The Twilight Samurai – Tasogare Seibei (2002)

Directed by: Yoji Yamada | 129 minutes | drama, romance | Actors: Hiroyuki Sanada, Rie Miyazawa, Min Tanaka, Nenji Kobayashi, Keiko Kishi, Tetsuro Tanba, Ren Osugi, Mitsuru Fukikoshi

Yoji Yamada’s ‘The Twilight Samurai’ is set against the modernization of Japan in the 19th century. The main character realizes that the time of the samurai is over. His loyalty lies not with his clan, but with his family. The film is based on three books by Shuhei Fujisawa, one of the most famous Japanese authors of Samurai fiction. Above all, however, this film is a love story, with which the now 72-year-old director gives the genre his own twist.

The film ‘The Last Samurai’ (2003), which was released not so long ago, is in no way comparable with ‘The Twilight Samurai’, except for the Japanese decor. The first film, starring Tom Cruise, portrays the Samurai as a proud and combative people, centered on the sword fighting skills of the samurai. The message of ‘The Last Samurai’ is: abhor capitalism and enjoy the wonders that nature and religion offer. ‘The Twilight Samurai’ hardly pays attention to the modernization of Japan and wants to make it clear to the public that there are more important things than the devotion to the samurai, namely love and family. Yoji Yamada has tried to portray the samurai, the population groups so typical of Japan, as authentically as possible in this film.

‘The Twilight Samurai’ lasts more than two hours and is very slow, because there is hardly any action in it. That in itself does not have to be a problem for a film, but because surprising elements are missing and because of the predictability of the story, only beautiful images and beautiful actors to watch are not enough for this film. It is very nice to see how the Japanese manners and traditional customs are presented in this film. Probably Yamada’s goal was to portray the ‘normal’ life of the samurai, without fuss and spectacular sword fights and in that respect he certainly succeeded.

In 2004, the film received an Oscar nomination for Best Foreign Language Film and it received a Golden Bear at the Berlin International Film Festival. ‘The Twilight Samurai’ was a phenomenon in its own country, where the Japanese Academy awarded the film with eleven out of twelve film awards.