Film Reviews

TWILIGHT SAMURAI

Set against the demise of the traditional samurai way of life writer, director Yoji Yamada’s Twilight Samurai is not to be compared to the over hyped over blown Hollywood nonsense of the Last Samurai, despite the lead actor Hiroyuki Sandana being in both.

Following the death of his wife from consumption lowly, indebted and impoverished samurai Seibei Iguchi leads a hard and dull life in the grounds of a northern Japanese castle. Looking after his two young daughters and senile mother his shabby appearance is a disgrace to the family name as he works the fields, makes insect traps and tends the castle supplies. Rejecting his uncle’s offer of an arranged marriage instead reunites with a Tomoe a childhood friend who has just been granted a divorce from her violent drunken husband, whom he manages to dispatch in a duel even without a sword. His skill as a samurai is brought to the attention of the castle superiors and he is ordered to fight to the death against a formidable opponent which delivers not only a stunning climax to the film but also one of the most engaging fight scenes committed to screen combining action with debate about the moralities of the battle. A huge hit in Japan despite being an unorthodox samurai film (there are only two fight scenes) and being more about the central character and his relationships with his family, colleagues and Tomoe Twilight samurai was Oscar nominated in 2004 for best foreign language it’s a slow film with little action but a compelling story driven by the tour-de-force performance from Sandana who portrays the downtrodden Seibei with subtlety and utter conviction.

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