REVIEW: たそがれ清兵衛 (山田洋次) – The Twilight Samurai (Yamada Yoji)

First Thoughts

Directed by the highly esteemed Yamada Yoji (山田洋次), Twilight Samurai is one of many samurai films set in nineteenth-century feudal Japan. But unlike other films in this genre of Japanese cinema, which tend to be more action epics with lots of fighting, fountains of blood, and overriding themes of good versus evil or honor versus dishonor, Yamada Yoji paints a picture filled with intimate psychological drama that results in an engaging and truly touching movie.

Visual and Overall Style

Yamada Yoji’s style in Twilight Samurai is carefully restrained, reminiscent of classic film directors like Mizoguchi Kenji (溝口健二), in which subtle gestures carry the strongest impact. In an age of contemporary film where samurai film directors seem to be opting for more “flashy” scenes, Yamada Yoji’s film prefers character to action scenes using wire work or explosive pyrotechnics, and poignant scenes full of subdued lighting, bringing the concept of “twilight” to the fore, both thematically and visually.

Characters and Plot

Although the film easily could have run the risk of being slow-paced or even tedious with its running time of 129 minutes, the director succeeds in telling this extraordinary tale by pinpointing the essence of what he wants to say through the life of the characters and showing their everyday struggles. As the audience becomes emotionally invested in his characters, scenes that are on the surface quiet and understated are made intense.

The Story

Sanada Hiroyuki (真田広之) stars as the “twilight” samurai Iguchi Seibei, an incredibly sincere man with great personal pride and honor – an anachronism in the final years of the Tokugawa era – whom no one can figure out: he is always unkempt, is obviously under great stress, but never complains about his lot in life nor wishes anyone foul. He is mocked by his colleagues with the nickname “Twilight Seibei” as he leaves work immediately with the coming of nightfall every day so he can take care of his elderly mother with dementia and two young daughters, Kayano and Ito, at home.

Events are set in motion when the beautiful, recently divorced Tomoe, played by Miyazawa Rie (宮沢りえ), an old childhood friend (and crush), returns to Seibei’s life. Having left her violent, abusive drunk of a husband, Tomoe finds joy with Seibei’s daughters. Although it is clear that she would not object to the union as she too has feelings for Seibei, when offered her hand in marriage, Seibei is conflicted by both his feelings towards her and his self-consciousness regarding his lowly status, which he is convinced would only bring a woman of Tomoe’s standing misery.

But when Tomoe’s ex-husband Kōda, played by Ōsugi Ren (大杉漣), shows up and demands that Tomoe return with him, Seibei is drawn into a duel to protect her honor. What is discovered through this duel, however, is that although Seibei might appear to be just a simple, unkempt man, easily mocked or pitied by his colleagues, he is also a master with the short-sword.

Rumors of Seibei’s skills quickly spread across the land and he is later forced to accept an assignment from his clan leaders, who ask him to kill a former colleague, Yogo Zen’emon, played by Tanaka Min (田中泯), a samurai who has become disgusted with the samurai traditions and government that demands he obey orders unquestionably. Having ended up on the losing side of a power struggle over succession and thus “disowned,” Yogo has been ordered to save face by ending his own life which he now refuses to abide and has already killed a highly skilled swordsman sent to compel him to do otherwise (by killing him).

What perhaps sets Yamada Yoji’s samurai films the most apart from other works in the genre is as much as they are about the samurai, they are also about love, and Twilight Samurai is no exception. Seibei’s love for his family (and for Tomoe) is without a doubt the focal point of the film, and Sanada Hiroyuki is brilliant in his performance.

Though quiet and understated, even stoic at times, both the tenderness and sincerity of his feelings are tangible as he sacrifices much for the sake of his family – pride, reputation, social connections. Never does he hesitate to place himself at a lower priority, nor does he seem to be at all attached to the status and/or image of the samurai as he repeatedly demonstrates how perfectly happy he is to take up fieldwork and be a father instead of fight and receive acclaim for his formidable skills.

Despite the constant opposition and censure, from his extended family for being foolish, from his colleagues for being unfortunate, even pathetic, Seibei demonstrates in his own way that he is able to balance being both a noble samurai and a good father, resulting in a truly wholesome film that can appeal to audiences outside fans of the samurai film genre.

Action/Choreography

Even to the casual samurai film viewer, it is easily apparent that Twilight Samurai is different from other films of the genre – an obvious indication of this is the fact that there are only two duel scenes in the entire film.

Twilight Samurai is deliberate, concise and beautiful in its execution. The violence, for example, while still dished out in sharp bursts, has a very real quality typically ignored in other samurai films. A particularly memorable instance of this can be seen towards the end of the movie when Seibei steps over the body of a slain samurai assassin, who is now frozen in rigor mortis and engulfed by flies, as he prepares to face Yogo. By infusing the film with such realism, the story becomes far more authentic and firmly anchored in the minds of its viewers.

With a lot of contemporary samurai cinema, the temptation for directors to make the fighting “flashy” and underscored with an intense soundtrack is almost irresistible. While I certainly enjoy a high-octane sword-action scene as much as the next samurai film fan, the treatment applied to action in Twilight Samurai is extremely refreshing, as it is as quiet, understated, and surprising as the character Seibei himself.

Seibei demonstrates his swordsmanship skills for the first time.

In addition to the sense of realism applied to the action choreography, the use of lighting, especially in the climax, further emphasizes the director’s inherent message. Although the stakes are certainly dire, and the action intense, during the scene the audience is given only glimpses of the two men’s faces. As figures seen mostly in silhouette, the final duel of this samurai film is lent a sense of poignancy. Yamada Yoji’s use of subdued, dim lighting suggests that the “twilight” has arrived for the samurai as a whole, the fading of one age and the approach of a new one, and the consequent cultural agony of such irrevocable change is made tangible through Seibei and Yogo’s physical struggle.

Final Thoughts

The first installment in what will later become known as Yamada Yoji’s “Samurai Trilogy,” Twilight Samurai was my first and remains my favorite of his three samurai films. I could go on about this film… and have in fact done so in an earlier paper where I’ve attempted to delve further into Seibei’s character and inner conflict between his duty as a samurai and his devotion towards his family.

With wonderful imagery, an excellent cast, and a moving story, it is no wonder that The Twilight Samurai earned not only a Best Foreign Film Oscar nomination but also an unprecedented twelve Japanese Academy Awards, including Best Picture, Best Director, and Best Actor.

As viewers reach the conclusion of the movie, it also becomes clear that Twilight Samurai is not just the story of “Twilight” Seibei and his anachronistic code of conduct, but also how because of this very same code, he (the samurai) can no longer function in a rapidly modernizing world. These themes resonate loudly in Twilight Samurai and help elevate Yoji Yamada’s movie from a mere ‘period picture’ into something far more profound.