The Last Samurai    FilmLottm

Edward Zwick, director of the Academy Award winning Civil War drama Glory, delves into the development of modern Japan in The Last Samurai. This epic film, set in Japan during the 1870s, stars Tom Cruise as Capt. Nathan Algren, an accomplished American military officer sent by the Emperor of Japan to train its first army in the skills of modern warfare. While attempting to train the Samurai at the Emperors request, Algren is awed by their traditions, philosophy, and warfare techniques. A struggle occurs between the desire of the Emperor for more Westernized and trade-friendly government policies and the tradition and honor of the ancient Imperial Samurai warriors.

Timothy Spall plays Algren's British interpreter Simon Graham; Billy Connolly portrays a close friend of Algren’s, Sergeant Zebulah Gant; Tony Goldwyn plays Colonel Benjamin Bagley, a Civil War veteran searching for his fortune in Japan; and Ken Watanabe portrays Katsumoto, a stoic Samurai leader.