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Your Gateway to Music and More from a Christian Perspective Slow down as you approach the gate, and have your change ready.... |
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Your Gateway to Music and More from a Christian Perspective Slow down as you approach the gate, and have your change ready.... |
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The Last Samurai The Academy Awards have long smiled upon battle epics. Consequently, it should be no surprise that The Last Samurai finds itself released in December, just in time for the awards season. Is it worthy of some of these awards it seems to be going for? Read on... Here we have the story of Civil War veteran Captain Nathan Algren (played by Tom Cruise), a man who has been both damaged and numbed through the violent atrocities he has participated in. Algren is persuaded to relocate to Japan to help train the Japanese national army and assist in modernizing the country. Before he has a chance to make an impact with the Japanese soldiers, however, Algren is captured by the samurai. Algren's life is spared and in the samurai way of life Algren finds a meaning he has long been searching for. However, the samurai oppose the modernization of Japan and Algren is forced to choose whether to fight with the samurai or with the government of the country he has been hired to assist. Edward Zwick (Glory) directs this battle epic that closely follows typical conventions of its genre: an exotic locale, a man who has nothing to lose and is pressed to the limit, a country threatened with change, and of course a large-scale battle at the conclusion. Those who have seen Braveheart or Gladiator have seen most of The Last Samurai simply in a different setting. The film does have something to offer, however. Cruise's character is intriguing in the way that he latches on so easily to the samurai way of life. He is a man who has been so affected by violence that he is ready to grab on to any way of life where he can find some kind of meaning that goes beyond politics. He wants to be able to fight for honor instead of someone who is paying him. In this way, the character expresses a yearning that all people have. The concluding battle is one of the most impressive full-scale battles to hit the screen in a long time. The use of sound here is particularly important. Near the end of the battle the music becomes very intense. The music comes to a halt right before machine guns are brought in, replacing the music with the sound of thousands of bullets ripping apart human beings. This is the modern age being pushed for. This is perhaps the most important moment in the film. Thus, it is in the big, overarching moments of The Last Samurai that the film finds a unique voice. The conversations between characters are as cliche as should be expected from another movie in the battle epic tradition. But the film as a whole in its violent shell is worthwhile. The Last Samurai is nothing new, but it is a good movie. Trae Cadenhead 12/16/2003
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