In the minds of the modern viewer, the classic samurai seems to be a fearless Japanese warrior, with a calm, impassive face. He is dressed in a kimono and masterfully owns a katana.
A similar impression was made by films about samurai of such masters as Akiro Kurosawa, Yojiro Takita, Kihati Okamoto. Most viewers are familiar, first of all, with A. Kurosawa’s masterpiece “The Seven Samurai” of 1954, the plot of which became the basis of one no less famous remake and many less well-known ones. The subsequent work of Kurosawa in this genre - “The Bodyguard” - is also a kind of classic of the plot about a skilled, cunning, invincible lone hero, defeating all enemies in various ways. A large-scale and dramatic historical painting “The Shadow of a Warrior”, telling about the fate of a little man who, by the will of fate, became the double of the deceased powerful daim, was released in 1980. The picture unfolds against the backdrop of the internecine war of the Oda and Taked clans in the late 16th century. And the final scene of the famous battle of Nagashino marks the victory of firearms over the traditional weapons of the samurai. It was A. Kurosawa who created the best films about samurai, the works of other masters are less noticeable.
The meeting of west and east
Over time, Western directors began to make their own films about samurai. The plots of such paintings are based, as a rule, on the clash of two subcultures - western and eastern. “The Red Sun” by Terence Young with the magnificent A. Delon and P. Bronson in the lead roles can be safely attributed to them. The joint US-Japanese TV series “Shogun” consistently, “from scratch,” introduces the viewer, along with the main character, Englishman John Blackthorn (R. Chamberlain), to the customs, mores, culture and life events of medieval samurai.
The crown of this story is, of course, “The Last Samurai” with Tom Cruise in the title role. The film recreates the events of the uprising of "traditional" samurai in 1877. The character of T. Cruise, an American who has adopted the distinctive, colorful culture of the samurai, himself becomes a member of their closed clan. He takes part in the last battle (the Battle of Shiroyama) rebels with government troops, in which most samurai die from the modern small arms of the imperial troops. Olgren (T. Cruz) assists the leader of the samurai in traditional suicide (seppoku).
Sunset samurai
In the last decade, traditional films about samurai very rarely go on the big screen. There are a large number of works (often in the style of “fantasy”) that use samurai attributes, code, style, etc. These are both parts of “Kill Bill” by K. Tarantino, “The Way of the Warrior” by Lee Sinmu, “The Matrix” by Andy Wachowski and many other films. "Ghost Dog: The Way of the Samurai" - the film is quite interesting both in terms of choosing an actor for the main role, and the originality of the plot. Of the new paintings, perhaps only “Thirteen Killers” by Takashi Miike fully corresponds to the category “Films about Samurai”.
Unfortunately, this ancient Japanese martial art is a thing of the past, and shoguns, samurai warriors have become the property of cinema. And modern men should stick to the code of honor of Japanese warriors.