REVIEW TEXT

The Last Samurai

Set in 19th century Japan, The Last Samurai focuses on an embittered U.S Civil War veteran, Nathan Algren (Tom Cruise),who has dragged his world-weary,alcoholic body across the Pacific to help train the Japanese Army to overcome rebelious samurai warriors, who are fighting againts the introduction of Western ways that are sweeping aside Japanese tradition. Algren has no commmitment to the cause, he's there purely for the money, and because he has nothing else to do other than drink to obscure terrible flashbacks to wartime atrocities, memories of post-Civil War battles against American Indians.
The Last Samurai is a war movie, no doubt about it. There are several large battle scene that are stirring and brutal. Yet the heart of the film is less about war than it is about recovering from the damage of war, as Algren-without even knowing he's doing it-seeks redemption and a return to honour in his own life. The film paralels the fate of the Samurai to that of American Indians, taking a slightly subversive slap at American capitalist imperialism (which remins that nation's primary motivation in dealing with the rest of the world).
Visually attractive, this film is a huge success because its midsection-set in the samurai village-is intelligent, gentle and patiently treated. Algren cleans up his act and learns the way of the samurai gradually, there's no magical transformation here, so it's utterely believable that a burn-out American drunk could be transformed into an honourable samurai warrior. Great to look at and respectful of its subject matter, The Last Samurai is an epic with excitement, brains and heart.