The Last Samurai

The Last Samurai is a 2003 American epic drama film directed and co-
produced by Edward Zwick, who also co-wrote the screenplay based on a story
by John Logan. The film was inspired by a project developed by writer and
director Vincent Ward. Ward become executive producer on the film – working in
development on it for nearly 4 years, and after approaching several directors
(Coppola, Weir), he interested Edward Zwick. The film production went ahead
with Zwick and was shot in Ward’s native, New Zealand.

The film stars Tom Cruise (who also co-produced) in the role of American
soldier, Nathan Algren, whose personal and emotional conflicts bring him into
contact with Samurai warriors, in the wake of Meiji Restoration in the Empire of
Japan in 1876 and 1877. Other actors include Ken Watanabe, Tony Goldwyn,
Hiroyuki Sanada, Timothy Spall, Shin Komayada, and Billy Connolly. The film’s
plot was inspired by the 1876 Satsuma Rebellion, led by Saigo Takamori and also
on the story of Jules Brunet, a French army captain who fought alongside
Enomoto Takeyaki in the earlier Boshin war.

The story goes like this: Captain Nathan Algren (Tom Cruise) is a civil war
hero who is haunted by his past. He’s not haunted by the civil war, but from
recently fighting American Indian in the west. It’s now 1876, and he is an
alcoholic and experiencing flashback of a cruel massacre of human and children
by himself under the direction of his commanding officer, Colonel Bagley (Tony
Goldwyn). He is doing a demonstration for a rifle company, but it almost equals
up to a circus sideshow act. He gets a chance to do something more challenging
when Japanese businessman, Omura (Masato Harada) makes him an offer. He
wants to modernize his country through his railway system, and he has been
pressuring the young Emperor Meiji (Shichinosuke Nakamura) to suppress the
recent Samurai attacks that are stopping that process. Omura has hired Bagley
to train the country’s new army and the Colonel in turn thinks of Algren, because
of Algren’s experience with fighting the Indians, which he figures are the same
as the Samurais.

Algren doesn’t want to do it at first, but eventually agrees after an offer to

be paid $500 a month plus an additional $500 upon completion, and he gets to
bring his friends and fellow Army veteran, Sergeant Zebulon Gant (Billy
Connolly), with him. Algren heads to Japan where he meets the army’s
interpreter, the British Simon Graham (Timothy Spall), and starts training the
troops. He also depends on General Hasegawa (Togo Igawa) to help him learn
more about the leader of the Samurai, Katsumoto (Ken Watanabe), since
Hasegawa once fought alongside him. Omura gets antsy though, and demands
that Algren leads the army into a battle with the Samurais, even though they
were clearly unprepared. Predictably, the army is massacred, resulting in the
deaths of some friends and people he has come to know. Algren himself is
almost killed, but his warrior spirit while killing a red-armored Samurai impresses
Katsumoto enough that he spares the American’s life, takes him prisoner so he
can find out what Omura is up to next. Katsumoto brings Algren to a remote
village run by his son, Nobutada (Shin Koyamada). Since Algren doesn’t exactly
know where to escape to, he isn’t confined in a cell, though he is constantly
followed by the Silent Samurai (Seizo Fukumoto), his bodyguard/watcher. He
stays with Taka (Koyuki), Katsumoto’s sister and the widow of the red-armored
Samurai, who dutifully heals him up, but is uncomfortable with him being there.

Katsumoto’s right-hand man, Ujio (Hiroyuki Sanada) constantly challenge

Algren while ironically teaches him the fighting techniques of Samurai. Time
passes and Algren becomes friends with Katsumoto. He decides to help the
Samurais, especially with the regrouping of Omura’s army and his purchase of
modern weapons that could wipe out the Samurai for the last time.

Overall, this movie is good, though it has a couple of flaws. One of the flaw
was the tacked on love story between Algren and Taka that goes absolutely
nowhere. It is so pointless and it takes up screen time that would have been
better used in exploring the developing relationship between Algren and
Katsumoto.

Question:

1. What is being reviewed?

a. “The Last Samurai” novel

b. “The Last Samurai” movie

c. The History of Japan

d. Meiji Restoration

e. Miyamoto Musashi

2. How much was Algren paid to train the new army?

a. $500 a month

b. $500 a month plus an additional $1000 upon completion

c. $1000 upon completion

d. $500 a month plus $500 upon completion

e. $1500 a month plus $500 upon completion

3. Who is Taka?
 a. Katsumoto’s wife

b. Katsumoto’s daughter

c. The red-armored Samurai’s widow

d. Algren’s wife

e. The Empire’s mistress

4. What word is the best to replace the word “dutifully” in par 4 line 15?

a. Responsibly

b. Beautifully

c. Greedily

d. Sulkingly

e. Talkless