The Samurai trilogy of three films depicting the end of the samurai era was one of the great film achievements of Japanese director Yoji Yamada. Although all three paintings do not echo each other either in plot or characters, they are united by the most reliable description of the life of those times. Yamada's films are more likely to be called historical films, not action films, although the sound of samurai swords and combat duels are present here.
All the pictures of the trilogy: "Twilight Samurai" (2002), "Hidden Blade" (2004) and "Love and Honor" (2006) are consistently included in the ratings of the best samurai films. Therefore, it can be said that director Yoji Yamada knows how to keep the audience's attention.
"Twilight Samurai" is not only the very first, but also the most famous film of the trilogy. It was even nominated for an Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film. The picture conquered with its touching story and accurate transmission of all the characteristic features and laws of samurai life.
The main character of the film is the lowest-ranking samurai Seibei Iguchi. He serves in the Unasaka clan's vault. Seibei had barely made ends meet before, and after the death of his wife, he was so mired in debt and household chores that he even stopped paying attention to elementary hygiene. In addition, the samurai had to look after two daughters and an old mother. He quarreled with all his relatives, and his superiors did not respect him at all. All his friends laughed at him and gave him the nickname - "twilight samurai."
Seibei's life became so hard that he had to secretly sell a samurai sword. This was considered the most terrible shame for the samurai. One day he meets his childhood friend. Tomoe was the younger sister of Seibei's only friend. She left her alcoholic husband, who constantly humiliated her. Tomoe settled in the house of her brother Michinojo and began to visit Seibei often. She became very attached to Seibei's daughters, because she had no children of her own.
But the woman's ex-husband constantly came to her brother's house and insulted both. Seibei decided to stand up for his friends and challenged Tomoe's husband to a duel. The samurai defeats the villain with a stick, although he was considered an experienced swordsman. Contrary to expectations, this act further complicates the life of the gloomy samurai.
The chief of Seibei learns of the incident and orders the unlucky man to kill one rebellious samurai. Seibei tries to back out of his assignment, but now he has to make a choice - go for the kill or be exiled.
Masterfully filmed and emotionally traced, the film "Twilight Samurai" did not remain without prizes. The Japanese Film Academy awarded the film 13 awards - including prizes for best film, best director, and best male and female roles.
See also
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Shogun's Samurai
Shogun's Samurai, is a 1978 Japanese historical martial arts film directed and co-written by Kinji Fukasaku. This film is the first of two unrelated Fukasaku films starring Shinichi "Sonny" Chiba as Jubei Mitsuyoshi Yagyu, with the other being Samurai Reincarnation.
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Samurai I: Musashi Miyamoto
"Musashi Miyamoto" is a 1954 Japanese film directed and co-written by Hiroshi Inagaki, starring Toshiro Mifune. It is the first film in Inagaki's Samurai Trilogy of historical adventures. The film is adapted from Eiji Yoshikawa's novel "Musashi," originally serialized in the Japanese newspaper Asahi Shimbun from 1935 to 1939, and is loosely based on the life of the famous Japanese swordsman Miyamoto Musashi.
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Samurai Champloo
"Samurai Champloo" is a 2004 Japanese historical adventure anime television series and the debut production of studio Manglobe. Spanning 26 episodes, it aired from May 2004 to March 2005, initially on Fuji TV and later across the Fuji Network System. In North America, it was broadcast on Adult Swim and released commercially by Geneon Entertainment and later Crunchyroll. MVM Films handled the English release in the United Kingdom, while Madman Entertainment managed distribution in Australia and New Zealand. A manga adaptation was serialized in Monthly Shonen Ace in 2004 and subsequently released in North America by Tokyopop the following year.
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Samurai Jack
"Samurai Jack" follows the journey of a young prince (voiced by Phil LaMarr) from a feudal Japanese kingdom. His father, the emperor of Japan (voiced by Sab Shimono as an elder and Keone Young as a younger man), received a magical katana from three gods—Ra, Rama, and Odin—which he used to defeat and imprison the demon Aku (voiced by Mako, and later by Greg Baldwin in Season 5). Eight years later, Aku escaped, conquered the land, and imprisoned the emperor. The prince's mother sent him away to train and return with the magic sword to defeat Aku. Upon his return, the now-samurai prince nearly defeats Aku, but the demon casts him into the distant future.
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Samurai Cat
What happens when you combine the internet’s favorite animal with sword-wielding Japanese warriors? You get the 2014 Japanese comedy-drama "Neko Samurai," or "Cat Samurai" (or "Samurai Cat").
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Samurai Assassin 1965
Based on a famous incident in Japanese history, Samurai Assassin presumes some historical knowledge from its audience, but don’t let that deter you. Most of the movie is fictional.
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Blue Eye Samurai
Set in 1600s Japan, the series stars Maya Erskine as a mixed-race samurai named Mizu, driven by a quest for bloody revenge. The show, titled Blue Eye Samurai, features breathtaking fight scenes and an all-star cast. One memorable sequence sees Mizu backed to the edge of a seaside cliff, surrounded by the Four Fangs, master swordsmen intent on her demise. Over an intense eight minutes, she transforms the precarious terrain into a battleground, defying physics as she dismantles her enemies. The scene culminates in a stunning visual with a death blow delivered against the backdrop of a crashing wave bathed in the red glow of sunset, resembling combat on the lip of a volcano.
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Red lion
The film by the Japanese director Kihachi Okamoto "Red Lion" was first seen by the audience in 1969. The plot of the picture takes place during a period of turbulent events in the history of Japan in 1866-67, which ended the Edo era and preceded the imperial restoration. Kihachi Okamoto's favorite features are the introduction of sudden plot twists and an unexpected ending. The film "Red Lion" was no exception in this sense. It begins as a set of comedic situations that take place with comical characters. But gradually the plot becomes more and more serious coloring and eventually ends in tragedy.
