Edward Zwicks the Last Samurai - Essay Example

THE LAST SAMURAI Edward Zwick’s The Last Samurai (2003) is one of the very well made and successful Hollywood movies and was much appreciated in theland of samurai- Japan, as well. In the movie, an American Captain Nathan, played by Tom Cruise finds himself plunged into the culture of samurai and gets fascinated by it. Star status of Tom Cruise works for the movie since as an army captain, he carries with him his image of “Top Gun”, “Born on the Fourth July” and “Mission Impossible”. He learns the samurai way of warrior and teams up with them in their struggle against the ongoing Westernization. While Zwick might have worked on the movie with due respect to the Eastern culture, however, some of the critics view it in a different perspective. For example Denby (2003) found it as “cultural vanity implicit in the idea of a white guy’s becoming a superb Eastern warrior.” Similarly Tierney (2006) also found “themes of whiteness” and embedded western superiority in the movie. However, according to Ebert (2003), the movie depicts the story of an ancient culture and philosophy that is superior to modernization exported by America in the name of development. The movie beautifully recreates the magic of glorious Japanese past with astounding designs, sets, action sequences and costumes. However, it has its own set of problems. Many of the conflicts and actions appear to have been recycled from other films, and the overall trajectory of the story is predictable. According to Ebert (2003) the movie follows the old tried and tested formula that the Western hero can easily learn the local culture and even beat the best of their warriors in a matter of few months. Here the movie draws parallels with "Lawrence of Arabia" and "Dances with Wolves," movies in which Westerner heroes appreciate Arabs and Indians. It is very much predictable from the beginning of the movie that the western hero will not only find that the Japanese are not cruel but also be infatuated by their culture. Algrens transformation from an alcoholic to a disciplined person is also on expected lines. After he is taken as a prisoner and develops a bonding with his captor can be guessed by any movie goer. Thus the movie doesn’t throw any new elements. According to Said (1994), during the period of European imperialism, while depicting Eastern societies, Western scholars were prejudiced and presented Orientals as inferiors. The reason for such portrayal could be European countries’ status as colonizers. He has termed this concept as “Orientalism” and critics see this movie as another example of Orientalism where other cultures are not projected accurately. At the same time, the movie also presents the dark side of American imperialism due to which Algren has nightmares where he sees Native American women and children being shot by the American army. American culture turns him into an alcoholic…rather a lunatic who starts firing towards audience during a rifle show. In contrast, the samurai culture, where he recovers from his alcoholism and reinvents himself as a samurai warrior. It appears to be a case where the American hero is brain washed by the other side’s culture to the extent that he dumps his own mission and joins the opposite side to fight against his own country’s imperialism. This presents a second school of thoughts that puts Eastern culture at a higher pedestal. “Mythology colors all history. Sometimes, legend and lore merely embellish the past. Other times, mythology may actually devour history. Such is the case with the samurai, the military aristocracy of feudal Japan.” (Lovgren, 2003) The samurai are considered to be a brave class of warriors. But the fact is that they were a superior class in the society and for two hundred years almost did nothing more than drinking and gambling. However, the ideals that they sought like bravery, discipline, devotion, and compassion—that continued and gave a romantic image to the samurai, are now a part Japanese cultural philosophy. Thanks to the movies like The Seven Samurai and The Last Samurai, samurai are usually considered to be righteous and valiant characters. As acknowledged by Zwick: "Its as important to celebrate whats poetic and idealized as it is to understand the reality…We’re inspired by the mythologizing of the samurai as heroes." Does the movie project inaccurate account of the samurai culture? Or as suspected by Said, is it really another representation of Orientalism? The question haunts with this admission from the director of the movie. The movie has East-West meetings at two levels- one, between The US and Meiji and the second between Algren and the Japanese. The first represents modernism as unloaded by a capitalist US on the other countries and the second represents the eastern culture whose existence is threatened by the modernization. The Last Samurai is a fantastic story of a broken US Civil War experienced Captain Algren who travels to Japan to provide training to their new army soon after the end of regime of the old Shogunate and the reinstatement of imperial rule. During the previous two hundred years, Japan had remained an isolated country and samurai served as army but had no one to fight. According to Bolitho, with change in regime, samurai became a thing of past and were all set to lose their privileges. "The samurai were very much backward-looking and no more courageous or loyal or wise than anybody else" … "They were just more privileged. In the end they fight for those privileges, and they are defeated by the new Japan. Its the new Japan overcoming the old Japan." Meiji government’s efforts of modernization are resisted by samurai rebels led by Katsumoto. However, as the movie shows in the end that samurai are not against modernization but their concerns are different. They are not fighting against their king but against America’s one-sided trade treaties and erosion of culture, hence setting aside the criticism of Bolitho. Soon after reaching Japan, Algren is prematurely forced to lead an unprepared imperial army against a samurai attack. Government forces are defeated and Algren is captured. As a prisoner, Algren is taken to samurai village and has his interface with the new culture. Gradually, he develops a deep respect for the people and their way of living. “They are an intriguing people. From the moment they wake, they devote themselves to the perfection of whatever they pursue. I have never seen such discipline.” He is impressed by their disciplined culture and adopts the same. Thus he overcomes his alcoholism and finds peace with himself. In the process, he develops friendship with Katsumoto, becomes a samurai himself and joins in the fight against westernization. They way Algren respects and blends with the new culture suggests that western countries have a similar respect for eastern cultures and for that matter any other cultures. The way director has portrayed the samurai code only shows that the concept of Orientalism no more exists. In the movie, the change has been depicted as changing life style from samurai way of life that is based on principles, kindness, faithfulness and sacrifice to modern world represented by incompetent politicians and avaricious businessmen who for their own profits are ready to sell the country’s soul. That way modern society has not been correctly projected (Keirstead, 2004). Keirstead also criticizes the movie on the grounds of inaccurate depiction of samurai also who have been shown as backward and agrarian society whereas they were quite modern and urban elites. Further the concept of Orientalism gains solid grounds when the movie tries to show that each and every modern thing in a ‘rural’ Japan was brought by west. Tierney (2006) mentions “supraethnic viability of whiteness” as Algren masters samurai techniques within six months to match his skills with his teacher who had spent his life working on those techniques. Undoubtedly, there is cultural appreciation for east but movie fails to hide the notion of western superiority. Same elements are highlighted once again in the movie when honourable and brave Japanese die near the end of the movie and the only survivor among the samurai is the white member- Algren. Except for samurai, all other Japanese have been projected to be tyrants, evil or lacking in intelligence. The man who plans modernization of Japan, Omura is projected as a scheming and vilified man, imperial soldiers shown as lacking in curtsey and respects for samurai culture, Ninjas who attack samurai village, kill unarmed people and children and Algren is able to befool the security guards by convincing them that he was US president. Thus the movie respects few Japanese but depicts more of them in poor light. With so much of evidence in support of Orientalism one may conclude that movie is an example of another bias of western superiority. However, as mentioned earlier also, the nightmares that Algren had, actually depicted dark side of America. Algren had participated in the killings of Native Americans and his guilt represents rejection of US policy of internal imperialism and the imperialism perpetuated by West (Price 2005). Price further states that the traumatized officer, having conscience and loaded with guilt has been projected as victim of war rather that the one who caused the war. Thus in spite of having been involved in a massacre, Algren is able to draw public sympathy and forgiveness. Algren’s guilt represents the American sentiment against such mistakes made in the past. Lally (2007) adds that there was definitely an American imperialist sentiment but that existed no more. Another aspect of the movie that is in contrast with the concept of Orientalism is the final scene after the death of Katsumoto. Omura, as king’s representative is about to sign a trade treaty with the US and just then Algren reaches there with Katsumoto’s sword. Algren: “This is Katsumoto’s sword. He would have wanted you to have it. Let the strength of the samurai be with you always,” Omura: “Emperor, this man fought against you!” Algren: “Your Highness, if you believe me to be your enemy, command me, and I will gladly take my life.” This actually shows merger of traditional Japanese culture and American. In this particular scene shows full acceptance of Samurai tradition by an American who is ready to die for it. As commented by Zwick. "Its a kind of fusion of Western and Eastern culture thats bouncing back and forth…" At the same time, this scene also shows that samurai resistance wasn’t against the king but was against the modernism promoted by Omura for his own profits and to which Americans were a party. The king had been ill advised and he realises his mistake. The agreement is cancelled and the king learns to appreciate Japanese culture. Analyzing The Last Samurai presents some apparently opposite results. The movie represents an essence of counterculture. Counterculture means traditional Japanese way of life versus modern capitalist western society. In the movie, rebellion by the samurai depicts counterculture against modernism ushered in by Meiji. There are certainly many elements of Western dominance or precisely, American pre-eminence, over the Japanese culture that forces one to go back to Said’s concept of Orientalism. However, the movie also depicts the American’s highest regards for the ancient culture and his guilts for the imperialist deeds in the past. Finally, the movie also teaches the Japanese to respect their culture. Thus Orientalism may be considered as just one of the themes depicted in the movie and not the only theme. The movie also faces criticism for its injudicious melancholy for an ancient culture, subsequently, detracts from its controversial capacity. While the pre-modern cultures may be depicted as they may be but self-misleading glorification of those cultures shouldn’t be acceptable. Undoubtedly these ancient cultures had their own positives but just highlighting or over highlighting those virtues actually creates gross inequities. Anyone who is aware of the history of that period will find it hard to accept what is projected in the movie. In the Last Samurai, the historical roles of the British Empire, the Netherlands and France in Japanese westernization are largely attributed to the United States in the film. The plot or characters of the movie does not really match with original story of Japanese Samurai. The Last Samurai combines real but disconnected historical situations. It replaces the key Western actors of the period with American ones and it portrays a radical conflict between ancient and modern fighting methods however, in reality, all sides of the conflict adopted modern equipment to various degrees. Perhaps it is too much to expect that entertainments have a factual basis. As the history suggests, the samurai may have been vanquished in the late nineteenth century, but their honourable and righteous images have been preserved. According to Bolitho: "Its an idealized image thats been pushed onto the entire Japanese people…Its built into the education system and the armed forces, so that everyone who goes to war sees himself in some sense as a Samurai. Its a tremendous public relations job. Samurai images are brought out again and again, even to people whose grandparents where pushed around by the Samurai…Were dealing with a fantasy, and fantasy always tops reality…The samurai is a great movie theme. Like all ideals, its going to be around forever." References Bolitho H; As quoted by Stefan Lovgren (2003) in The Last Samurai: Movie Myth or History? Denby, David. “Warriors;” The New Yorker; 2003 Ebert Roger; “The Last Samurai”; Accessed Dec.5, 2010 Keirstead, Thomas. “The Last Samurai.” American Historical Review. April 2004, Vol. 109. Lally, Kevin. “Tom Cruise and Ed Zwick Team for Epic Tale of Japan.” Film Journal International 1 December 2003. Lovgren, Stefan (2003); The Last Samurai: Movie Myth or History? National Geographic News; Accessed Dec.5, 2010 The Last Samurai. Dir. Edward Zwick. Perf. Tom Cruise, Ken Watanabe. 2003. DVD. Warner Bros. Pictures, 2004. Price, Stuart. “American Mentality? Trauma, Imperialism and the Authentic Veteran in Mainstream Hollywood Narrative.” Journal of Media Practice. 2005. Vol. 6 no. 2. Said, Edward. Orientalism. New York: Vintage Books, 1994. Tierney, Sean M. “Themes of Whiteness in Bulletproof Monk, Kill Bill, and The Last Samurai.” Journal of Communication. 2006, vol. 56. Read More