...doesn't really stand up once you conduct a little research into the nastier acts they engaged in.
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It is a tale told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, signifying nothing .
You should watch Kobayashi's Seppuku from 1962.
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I agree. I actually really enjoy it as a movie, but politically it's incredibly shallow. It's a naive romanticized view of a deeply reactionary, hierarchical and oppressive social system that, sooner or later, had to be swept into history. The samurai weren't really such a great bunch of guys. Not just because of individual atrocities they committed, but because of the social role they played as an oppressive feudal ruling class that trampled upon the peasants, women, burakumin, and other social groups for hundreds of years. The new, capitalist Japan represented by Omura wasn't so great either, but it had greater progressive potential than the samurai system did, and eventually led to enfranchisement of women, at least nominal political equality for workers and peasants, higher economic development and improved living standards, and a limited form of political democracy. None of that could have happened with the samurai.
I also don't agree with the way the movie seemed to draw an equivalency between the destruction of the samurai and the destruction of Native America, as the end of a "traditional way of life". The difference was that the samurai were overthrown in a revolution by (relatively) progressive social forces within Japanese society, whereas the Native Americans were conquered, slaughtered and subjugated by an invasion of colonial oppressors who reduced the few of them that remained to prisoners in their own land. The samurai were a class, the Native Americans are entire peoples. There's no comparison. And actually, the abolition of the samurai system most likely saved Japan from becoming colonized itself. Had the samurai continued to rule and their backward socioeconomic system continued to exist, Japan would have eventually been subjugated by Britain, the United States or some other imperialist power and become a colony. They very, very narrowly escaped that even as it was.
I do really like the movie, but yeah, you've got to leave politics at the door to enjoy this one, and just look at it as a work of pure fiction.
Thank you for chipping in, Kira. I continue to appreciate your rather in-depth insights into these films both you and I have consumed.
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It is a tale told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, signifying nothing .
Thanks for sharing your thoughts KK, I too enjoyed the film but I agree that if Japan had not changed, they too would've been another Asian colony.
shareThere's another viewpoint I just realized - think about the Edo period, for example. Sure, ancient Japan and its history wasn't always the best, and the Samurai wasn't a noble group of people that only wanted to help others, but there's -something- to be said about the village life this movie shows us, that surely happened somewhere during the more peaceful and prosperous times in the old Japan.
Edo period gave us a lot of harmony, beautiful art (just look up the book "100 Views of Edo" - it's basically just 100 beautiful paintings from the Edo period, showing the everyday life and festivals and nature of that time - I wish there still was a Japan that looks like that, but alas, modern 'architecture' with zillions of rectangular buildings, huge cities and overpopulation have destroyed the beautiful, vast naturescapes), music, cultural wisdom, signifigant lessons, etc.
From the old paintings, you can truly feel the harmony and joy people had in living together with nature without destroying or exploiting it, while still benefiting from it.
So while the Samurai weren't the beautiful saints this movie depicts them as, and while their particular village life might not have been exactly as depicted, this movie shows us an IDEA of a beautiful, harmonious life that must have existed somewhere at some point in Japanese history, together with all the philosophy and spirituality also shown in this movie.
The philosophy, spirituality and wisdom probably came from non-Samurai sources back in the day, while this movie expresses it through the Samurai. This movie takes many points, lifestyles, wisdom and cultural expressions, habits and traits and meshes them into 'samurai'.
While this is unrealistic, there's some historical accuracy and realism behind this depiction, if you look behind the 'literal'. If you see what they show us from a more understanding, open perspective instead of the tight, literal "Samurais weren't like that" perspective, you can see it holds true.
A movie doesn't have to be realistic. Movies are supposed to be escapism, stories, fiction, fantasy, etc.
What's wrong with a little romanticism, when it shows how things COULD have been, even if that's not exactly how things were?
This movie, to me, is not really about 'history' or 'what happened' anyway, that's just the setting and backdrop. It's about the characters, and ideas - changes in society, and how they affect and influence normal people. Lifestyles that change from spiritual harmony-with-nature to greedy corporate-wage-slave-system.
This movie shows us lifestyles almost forgotten, attitudes and bravery no longer respected in the modern world, cultures joining and learning from each other, and how ultimately, it's your individual soul and its power that matters most to make anyone accept you beyond cultural, racial (and other) bounds. You get to meet human-to-human and earn the respect of anyone, if you are honest and brave enough.
It's about values, and seeing that 'your side' might actually be wrong in its values, and also, that once you learn to know a group of people, they might turn out much better than you were told or you were thinking before. You can't think of them as numbers to be wiped out anymore, after living amidst them and experiencing their spirit and generosity.
Thinking about this movie from this kind of perspectives, who really cares if it's not historically accurate?
If you learn to see movies less literally, and with more insight into what the deeper message and the IDEA about the movie is, perhaps you can let go of your unjust anger towards this lovely film and start enjoying it for what it is, not what you think it should be.
Besides, back in the day, I learned a lot of japanese language from this movie. Cruise's pronunciation is the best of any hollywood actor I have ever heard. If a movie is this educational, how can you really fault it?
Well said. This was my take on it as well. It's a film, not a documentary, and a really good one because of the direction, soundtrack, and characters. Same thing with films like Braveheart, Gladiator and many others. It's an interesting enough setting for me to go out and actually explore and read up on the real history of Japan. Movies are entertainment, want to know the true story, read books.
shareKawada has the best post of this thread.
sharecinematic liberty
so many movies, so little time
I agree. The samurai were the bad guys during the revolt but portrayed as the protagonists.
shareThe general theme of the film is that white people suck.
shareThe problem with Samurai Warrior culture was that while it kept Japan mostly stable (save for a few eras) for much of the ancient times, it was far too savage and ingrown to compete with the modern world. It was not the best culture you could live in when the only things uniting everyone were Honor and death. Sooner or later, people were going to adopt values that were better, such as valuing life over killing people for the smallest offenses, or individualism. There's nothing wrong with having honor so long as it doesn't drive you into an early grave.
Some aspects of the Japanese psyche still exist today, even in modern Japan, but they have improved a lot in the past 150 years.
The problem of samurai is not that they are bad or evil, well, some are, just like other people, but they are the law.
The sword they carry is not just a symbol, they use it to serve their justice. That is a threat to merchants, and capitalism overall.
There could be a samurai outraged by a capitalist taking advantage of people, and kill him on the street, and of course he can just walk away and that will be that.
You can't develop a modern capitalist economy this way, the lives and property of wealthy people need to be protected, no individual should be above the law, that is why we have the liberal democracy as of today.
That is why we don't allow dictatorship, because they are a threat to the wealthy people, who are the foundation of liberal democracy.
The “liberal democracy” (corporatocracy) of today is the way it is precisely because the wealthy are considered above the law, and write the laws for themselves this way. Way it’s always been.
share