Director: Yoji Yamada
Cast: Hiroyuki Sanada, Rie Miyazawa, Nenji KobayashiThe Twilight Samurai takes place in Japan’s Edo period, a time without war after the fighting between shoguns ended with the elimination of their rivals and all the shogunates fell into the hands of members of the same family.
Our protagonist, Seibei, is a low-ranking samurai trying to make a living in a small town marked by poverty and hardship. Life is very difficult for him as he lives with his two young daughters and his mother, who has dementia, following his wife’s death. Without his wife’s support, he works more than one job to provide for his family and can barely find time to look after himself.
You feel the full weight of Seibei’s hardships and personal tragedy. The director brings this to the screen with great skill. Open-minded and affectionate towards his daughters, Seibei never hesitates to encourage their interest in philosophy, thinking and Confucius, or to urge them to read more, even amid such poverty. With the wars between shoguns over, Japan beginning to trade with other countries, and modern armies and technology entering the country, the samurai’s time is also slowly drawing to a close.
Society in those days was divided into classes: farmers, samurai and people doing jobs that were considered undesirable or disreputable. Samurai, too, took whatever work they could find to make a living. In other words, in this world without war, everyone was busy trying to earn their bread. People were dying in the famine. At times, as you will see in the film, the bodies of those who have starved drift down the river past people washing clothes or fishing. In an environment so open to corruption, Seibei is a samurai who never compromises his principles, trying to protect and provide for his family while also possessing considerable skill with a sword. Thinking more of his loved ones than of himself, he protects the woman he has loved since childhood from her abusive husband, fighting and defeating him in a duel. Yet despite this sacrifice, he refuses to marry her because he does not want her to suffer in his hard, impoverished life. In short, the man stands before us like a monument to kindness and humility. I strongly recommend this film for the way it examines feelings so many of us have long forgotten. Seibei’s unbroken determination is an example to us all.