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Twilight Samurai
on DVD (2004)
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| Starring: |
Hiroyuki Sanada, Rie Miyazawa, Nenji Kobayashi, Ren Osugi, Mitsuru Fukikoshi, Min Tanaka, Keiko Kishi, Tetsuro Tanba |
| Director: |
Yoji Yamada |
| Studio: |
TARTAN VIDEO |
| Run time: |
125 mins |
| Certificate: |
 |
| User collections: |
Best to rent according to Bosco's films: http://citizenbosco.blogspot.com/, Mixed favourites, Films to watch with teenage boys, Samurai Films, Samurai Cinema, Crash Course in Japanese Cinema, ecletic mix, The best 21st century foreign films nobody's seen because they're all too busy watching Amelie and City of God, cool films from around the world |
| Genres: |
Drama, World Cinema |
| Languages: |
Japanese |
| Subtitles: |
English |
| Released: |
01/12/2004
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Brief synopsis of Twilight Samurai
Hiroyuki Sanada, who played Ujio in Edward Zwick's Hollywood epic THE LAST SAMURAI, stars in a different kind of samurai film in Yoji Yamada's poignant drama THE TWILIGHT SAMURAI. Sanada plays the title character (Seibei Iguchi), who gets his nickname because he is a lowly worker who chooses to go home to his family every night after work instead of going out with his colleagues. Seibei's wife has recently died, so he is raising his two daughters alone, as well as caring for his ageing mother. His well-connected uncle believes he should agree to an arranged marriage so he can be more manly, but Seibei is dedicated to living the life he's chosen. But when his married childhood friend, Tomoe (Rie Miyazawa), wants a divorce from her abusive husband (Ren Osugi), Seibei defends her honour and defeats the sword-wielding man with a piece of wood. When Seibei's clan learns of his victory, the leaders command him to kill Zenmon Yogo (Min Tanaka), something that goes against everything he believes in. Based on the stories of Shuuehei Fujisawa and set during the Meiji Restoration of 19th-century Japan, THE TWILIGHT SAMURAI, which was nominated for a 2004 Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film, is a special kind of movie, loaded with heart and humanity, a very different samurai film that breaks movingly from the traditions of the genre.
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Related
Critics Reviews
Radio Times
Director Yoji Yamada is known in Japan for his domestic melodramas and for this much-lauded film, his first period drama, he adds a touch of family circumstance to ratchet up the tension. There is a class-conscious desperation about the samurai hero, Hiroyuki Sanada, which makes the setting of the 19th century even more credible. Sanada holds a lowly position within his clan, and he's nicknamed Twilight Samurai (Tasogare Seibei) because he doesn't join them for after-work drinks, but heads home to look after his motherless daughters and their elderly grandmother. Then Rie Miyazawa, his childhood sweetheart, begins to visit their home, brightening up their poverty-stricken existence. But when her brutish husband comes looking for her, Sanada is forced to defend her honour. Fulfilling the humanist tradition of many Japanese masters, Yamada's film looks into the hearts of the men wielding the lethal weapons, and so achieves an inspirational quality.
Halliwell's Film Guide
Intriguing drama of the downside of a samurai's life in a provincial town; its modest hero spends his time as a minor clerk and longs to leave his ill-paid life and work the land.
Uncut
"...Graceful, refrained... excellent historical filmmaking..."
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