You believe a man can change his destiny?
I think a man does what he can.
So, in the years since The Last Samurai came out, its racial politics have come under a lot of fire. Well, that’s not actually entirely accurate; even at the time, a shocking seventeen years ago now, people took issue with the appropriation of Japanese culture and history in order to tell the hero’s journey of a white man. So, this is a movie that’s grown only less beloved with time, so I feel like I should just say this up front and get it out there. I like this movie a lot.
I haven’t seen it probably since it came out or not long after so I was curious as to how I’d feel about the movie on a revisit; I remember finding a lot to criticize the first time I saw it and I’m not going to lie, it’s a movie with problems. But surprisingly, I found myself responding to it much more positively this time, perhaps because I went in expecting to be cringing a lot. The cast is really quite brilliant. Yes, this is, in many ways, a Cruise vanity project, forever silhouetting him against the sunset or lingering in a tight close up on his smiling face, but I also have to say that he’s very good here. When the movie starts, his character is an unapologetic racist and a man who has participated in the genocide of the Native Americans; he’s a self-loathing alcoholic that’s flirting with suicide. And he’s excellent at that; as his character mellows out, he gets more into movie star mode, but he has one scene near the end that is darn close to the best acting he’s ever done. Ken Watanabe is, as always, just fantastic. He’s an actor that I never tire of watching and here, in his first big American film, he already has the charisma and energy and intelligence that he’s still bringing to roles. Sichinosuke Nakamura is also excellent as Emperor Meiji, a young man in over his head, conflicted about his role, uncertain who he can trust. Hiroyuki Sanada is exceptional as Watanabe’s right-hand man; he brings an unbridled ferocity to a role that could easily be bland and stereotypical. Timothy Spall and Tony Goldwyn are also on hand and quite good as a Japanophile (not to say weeaboo) photographer and a preening U.S. Army officer, respectively. And the film is, to say the least, handsomely presented. It’s beautifully shot with gorgeous cinematography by John Toll, who presents the intricate sets and costumes and the sweeping natural vistas to great effect.
The problems with the film are mostly with the writing. I didn’t mention Koyuki when talking about the cast. She’s very good, but she’s ill-served with a very under-written role that ultimately crosses the line, in my opinion, into annoyingly bad. Much is made of the racial politics of having her fall in love with the white man who killed husband and the racial politics of her giving him her husband’s armor is even ickier in my opinion. But my objection to the romance is as much just from a writing standpoint as from a racial one; it just ill serves both characters and when it enters the movie it feels incredibly cheesy. I don’t mind the notion of Cruise’s character understanding that she’s the widow of the samurai he killed or of her slow journey to seeing him as a human being and not just a murderer. I think there’s a redemptive story line there that could work, if done with sensitivity and a real human touch; but that’s not what we get here – we get some longing looks and then a cringe-inducing scene of her dressing him in her husband’s armor and then a kiss that is the worst decision this movie makes. And, of course, Cruise’s hero’s journey is hardly ground-breaking, though I do think it fails to really fit the white savior narrative a lot of people accuse this movie of having; Cruise’s character is the one who needs saving in the spiritual sense and he finds himself as a person by learning from Watanabe’s character, not the other way around. Is the samurai culture romanticized and the code of Bushido over-cooked and the warrior-poet archetype problematic here? Yes, even though Cruise isn’t the savior, his journey to redemption through Japanese culture still has elements of appropriation, but it’s not as embarrassing as I’d feared it would be. And what the script gets right is the relationship between Cruise and Watanabe, a relationship far more interesting than any misbegotten romantic subplot.
So, at the end of the film, problematic as it is, I ended up finding it profoundly moving in an emotional way. At almost two-and-a-half hours, the film never drags, though it also never feels rushed. It takes the time to develop the characters in an organic way, but always in an energetic and entertaining way. It’s kind of remarkable, being a big-budget period piece vanity project, that it isn’t a slog, but it isn’t. And at the end of the day, I was incredibly entertained as only these kind of big budget epics can entertain and, in the same way as a lot of classic films, the problematic elements, while certainly worth thinking about and discussing in concert with viewing the film, didn’t keep me from having a heck of a good time with this movie and being emotionally manipulated in all the intended ways. No, it’s not subtle, but it’s Edward Zwick, right? I still like Glory too, guys. I probably lose some street cred for this, but I kind of loved this movie this time, even recognizing that it’s not perfect. Yeah, I’m going there. 4 stars.
tl;dr – imperfect and culturally/racially problematic, The Last Samurai is still rousing entertainment in a grand epic style; great performances all around and undeniable emotional impact. 4 stars.