The Last Samurai Themes

Directed by Edward Zwick, The Last Samurai illustrates the story of a former veteran of the American Civil War who finds inner peace at the center of Japan’s tumultuous struggle towards modernism. Nathan Algren, played by Tom Cruise, is plagued by his memories of his time on the American frontier, massacring Native Americans on the orders of his superiors. Having turned to drinking to alleviate his problems, Nathan is hired by his former commander, Colonel Bagley, and a Japanese businessman, Mr. Omura, to train Japanese recruits in use of modern firearms and army formations to combat the rebellious samurai holding out against the Emperor’s wishes. Katsumoto, a former loyal adviser to the Emperor, refuses to surrender to what he sees as the

Algren, who is “an embittered Civil War hero disillusioned by the killing he has seen and in which he himself has participated in” (James), relies heavily on drinking to alleviate the nightmares he suffers; thus beginning the journey that The Last Samurai wishes for its viewers to embark upon, a journey of self-discovery and cultural identities. Tom Cruise’s character “exchanges his [Western clothing] for a clean, simple Japanese robe, and for the first time comprehends the elegant humility of padding barefoot in a spotless house” (James); a transition that plays on traditional Japanese values of family and simplicity. Algren’s time in the home of the man he killed during his capture reflects the stark contrast between modernized homes and the elegance simplicity of traditional Japanese homes; a peaceful village nestled in a scenic valley that lacks modernizing features paints the image of a people in tune with nature as evident through “the meticulous care that they [the villagers] put forth in landscaping and gardening” (Japan: Values, Proverbs, and

Katsumoto, who sees his rebellion in service for the Emperor, has pledged his life to defending the dying code of the samurai; “out of loyalty to the tradition the emperor represents, he would sacrifice his life in an instant…if the emperor requested it” (Ebert). That the emperor has not requested Katsumoto to commit the ritual suicide known as seppuku tells of his split views on the modernizers and the traditionalists; perhaps reflecting The Last Samurai’s message of trying to reconcile both modernism and tradition to create a new cultural identity, one that Nathan Algren has achieved by the end of the film. While Katsumoto himself does not achieve this, dying by his own hand as samurai tradition dictates, he initiates the catalyst for Algren’s renewal of identity and purpose; he ‘recognizes in Algren something of the warrior stuff” and holds “philosophical conversations with [Algren] about the ethnics of war and warriors” (Schickel). These styles of conversations between Algren and Katsumoto, alongside with scenic views of the nature surrounding the village and temple, “breaks the convention that the Western hero is always superior to the local culture” (Ebert); Algren finds himself impressed and respectful of the cultural heritage that Katsumoto imparts with him,