The Last Samurai


The Last Samurai is a 2003 American epic period action drama film directed and produced by Edward Zwick, who also co-wrote the screenplay with John Logan and Marshall Herskovitz from a story devised by Logan. The film stars Tom Cruise, who also produced, along with Timothy Spall, Ken Watanabe, Billy Connolly, Tony Goldwyn, Hiroyuki Sanada, and Koyuki Kato in supporting roles.
The film's plot was inspired by the 1877 Satsuma Rebellion, led by Saigō Takamori, and the Westernization of Japan by foreign powers.
Cruise portrays Nathan Algren, an American captain of the 7th Cavalry Regiment, whose personal and emotional conflicts bring him into contact with samurai warriors in the wake of the Meiji Restoration in 19th century Japan. The character of Algren is very loosely based on Eugène Collache and Jules Brunet, both French Imperial Guard officers who fought alongside Enomoto Takeaki in the earlier Boshin War.
The Last Samurai grossed a total of $456 million at the box office and became the sixth-highest-grossing film of 2003. It received mixed-to-positive reviews, with praise for the acting, visuals, cinematography and Hans Zimmer's score, but criticism for some of its portrayals. It was nominated for several awards, including four Academy Awards, three Golden Globe Awards, and two National Board of Review Awards.

Plot

In 1876, former U.S. Army Captain Nathan Algren, an alcoholic traumatized by his actions during the American Indian Wars, is approached by his former commanding officer, Colonel Bagley. Bagley asks him to train the newly created Imperial Japanese Army for a Japanese businessman, Matsue Omura, who intends to use the army to suppress a samurai rebellion against Japan's new emperor. Despite his hatred of Bagley, Algren takes the job for the money. His old friend, Sergeant Zebulon Gant, accompanies him. Upon arriving, Algren meets Simon Graham, a British translator knowledgeable about the samurai.
Algren struggles to train the poorly disciplined Imperial conscripts. Omura and Bagley arrive with word of an attack by the rebels on one of Omura's railroads. Against his wishes, Algren is forced to lead a counterattack. His fears are proven true when the conscripts flee in terror and are easily routed by the samurai, while Gant is killed. Algren is wounded, and he is taken prisoner when samurai leader Moritsugu Katsumoto spares him. Imperial General Hasegawa, a former samurai who once served with Katsumoto, is allowed to commit seppuku.
Algren is taken to Katsumoto's village and, at Katsumoto's request, is taken in and tended to by Taka, Katsumoto's sister, who Algren later realizes is the widow of a samurai he killed before being taken prisoner. While initially poorly treated, he eventually gains the samurai's respect. With Taka's help, Algren overcomes his alcoholism and guilt, learns the Japanese culture, and is trained in the art of kenjutsu. He develops sympathy for the samurai, who are upset that modernization has eroded their political power. Algren and Taka develop an unspoken affection for each other.
One night, ninjas infiltrate the village and ambush Katsumoto. Algren saves Katsumoto's life and then helps defend the village, concluding that Omura is responsible. Katsumoto requests a meeting with Emperor Meiji in Tokyo. He brings Algren, intending to release him. Upon arriving, Algren observes how the Imperial Army is now fully trained and equipped. Katsumoto, to his dismay, discovers that the young and inexperienced emperor is a puppet of Omura. At a government meeting, Omura orders Katsumoto's arrest for carrying a sword in public and offers him either seppuku or the humiliation of a trial.
A disgusted Algren resigns his post in the Army. After defeating Imperial agents sent by Omura to assassinate him, Algren enlists Graham and Katsumoto's men to free their leader. During the rescue, Katsumoto's wounded son Nobutada sacrifices himself to allow the others to escape.
As the Imperial Army marches to crush the rebellion, a grieving Katsumoto contemplates seppuku, but Algren convinces him to fight and pledges to join the samurai in battle. Taka dresses Algren in her late husband's samurai armor, and Katsumoto presents him with a newly forged samurai sword engraved with an inscription dubbing Algren "the warrior in which the old ways have joined the new."
On the battlefield, Algren and Katsumoto meet with Omura and Bagley for parley; Katsumoto refuses to surrender. The samurai use the Imperial Army's overconfidence to lure them into a trap; the ensuing battle inflicts massive casualties on both sides. With their numbers dwindling and imminent imperial reinforcements arriving, Katsumoto orders a suicidal cavalry charge on horseback. Bagley is slain by Algren, but the samurai are quickly mowed down by Gatling guns. Deeply touched and filled with remorse by the slaughter, the Imperial captain tearfully orders to cease fire. Katsumoto, mortally wounded, commits seppuku with Algren's help as the soldiers kneel in respect.
Later, as trade negotiations conclude, the injured Algren interrupts the proceedings. He presents the emperor with Katsumoto's sword and asks him to remember the traditions for which Katsumoto and his fellow samurai fought and died. The emperor realizes that while Japan should modernize, it can't forget its own culture and history. He rejects the trade offer, and when Omura protests, the emperor silences him with a threat to seize his assets. The emperor asks Algren how Katsumoto died, to which Algren responds that he will instead tell the emperor how he lived. Algren returns to the village to reunite with Taka.

Cast

  • Tom Cruise as Captain Nathan Algren, a Civil War and Indian War veteran. Although he is an exceptionally talented soldier, he is haunted by his role in the massacre of Native Americans at the Sand Creek or Chivington and/or the massacre of Native Americans at the Washita River. Following his discharge from the United States Army, he agrees to help the new Meiji Restoration government train its first Western-style conscript army for a significant sum of money. During the army's first battle he is captured by the samurai Katsumoto and taken to the village of Katsumoto's son, where he soon becomes intrigued with the way of the samurai and decides to join them in their cause. His journal entries reveal his impressions about traditional Japanese culture, which almost immediately evolve into unrestrained admiration of Japan.
  • Ken Watanabe as the reactionary Lord Moritsugu Katsumoto, the eponymous "Last Samurai," a former daimyo who was once Emperor Meiji's most trusted teacher. His displeasure with the influence of Omura and other Western reformers on the Emperor lead him to organize his fellow samurai in a revolt, which he hopes will convince the government not to destroy the samurai's place and power in Japanese society. Katsumoto is based on real-life samurai Saigō Takamori, who led the Satsuma Rebellion. Takamori, however, supported modernizing Japan in general and used firearms, unlike the far more reactionary Katsumoto.
  • Koyuki as Taka Katsumoto, widow of a samurai slain by Nathan Algren and younger sister of Moritsugu. She and Algren develop feelings for each other, and she gives him her husband's armor to wear in the final battle of the rebellion.
  • Timothy Spall as Simon Graham, a British photographer and scholar hired as an interpreter for Captain Algren and his non-English speaking soldiers. Initially portrayed as a friendly yet mission-oriented and practical-minded companion, he later comes to sympathize with the samurai cause and helps Algren rescue Katsumoto from Imperial soldiers. Graham is loosely based on real-life British Japanologist Ernest Mason Satow, who befriended Saigō Takamori during the Satsuma rebellion.
  • Shin Koyamada as Nobutada Katsumoto, Katsumoto's only son and lord of the village where Algren is sent. Nobutada befriends Algren when Katsumoto assigns him to teach Algren Japanese culture and the Japanese language. He dies when he willingly chooses to distract Imperial troops so his father can escape their custody.
  • Tony Goldwyn as Colonel Bagley, Nathan Algren's former commanding officer in the 7th Cavalry Regiment. Ruthless and amoral, Bagley convinces Algren to serve as a training instructor for the Imperial Army despite Algren's hatred of Bagley for his role in the Washita River massacre. In contrast to Algren, Bagley is arrogant and dismissive of the samurai, at one point referring to them as nothing more than "savages with bows and arrows". He is killed by Algren who throws a sword into his chest when Bagley tries to shoot Katsumoto in the final battle.
  • Masato Harada as Matsue Omura, an industrialist and pro-reform politician. He quickly imports Westernization and modernization while making money for himself through his ownership of Japan's railroads. Coming from a merchant family, a social class repressed during the days of Shogun rule, Omura openly expresses his contempt for the samurai and takes advantage of Emperor Meiji's youth to become his chief advisor, persuading him to form a Western-style army for the sole purpose of wiping out Katsumoto and his rebels while ignoring their grievances. His appearance is designed to evoke the image of Ōkubo Toshimichi, a leading reformer during the Meiji Restoration. Harada noted that he was deeply interested in joining the film after witnessing the construction of Emperor Meiji's conference room on sound stage 19 at Warner Brothers studios. Omura is shown to be an intelligent businessman and favors social mobility and greater political equality in Japan. He, however, is shown to be relatively naive on military matters.
  • Shichinosuke Nakamura as Emperor Meiji. Credited with the implementation of the Meiji reforms to Japanese society, the Emperor is eager to import Western ideas and practices to modernize and empower Japan to become a strong nation. However, his inexperience causes him to rely heavily on the advice of men like Omura, who have their own agendas. His appearance bears a strong resemblance to Emperor Meiji during the 1860s rather than during the 1870s, when the film takes place.
  • Hiroyuki Sanada as Ujio, a master swordsman and one of Katsumoto's most trusted followers. Initially showing the most disdain towards Algren during the latter's time in captivity, he teaches Algren the art of sword fighting, coming to respect him as an equal. He is one of the last samurai to die in the final battle, being gunned down during Katsumoto's charge.
  • Seizo Fukumoto as Silent Samurai, an elderly samurai tasked with monitoring Algren during his time in the village, who calls the samurai "Bob". "Bob" ultimately saves Algren's life by taking a bullet meant for him in the final battle.
  • Billy Connolly as Sergeant Zebulon Gant, an Irish American Civil War veteran who served with and is loyal to Algren, persuading him to come to Japan and working with him to train the Imperial Army. During the first battle, he is killed by Hirotaro after being wounded with a spear.
  • Shun Sugata as Nakao, a tall samurai who wields a naginata and is skilled in jujutsu. He assists Algren in rescuing Katsumoto and dies along with the other samurai in the final battle.
  • Togo Igawa as General Hasegawa, a former Samurai serving in the Imperial Japanese Army. He commits seppuku after the first battle.