Last night I watched Twilight Samurai (たそがれ清兵衛), a Yoji Yamada film from 2002 featuring Hiroyuki Sanada and Rie Miyazawa. I tend to fall asleep during samurai movies, but this one was really emotionally entertaining. Sanada plays the role of a low-class widower samurai named Iguchi Seibei who takes care of his senile mother and two young daughters all by himself. His peers mock him and take pity on him, but he is in fact perfectly content. He loves watching his daughters grow up and appreciates the little things in life. He doesn't want to fight anymore. But when his childhood friend Tomoe — played by Miyazawa — comes back into his life, he is unexpectedly thrown back into battle. I won't spoil the plot here, but Sanada does an amazing job of portraying a man of such great honor, self-understanding, and compassion. It's really nice.
Sanada, by the way, currently stars in the last season of Lost.
you should also check out the other two movies of the trilogy. hidden blade and for love and honor. although hidden blade is somewhat VERY similiar to twilight samurai, but was still a good watch
Posted by: Erwin Mombay | March 01, 2010 at 10:42 AM
I second the recommendation of Yamada's two other films.
Also, I had no idea Hiroyuki Sanada would be in Lost... awesome! He brings a touch of class to everything!
Posted by: Jamesinjapan | March 01, 2010 at 05:21 PM
This movie is fantastic. One of the best I have seen in a while.
Posted by: BR | March 02, 2010 at 10:31 AM
Great movie! Shows also the coming of modernization of Japan and how the samurai became こうむいん
Posted by: fcubano | March 06, 2010 at 07:51 AM
Amazingly, I think I saw this last year! It was really really ... great! One of the only (and apparently better) samurai movies I've seen
Posted by: Lenny019 | March 09, 2010 at 01:58 PM