Twilight Samurai (movie night)

[Anonymous]

• Iguchi is such a lovable man in this movie. Of the three years I lived in Japan, I have never seen or heard of any Japanese man as sentitive and gentle as he is in this movie. Especially, the way he loves his daughters and his family. Traditionally it is women's job to raise and care kids. It is refreshing to watch this movie because it portraits the rare and precious love of a father which in my opinion can barely be seen in Japanese men. No doubt that all fathers love their children, Japanese fathers are the same. However, in order to comply with the male social as well as cultural role, fathers' involvement in children's lives are minimal. Most Japanese men, especially salary men, devoted their time and energy to their job becauese their duties are earning to support their family. Women are the ones taking care of all other family matters especially raising kids. The supervisor of the Japanese company I used to work for when I was in Japan said he barely ever saw his son, less having any real conversation with him. The interactions between his son and him were limited to greetings.
• I was also impressed to learn that Confucius were widely taught in Tokugawa period. Throughout the movie, both Kayano and Ito were chanting and memorizing the words of Confucius and other philosophers. I especially loved to see Iguchi so supportive of his daughter learning Confucius.

[Anonymous]

I would have been good with the movie ending three years prior! Poor Iguchi!
edited by ccable on 8/10/2011

[Anonymous]

Loved this movie!

I couldn't believe that Mrs. Tamoe's ex-husband, the drunk, asked his friend to get revenge for him. I guess a "Whipped dog does bark!" It was this that caused Iguchi to end up having to fight the guy that refused to commit suicide. I'm not clear as to why people were asked to commit suicide though. Can someone clarify please?

[Anonymous]

I really liked the movie too. What I thought really made the movie were the small details regarding Japanese life: making the insect cages as piecework, the bawdy festival players, the schoolroom full of little girls reciting the classic masters. It's films (or at least clips from them) like this that I love to show my students because we can have such a great discussion afterwards about the culture of the time. I liked the storyline a lot also. I think my favorite scene had to be Iguchi sitting down and talking to the man he is to murder. The sharing of their past and more recent miseries appears to make a bond between them that is broken only when Iguchi's plan to use the short sword is revealed, which is seen as disrespectful and therefore reason to fight to the death after all.

[Anonymous]

I didn't know what dying from "consumption" meant in the movie. I learned a new vocabulary word!

I do need clarification on another concept please? The movie mentioned that the girl's place was to "write script." What does this refer to specifically?
edited by ccable on 8/9/2011

[Anonymous]

I truly enjoyed this film is Seibei himself, his daughters, and his love, Tomoe. And their story is so real, so believable, it was just incredible.

Seibei, however, is not a miserable man. He accepts his poverty with dignity, although not without a tiny trace of bitterness at times. He is a wonderful father, devoting a great deal of time in educating his daughters in an era when the general wisdom is that girls do not need an education.

Most amazing of all, the film has a happy ending which, coming from the narrator, has a wonderful mellowing effect. We see Seibei coming back at dawn, bleeding profusely but alive, to find Tomoe still there, waiting for him. The last we see of them is when they close up, he grasps her hands in his as she wept for joy. Simultaneously we hear the narrator off-screen saying "so Tomoe finally becomes our mother", and the scene melted to the daughter, now an old woman, at the burial place of Seibei and Tomoe. We were told that the two shared three happy years, together with the family, until Seibei was killed in battle. "Contrary to what many people may think, my father was a happy man, because he never wanted much, and has been blessed with a most lovely and loving wife."
This movie is worth a while to show it to our students in the future.
Thanks again for making this movie available to us, Prof. Dube and Xin Jiang
edited by wchu on 8/9/2011

[Anonymous]

I know we’re expected to watch the movie “Twilight Samurai” from the historical point of view as the samurai era was ending. However, I can’t help thinking more about the family life of Iguchi and his daughter’s view about if he was a lucky/unlucky man. Iguchi went through financial hardship in life, but with the love of his family, he was happy and content. Contemplating about if Iguchi was a lucky man, I agree with his daughter that he was lucky in a way, but it's sad that his life was cut short.

[Anonymous]

I felt the movie was charming. I loved the scenes of the village life. Especially the details, how they cooked, how the father would split the wood into tinny strips for the small fire inside the house, the little girls playing in the yard and of course the chickens. I liked the scene of the grandmother finding an egg, celebrating her good fortune, thanking the chicken and running back inside. I would be happy just watching the life the village families.

Many moons ago when I was in the Peace Corps stationed in a village deep in a tropical forest, I had chickens. They were everywhere, they were in my house, they were in the garden, they were at the country store, they were even in the community hospital when I was sick. I could never get free of them, they were my constant companion. This movie brought back my desire to back to the small village life.

I have an idea, lets all join the Peace Corps and take on an assignment in China.....Who is with me? I will bring the application forms. Arana you bring the pen.
edited by jdarrough on 8/10/2011
edited by jdarrough on 8/10/2011

[Anonymous]

I love the genre and have watched a lot of samurai films (esp. the ones w/ Mifune Toshiro, 三船敏郎). Twilight Samurai is one of my favorite not only in the genre, but films in general. It stands out because of its realism and believability. Like Robin said, the small details about Japanese life made it realistic and set up the backdrop of the story very well. I especially like the subtle handling of the plot and characters' emotions. It again goes back to the details again. Nothing is overwrought and the slow, unhurried pace and quiet scenes of the mundane give it a almost lyrical, poetic feel. The film also shows us a very different look of a samurai's life. They're not just warriors, but were used as civil servants, accountants. And it's not just guts and glory, there's the practical aspect of supporting and caring for one's family. Nevertheless, the high ideals of Bushido are manifested in Seibei in unassuming and unexpected ways in the film.

[Anonymous]

Catherine was asking can an order to commit suicide given to anybody and why. This is because in Samurai culture, honor is highly emphacized. Losing a battle is a dishonor itself. Many Samurais and even Japanese military officers during World War Two commit suicide because they felt dishonor for losing. Also from the winning party's point of view killing the losing parties is to honor them. I think, sometime the winning party orders the losing party to commit suicide so they could honor themselves as a samurai even though they just lost the battle. It is the concept of dying with honor and dignity.
edited by yfisher on 8/10/2011

[Anonymous]

If you like the film, you might also consider Yamada Yoji's follow-up films, The Hidden Blade and Love and Honor. I don't think thery're as good, but they're still very moving. Anyway, I have shown the film to my AP World History students after school and offered the following as a bonus assignment (together with Seven Samurai on their own time):

"These two films (and there are so many others...) give us a glimpse of life as a samurai. Even though Twilight Samurai is set in the 19th century during the Meiji Restoration that ended the feudal period, the transformation and the tension between the old and new way of life underscore the samurai virtues and feudal characteristics. Seven Samurai, on the other hand, is set in the 16th century, during the Sengoku (Warring States) period, before the Tokugawa unification. It's a storytelling masterpiece that reveals many aspects of life during medieval Japan and beyond. For the assignment, watch one of the or both films and write a paper describing the feudal characteristics captured in the film. Also make other relevant AP thematic connections and analyze what the film is trying to say with its depiction of the samurai class."

[Anonymous]

I really enjoyed the film Twilight Samurai. I, too, loved the portrayal of the relationship between Iguchi and his daughters, as it seemed highly unusual. You could tell that the men Iguchi worked with thought this was unusual as well because they kept asking him to go out for drinks, demonstrating that if they were in his shoes, they would still go out and drink rather than go home to their children.

I also think that the short scenes depicting everyday life would be great clips to show students what life was like for the lower-middle class. I also thought the scene where Iguchi was practicing with his sword in the middle of the night and all you could see was the glint of the blade was beautiful and so serene, especially given what was about to happen. While I would have preferred Iguchi and Tomoe to live happily ever after for many years, I think the ending was befitting of how Iguchi was portrayed throughout the film. He didn't need much to make him happy, so even a few years of happiness being married to Tomoe would fulfill him - and this philosophy was passed on to his daughters, and I'm assuming Tomoe as well. Great movie!

[Anonymous]

I enjoyed watching the movie "Twilight Samurai." In the movie, one thing I thought that is really represents East Asian is the repression of the emotion. In China, Japan, Korea, and the most East Asia countries, people, especially men, are taught not to show their feelings to others. In the movie, Iguchi and Tamoe liked each other when they were young. And he also knew that Tamoe came to revisit his house for a reason after her divorce, but he never told her that he liked her. In fact, Tamoe came to his house and helped him with the household quite often afterwards. Iguchi knew what of a message she sent to him. However, he still denied Tomoe's brother's suggestion as he asked, "Would you marry with my sister?" Until the night he was ordered to go out for the fight. How Iguchi held his emotion reminds me the Chinese character "忍 (ren)". This character is built with two parts. The top part means knife; the bottom part means heart. So from the word "忍 (ren)," it means a heart is torn by the knife. It's not hard to imagine what this feeling is. If I have the chance, I would show this movie to my students and share with them this common cultural phenomenon - repression of the feeling which exists in Asian culture for years.
edited by vding on 8/10/2011

[Anonymous]

I enjoyed the movie, and missed the outcome as we were watching it. I thought that he would be killed and that we would have a tragic ending with a lost relationship, an ailing mother and two daughters left to survive by them-self's. What it told me is that the dedication to the leaders overrides personal needs. Iguchi had to be ready give up not only life, but his responsibilities in caring for his ailing mother and his daughters who he loved dearly. Not to mention Tomoe his secret love interest. It also told me about mans internal struggle with what who he is. He is a Samurai which is a manly profession and yet he would rather not go out with his co-workers for the manly partaking of drinking beer and ogling women.

[Anonymous]

I remembered very clearly and felt unbelievable about one moment I experienced at the Japanese company I used to work at. One after, I saw a girl with red eyes and seemed she had just cried. Although I did not ask her what happened right away, I overheard the talking between her and Ms. Matsusaka who is an older supervisor. What happened was her boyfriend sent her a text message saying " 愛しているよ”which means "I love you" at lunch break. I was totally confused about why her eyes were all red and she cried because of receiving the text message, which she should feel happy. I finally found out that she was chasing after her boyfriend first, and it had always been her saying "I love you" to him for the entire time they were dating which was for a long time, I think it was close to two years. He had never said "I love you" to her ever. That was why she was so happy and cried her eyes out after receiving the text message. After more talking with others, I found out stories like this was common between lovers and sometime husband and wife. Especially men in Japan tend to not express their love verbally.

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