Message from nmacanish

I listened to the recommendation of a fellow student and rented this movie through Netflix. I really enjoyed this tale of a low ranking samurai and his struggle to take care of his family in the face of uselessness. The samurai must struggle with traditions and being a fighter when he no longer has the heart to do so. In the beginning of the movie it shows him at work with his colleagues. They leave to go out and have drinks, but he must go home and care for his mother and two small daughters. His wife has died and he is all they have left. He is a kind hearted man and makes cricket cages at night in order to supplement his meager earnings. His two daughters help him around the house a little, but he is barely managing to scrape out a living.

There is a love interest in his life, but he passes her up because he knows the struggle of being a low class citizen. He talks about the struggle with his late wife as she married below her station. He is a simple man and wants to enjoy life. He cares nothing of riches or a name in the kingdom. The climax of the movie is when he must fight a mad samurai in order to keep his family name. What will he do? Risk death to save his honor? You will have to watch it to find out.