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I have not seen it, but EVERY Japanese person at work that has seen it has said great things. I am yet to speak to a Japanese person who is unhappy with it. One guy at work has even offered to go again with me just so that I can see it (and so he can proudly explain it to me, no doubt).

 

It is refreshing to hear this feedback as it may put to bed at least once the easy habit that self proclaimed Japan expert gaijins seem to have. That habit being seeing Japan in a movie then giving critical feedback based on whether it passes as real Japan. A smidgin of knowledge and 6 months in a country can be a dangerous thing .... "I'm not sure this is so accurate, hmmmm, this is not right...." said the white man from the UK/America/Australia/Canada etc after reading two books about Japan and living here for 6 months.

 

As another aside, one J guy at work told me how he liked it and it was so good to see an American movie that didn't make fun of the Japanese in an untrue manner. This is no doubt a fair observation, however I asked him to explain in what way they take the piss and he proceeded to describe his exact mannerisms, personality, habits, physical stature etc. "They make us look short, always wearing glasses, always walking around looking lost and oblivious to what is happening around us with a big forced smile whilst doing little bows and bobs of the head". I couldn't have described him better myself.

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Saw it Friday night and enjoyed the movie clap.gif To me, Watanabe had and played the best role so I followed him first, and anybody else, after. Sanda (??) Hiroyuki was good too! The one thing Im really happy about is there was no need for him to hookup with the chick. Like Matrix II, that whole cave dancing and sex scene were just too long and did nothing for the movie.

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Is it true he was very ill with some form of cancer just a few years back???
Yes, it is true. He drinks Yakult everyday and pretty good now. ;\) And his wife had a money problem before. She spent a lot of money for shopping, he didn't know about it.
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  • 3 months later...

The documentaries are pretty much just lovefests - oh he's great, the directors wonderful, blah blah blah.

 

I'd rather not have them than have to sit through that kind of thing.

 

theres not much input from the Japanese actors either which I thought was a lost chance.

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I finally saw it on the weekend and loved it. Great blend of action and thought provocation.

 

I was so impressed with the quality of acting from the japanese actors. Ken....is unreal.

 

The kendo sequences were amazing.....for once i was truly impressed with a samurai duel.

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  • 4 weeks later...

I guffawed a few times, sorry.

 

When the ship steamed past Fuji painted on the sento wall and into the harbour made of papier mache, there was sudden and involuntary hilarity in the 11 living room. And that 'samurai coming, dey coming' scene - was it filmed in the Florida everglades with all that mist and birds hooting?

 

Mr Ken got a bit tiresome I found, and there was a bit of Mr Miyagi orientalism going on there, however subdued. Ah, in Japan, we say, paint wall. All of that stuff about having protected his ancestors for 4,000 years, was like, what? really?

 

The US-centric 'history' grated, as well as the non-historical story - as if that period wasn't interesting enough without fantasy storylines.

 

And Tom didn't really pull anything new out of the bag. Tom's boat up close for long lingering shots doesn't equal acting.

 

Well, we mustn't 'carp' - after all, what can you really expect from a film in which Tom Cruise plays the 'last samurai'?

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Er, that was Tom Cruises character. lol.gif

 

Ken Watanabe's character was the Last Samurai.

 

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There's a book on the market about The Last Samurai, detailing its production, big and glossy, all that. It also includes snippets of the screenplay, and at the end of the book, we come to the final battle. In the screenplay, it says: "And all the enemy soldiers, recognizing the gravity of what had happened, bowed to the passing of the last samurai." According to the screenwriter, it's Katsumoto, so I'd say that's the definitive word on that.
:p
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