In 1974, japanese sword fighting films were in decline. The genre was exhausted, after nearly 2 decades of production, there wasn’t much new to add, almost every angles have already been covered & genre elements pushed to their limits. Not as popular as Akira Kurosawa, yet, director Kenji Misumi took an active part in the evolution of the genre. For example, the visual influence of manga in the Lone Wolf & Cub films he directed – it’s a world of outrageous possibilities.
With The Last Samurai, Misumi went back to basics. No fantasy here, just a simple and well executed historical drama about the end of the samurai era. A time usually described as violent, with cynical men acting like wolves. In all his wisdom, Misumi didn’t do like any other directors. He told the story of some samurai wise enough to see beyond their own beliefs, to connect & respect other samurais. In fact, showing true Japanese warriors in time of despair. One might even consider the film as Misumi’s goodbye to the genre. A masterpiece!
The original title 狼よ落日を斬れ translates as Wolf, Chop the Setting Sun!
{ 1 comment… read it below or add one }
Great film. I review it in my new book (out now, available on Amazon). This was Kenji Misumi’s final film, a chambara tour de force, an epic, spanning the bloody Bakumatsu period and extending some years past the Meiji Restoration, allowing us to see just how radically things changed following the fall of the Tokugawa Shogunate.
Hideki Takahashi is great in the lead, and Ken Ogata almost steals the show as a furious, flashing blade who farts when he fights. Famous, real-life samurai mix with fictitious characters for a heady blend of action and historical intrigue. I can’t recommend this film enough.