A samurai film of rare depth and sensitivity
From SFGate.com
The Twilight Samurai: Starring Hiroyuki Sanada, Rie Miyazawa.
Directed by Yoji Yamada. Written by Yamada and Yoshitaka Asama. (Not
rated. In Japanese with English subtitles. 129 minutes. At the Bridge
and Rafael.)
-----------------------------------------
Films about samurai rarely provide insight into their economic
circumstances or household concerns. "The Twilight Samurai,'' a
nominee for best foreign-language film at this year's Oscars,
presents its own, somewhat revisionist samurai legend as a thoughtful
and moving domestic drama.
The picture offers not a requiem for a lost era but regret that it
didn't end sooner for born-again pacifist Iguchi (Hiroyuki Sanada),
an impoverished widower in the lower caste of the samurai class in
the waning days of the feudal Edo period. An economic hierarchy among
samurai is an intriguing concept on its own, but the beauty
of "Twilight Samurai,'' directed and co- written by Yoji Yamada, lies
in its timeless questions about the qualities that measure a man.
Actor Sanada ("Ringu'') invests his character with a quiet grace
under torn robes and unkempt hair. Iguchi has been dubbed "twilight
samurai" for neglecting his studies to care for his two young
daughters and mother with dementia. He takes his greatest pleasure,
he declares, in watching his children grow.
Constantly warned that his poor hygiene is an offense, Iguchi is too
busy to care, or more precisely, too caring to bother. After a busy
day as a clerk in his clan's warehouse, he crafts wooden baskets he
sells to pay off debt incurred by his late wife's long illness. A
scene of the samurai working by firelight with his children is the
movie's most intimate. With great affection, Sanada's samurai advises
his older girl to study Confucius, even though the clan elders
discourage women's education. But awareness is also a source of
turmoil for this philosophical man. Even the gentlest soul must rise
to a challenge, especially if he is a samurai. When Iguchi must
defend a woman (Rie Miyazawa) from her abusive ex-husband, he is
loath to display his swordsmanship. Instead, he triumphs with a
wooden bat against a sword. The woman, a childhood friend, responds
by caring for his daughters and cleaning his house.
Sanada and Miyazawa bring a shy gratitude and growing mutual respect
to their characters' interactions, but the presence of the lovely
young woman also provokes new money concerns. She is from a higher
caste, and he fears she would be left wanting if they married. More
worrisome still is an order from the clan that he kill a wayward
samurai who has refused to commit hara-kiri. Iguchi's outlook is
suspiciously evolved for a man of his time, but filmmaker Yamada
provides sufficient context. His comrades view Iguchi as eccentric at
best and a half-wit at worst -- the "twilight'' tag extends their
assessment of his mental faculties. But Yamada offers visual
counterpoints in wide shots of the tattered warrior before a backdrop
of orchards and sky, bathed in golden hues as the sun sets. The
period between day and night is a time to mourn the fading light or
glory in its remaining glimmers. "The Twilight Samurai'' chooses the
latter.
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?
f=/c/a/2004/05/14/DDGE26KQPL1.DTL&type=movies