This is a movie dedicated to the Japanese Viewers

Bluesky_and_Breeze

I am a native japanese residing in Tokyo, very familiar of the actual history that took place in Japan towards the end of the 19th century.

In short, by all means, this movie moved me and had me crying at certain moments. What I wanted to shout out after watching this movie was, "Thank you Tom Cruise and Edward Zwick!!"

From a Japanese viewer's point of view, it is evident that the story is all fiction, inspired by what actually happened. We all know there really was no American who stood for the final samurai rebellions, nor was there an American who took sides of the government. The movie also has its clear flaws if one looks at the details (e.g. there would never be any palm trees in the forests of mainland Japan, the wife of a samurai would never wear such heavy western make-up, the samurais would never be so fluent in English, etc). However, these issues are never irritating, as we could always sense a very strong, pure and innocent message coming from Tom and Ed, which I felt as a message coming from certain caring and intelligent American individuals to the nation of Japan and the Bushido (Samurai) spirit which still continues to live and influence our Japanese culture and our Japanese way of life.

It is no wonder American viewers have mixed feelings about this movie, partly unaware of (and lacking true interest in) the history of Japan and partly noticing the similarities between this movie with other movies made in the past. From my perspective, however, being a Japanese national born and raised in Japan and knowing the dramatic history our country has gone through, I could not help but cry feeling the respect and sympathies coming from a very successful movie star (Tom) and movie director (Ed), bothering to spend a "Hollywood Budget" on what is a very "personal" story for the Japanese. It is the fact that this film was made by Hollywood which makes this film all the more important for Japan, as it would have been just another corny self-appraisal film if created by the Japanese themselves.

Again, we know this is all fiction inspired by a true story and can't escape its small flaws, but I love the film all the same, and would like to thank from the bottom of my heart, Tom, Ed and others who deserve credit for thinking of creating this film in the first place.

I don't think a film of this nature would ever be able to receive an oscar (as I can imagine how difficult it may be for an average American viewer to appreciate the true and deep meaning of this film, not being Japanese), but I believe this is a film which should deserve some kind of a "Thank you" award from Japan. I would certainly like to offer one on a personal basis.

score 10/10

Bluesky_and_Breeze 15 February 2004

Reprint: https://www.imdb.com/review/rw0882591/