The Twilight Samurai (2002)

As the feudal Japan era draws to a close, a widower samurai experiences difficulty balancing 2 young daughters, an aged mother, clan loyalties, and the sudden reappearance of his childhood sweetheart.

Director:

Yôji Yamada

Writers:

Shûhei Fujisawa (novels), Yôji Yamada (screenplay)

Stars:

Hiroyuki Sanada, Rie Miyazawa, Nenji Kobayashi

Nominated for 1 Oscar. Another 37 wins & 7 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Hiroyuki Sanada	...	Seibei Iguchi
Rie Miyazawa	...	Tomoe Iinuma
Nenji Kobayashi	...	Choubei Kusaka
Ren Osugi	...	Toyotaro Koda (as Ren Ôsugi)
Mitsuru Fukikoshi	...	Michinojo Iinuma
Kanako Fukaura	...	Yae Iinuma
Hiroshi Kanbe	...	Naota
Miki Itô	...	Kayano Iguchi
Erina Hashiguchi	...	Ito Iguchi
Reiko Kusamura	...	Kinu Iguchi
Setsuko Tanaka
Kii Mizuno	...	Tane
Yuuki Natsusaka	...	Gemba Hattori
Astushi Maeda
Tsukasa Sugawara

Storyline

Seibei Iguchi, a low-ranking samurai, leads a life without glory as a bureaucrat in the mid-XIX century Japan. A widower, he has charge of two daughters (whom he adores) and a senile mother; he must therefore work in the fields and accept piecework to make ends meet. New prospects seem to open up when Tomoe, his long-time love, divorces a brutal husband. However, even as the Japanese feudal system is unraveling, Seibei remains bound by the code of honour of the samurai and by his own sense of social precedences. The consequences are cruel.

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Plot Keywords:

japan | samurai | duel | widower | poverty | 

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Genres:

Drama | History

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Details

Official Sites:

Empire Pictures [United States] official site with message board [Japan]

Country:

Japan

Language:

Japanese

Release Date:

2 November 2002 (Japan)

Also Known As:

The Twilight Samurai

Filming Locations:

Japan

Box Office

Budget:

$5,000,000 (estimated)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Eisei Gekijo, Hakuhodo, Nippon Shuppan Hanbai (Nippan) K.K.

Technical Specs

Runtime:

129 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Official submission of Japan for the 'Best Foreign Language Film' category of the 76th Academy Awards in 2004.

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Quotes

Seibei Iguchi: I am ashamed to say that over many years of hardship with two daughters, a sick wife and an aged mother, I have lost the desire to wield a sword. A serious fight, the killing of a man, requires animal ferocity and calm disregard for one's own life. I have neither of those within me now. Perhaps in a month... alone with the beasts in the hills I could get them back. But tomorrow, I am afraid, is completely impossible.

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Connections

Followed by The Hidden Blade (2004)

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Soundtracks

Kimerareta Rhythm
Performed by Yosui Inoue

User Reviews

A beautiful, lyrical samurai movie

I approached director Yoji Yamada's period film anticipating the usual brew of flashing blades, unfathomable codes of honour and majestic arterial sprays but found instead a gently melancholic and beautifully played story of unspoken love and ethical struggle.

Seibei (a mesmerising less-is-more turn from Hiroyuki Sanada) is a low-ranking widowed samurai with a senile mother and two daughters, working in the castle's stores and taking in piecework to get by.

Grief at his wife's death has led him to turn his back on violence but he is confronted with it nonetheless, firstly as a result of the return of a childhood friend for whom he has strong feelings and who is fleeing her abusive marriage and, finally, when the politics of the day overtake his clan and he is ordered to carry out an assassination.

Seibei's struggle is not for outward respect but to find integrity within a social order over which he has no influence, making the bursts of violence all the more jarring.

Yamada's film is rightly compared to Kurosawa's work and its thoughtful, lyrical tone and themes resonate powerfully.