The Last Samurai
Starring Tom Cruise and Ken Watanabe
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. |
