When the Last Sword is Drawn

From Zanecorpwiki

Excellent. DVD

Summary

Even though this isn't an easy movie to watch, it's one I'll have to watch again. The breadth of the story can be a little hard to take in at first. It's set in a different culture and makes some assumptions about basic familiarity with the historic backdrop which many Western viewers won't have.

Because it deals with many of the same issues--the end of the traditional era, violent political upheavals, and disrupted class and cultural foundations--it's a terrific counterpoint to the The 47 Ronin. Both are beautiful films that say a lot about both the time in which they were made and the time they depict. However, whereas the latter is a ultimately a piece of government propaganda promoting loyalty to political ideals, the latter is a much more human story about a man balancing what it means to be a samurai in an age of chaos and in the face of the starvation of his family.

In substance, it's close to what is, in my opinion, one of the best films of all time, Seppuku. In some ways it's a much sadder film. At least in the case of Seppuku, the tragic death o the protagonist is accompanied by a bug "F YOU" to the man.

Details and Notes

It will probably help to do a little reading on the Meiji Restoration and the Wolves of Mibu before watching the film. Not necessary, but it'll help clear up some of the context and keep you from asking, "Now, what's going on?" so much in the early portions of the movie. At 2 hours long, a 10 minute prep is well worth it.

Viewers may find the relationship between some of the characters a little confusing as well. The narrative is neither linear, nor particularly straightforward. Luckily, they've done a pretty good job with matching kids who look like adult actors playing the same characters at different points in their lives. It's still easy to get confused, especially for Western's (like myself, even) who are not as used to distinguishing Japanese features.

Part of the problem is because the relationships between the characters is constantly in flux. This is a big part of the story, but makes following the story a little difficult at times.

Because the movie is well made, it all comes together, and even if you don't pick up immediately on when each time is, or like myself, have a hard time remembering names and get a little lost in the characters from time to time, it all comes together pretty clearly in the end.