais sweep through the Japanese army and most of the soldiers run away. Nathan is captured as a POW and is taken away by the Samurais to their hideout.
There, Nathan learns for the first time, what a Samurai is. He learns that they are not soldiers, they are warriors.. they are not savages, far from it, they practice discipline upto to the last letter, they respect enemies, they talk only when required, they listen and learn a lot... He learns what it is like to fight, not to give up, not to fear death on battlefield, and to take one’s own life if they are shamed into defeat, because death is acceptable but not defeat...
What follows is a transformation in Nathan, from a drunken American soldier, to a true warrior, a warrior who leads his right with his might, whose life hinges upon the strokes of his sword...
The movie is amazingly detailed in its presentation of the traditional Japanese lifestyle, the beauty of the countryside, the grace of the Samurai martial art, the humility of the bow, the respect that is given to a man of ability, and the pride of dying with an achievement...
Tom Cruise is brilliant as Nathan, he has captured the entire range of emotions, right from the drunken loser to an enlightened warrior in an colourful display of acting. The climax scene where he finally proves that he has become a Samurai is brilliantly performed by Tom Cruise.. His eyes speak a lot, of the frustrations he faces, of the fury he faces, of the happiness he experiences, and of course, of the pride he feels...
Ken Watanabe, who plays Katsumoto, is also great, he is the perfect leader, who in the face of impending defeat, sticks to his ideology, sticks to his right, and prefers to die to the swords of the enemy, rather than die to his own sword. The camaraderie shared by Nathan and Katsumoto, reminds me of the relationship shared by Neo and Morpheus in Matrix.. Where Neo learns such a lot from Morpheus, Nathan learns what he has always wanted to learn, to be himself, to breathe air the way a free man does..
Amazingly detailed direction and photography, the fight scenes leave a tinge of excitement and are all very believable, unlike the SFX riddled ’’Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon’’. All in all, an epic of historic proportions.. At long last, a movie that makes one feel proud of being a part of.. Because we are all warriors in our everyday life, because we fight for out right, because we never accept defeat, because we love life...