OVP: The Twilight Samurai (2003)

Film: The Twilight Samurai (2003)

Stars: Hiroyuki Sanada, Rie Miyazawa, Nenji Kobayashi, Ren Osugi

Director: Yoji Yamada

Oscar History: 1 nomination (Best Foreign Language Film-Japan)

Snap Judgment Ranking: 4/5 stars

We move into another film from 2003 as we continue our look at the Oscar-nominated foreign films of both 2003 & 2017 this week.  Today's focus is on The Twilight Samurai, which was a pretty big deal in 2003.  Japanese cinema in 2003 had not been Oscar-blessed in 22 years.  This was in large part due to the controversies surrounding Akira Kurosawa's masterwork Ran in 1985 (which was not chosen for submission by Japan even though it would have been a shoo-in, and indeed Kurosawa himself was cited for Best Director).  In the years since multiple well-known films (including two by Kurosawa, Madadayo and Rhapsody in August) had missed with Oscar, and you'd have been safe to wonder if the Academy's tastes had shifted from the days when Japan was a pretty frequent nominee.  The Twilight Samurai breaking that long streak (the longest in the nation's history), had me intrigued-what was it about this film in particular that suddenly made Oscar show his cards again?  Let's find out.

(Spoilers Ahead) The film is about Iguchi Seibei (Sanada), a low-level samurai whose wife has just died, leaving him with two daughters and a mother suffering from some sort of dementia.  He barely scrapes by, and is mocked behind his back for taking on the responsibilities of a woman in caring for his two daughters & ailing mother (he earns the derisive nickname "Twilight" because he always disappears at that time to take on more "feminine" tasks).  He is met one day by Tomoe (Miyazawa), the divorced younger sister of his best friend, who is of a much higher station than him, and the woman he has loved since childhood.  She clearly is in love with him as well, but due to the difference in their stations, and the hurt that Seibei feels from losing his first wife (who disliked marrying a man below her station, and reminded him of it), he resists an offer of marriage from Tomoe.  When a member of a rival clan refuses to commit suicide as commanded (after a rebellion), Seibei is tasked with killing him, but before he does, he confesses his love to the now-engaged Tomoe.  She says she'll leave, but after he meets the man (and learns that life was worth living because of his family, not his station), he returns to find Tomoe there, and they wed.  The film ends with a monologue from one of his daughters stating that Seibei lived only a few years longer before dying in a different war, but he was lucky-Tomoe loved him, and she spent the rest of her days happy for their time together.

The film was a massive commercial & critical hit in Japan, making it onto the Top 20 highest-grossing films of all-time in the country, and sweeping their Academy Awards.  It also was the beginning of Sanada's international career.  The actor would have his first significant role in an English-language film in 2003's The Last Samurai (similar to 2020 with multiple film's with the word "Father" in the title, 2003 was the "Year of the Samurai" with AMPAS), and would soon be a relatively steady character actor in high-profile American films (ranging from Rush Hour 3 to The Wolverine to Avengers: Endgame), and will be in the new Mortal Kombat reboot.  So if you're an American reader who recognized his photo & couldn't quite place him, you've likely seen him in one of those movies.

I bring up Sanada because he really makes Twilight Samurai what it is.  I can't obviously tell you why this is the film that ended Japan's drought with Oscar, but it's very up Oscar's alley.  It's a story of forbidden love, one of family, tragedy, and sensitive honor, and it's also well-done.  Sanada is superb in the title role, never showing his feelings until the moment where it feels they'll burst, & instead bringing depth to an honorable man, not an easy task in a movie.  The film is slightly slow (and repetitive), but honestly that's my only issue here-this is a movie of terrific substance, and one that is well worth your time.