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Twilight Samurai
Seibei Iguchi (Hiroyuki Sanada) is the twilight samurai who has returned to take care of his elderly mother and two daughters Kayano and Ito. His wife has died from a bout with tuberculosis and he is doing what he can to provide his family with the necessities. Seibei is visited by a childhood friend Tomoe (Rie Miyazawa) a beautiful woman who just recently divorced a drunken abusive samurai. Seibei witnesses Tomoe being bitch slapped by her former husband and acts quickly. Twilight stops the situation in a noble way but is still challenged to a duel alongside a stream to the death. Out of shape and unsure of his ability we see a glimpse of his skill when he steps up to the challenge and shows his opponent along with the community what he can do. From this point forward he is viewed by all in a different light and is no longer able to live his desired simple life but instead must submit to the tasks his newly found status bestow upon him.
I thought this was ok not great with an overly slow pace that had me wishing for a fast forward button. Too much time spent on mundane tasks and not enough on actual substance. I wasn’t expecting an action fest but a decent story that moved at a reasonable pace. The overall look was good and all the actors were fine. The battle scenes were gravity bound and refreshingly painful for all involved. The developing relationship between Seibei and Tomoe was nicely implemented and provided something for me to enjoy. I also liked the dialog between the two similar Samurai’s before their battle and after. The ending left me flat but the voice over helped comfort my disgust.
C
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