How does last samurai end

It's at this point that "The Last Samurai" begins to reveal itself as more than an action picture. Katsumoto, who conveniently speaks English, explains he has kept Algren alive because he wants to know his enemy. Algren at first refuses to speak, but gradually, during a long, rainy winter of captivity, he begins to have philosophical conversations with the other man about the ethics of war and warriors.

Some of these talks sound like Socratic exchanges:. For Algren, the traditional village life is a soothing tonic. Haunted by nightmares from his wartime experiences, he confesses, "Here I have known my first untroubled sleep in many years. Katsumoto has pledged his life to defending the dying code of the samurai.

Algren finds himself gradually shifting allegiances, away from the mercenaries and toward the samurai, but his shift is visceral, not ideological. He bonds with Katsumoto, respects him, wants to find respect in his eyes. The movie illustrates the universal military truth that men in battle are motivated not by their cause but by loyalty to their comrades.

It has been compared to " Lawrence of Arabia " and "Dances With Wolves," films in which Westerners learn to respect Arabs and Indians, but this film goes a step further, clearly believing that Katsumoto's traditional society is superior to the modernism being unloaded by the Americans. Katsumoto is the teacher and Algren is the student, and the film wonderfully re-creates the patterns and textures of the Japanese past; its production design, sets and costumes are astonishing.

Watanabe is a deep, powerful presence; he has the potential to become the first world star from Japan since Toshiro Mifune. Cruise is already a star, and will be targeted by those predisposed to see him and not his character, but here I think his stardom works for the film, because he takes with him into battle both the cocksure pilot of " Top Gun " and the war-weary veteran of " Born on the Fourth of July.

The supporting cast is splendid: Koyuki quietly stirs as the widow who feels sexual attraction but suppresses it; Tony Goldwyn blusters and threatens as the hard American mercenary; Timothy Spall is the British translator who knows the words but not the music.

Scichinosuke Nakamura plays the emperor as a tormented, shy man who admires Katsumoto's values, even while agreeing with his advisers that the rebellion must be put down. The director is Edward Zwick, whose other war films " Glory ," "Legends of the Fall," " Courage Under Fire " have also dealt with men whose personal loyalties have figured more importantly than political ideology.

He joins them in the fight against the Japanese army armed with rifles, cannons, etc. All the Samurais die except for Tom Cruise. The Emperor in the end takes the side of Cruise and doesn't sign the trade agreement with the U. The Emperor says that it's important for the people of Japan to not forget who they are, their customs, etc. Tom Cruise goes off and lives in the samurai town. Factual error : When we see the United States flag, it is the wrong flag. It has 43 stars, something the flag did not have until Edit The Last Samurai Jump to: Summaries 4 Synopsis 1.

The synopsis below may give away important plot points. Getting Started Contributor Zone ». Edit page. Top Gap. For example, Zwick and company Americanize the storyline, with Cruise bringing the spirit of Brunet's story to the big screen. For another audience hook, the screenwriters link Alpern to General George Custer and repeatedly reference the famous military leader to better understand the timeline.

In fact, Cruise's character even states that Custer "fell in love with his own legend," an ironic line given Hollywood's narrative twist on the Japanese-French source material. For one more layer of thematic accessibility, Cruise's character in The Last Samurai explains Greek history to Katsumoto by citing the Battle of Thermopylae the premise for Zack Snyder's , and thus essentially explains the concept of protecting one's homeland at all costs to the audience.

In the final act, Katsumoto asks Alpern what happened to the Greek soldiers, a thematic transition to the samurais' last stand. The Meiji Restoration rebellions weren't simply about right vs.

Historians have explained that many samurais rebelled not because of moral righteousness, but rather to sustain a "privileged" way of life. In fact, most samurais reportedly lived in urban areas and ultimately took on important local jobs to strengthen Japanese society. In The Last Samurai , the screenwriters conveniently have Katsumoto and company live in the mountains, which allows for a mid-movie sequence that at once spotlights Alpern's change of heart while reminding viewers that he can't escape.

The Last Samurai also simplifies samurai culture for economical storytelling. According to historian Jonathan Dresner , "the movie clearly can't differentiate between the individual samurai clan and the samurai class. Last, samurai warriors reportedly used modern weapons during the Satsuma Rebellion, though it's true that they sometimes fought with traditional swords during this specific time in history.