When the Last Sword is Drawn (2003) Mibu Gishi Den

Movie Rating NR Contains: Strong Language Violence Graphic Violence Gore

Director: Yojiro Takita Movie Genre: Period-Piece, Samurai Country: Japan When the Last Sword is Drawn Score Card The following scores are based on a 0.0 to 10.0 rating scale Hover your mouse pointer over the name of each scoring category below for a description Direction: 8.7 Writing: 7.9 Acting: 9.2 Cinematography: 8.9 Sound and Score: 7.0 Functionality: 9.0 Presentation: 9.7 Genre Comparison: 8.9 General Comparison: 8.0 Overall: 8.6 Reviewed 2006-02-27 22:50:50

When the Last Sword is Drawn from director, Yojiro Takita is an epic, melodramatic character study of Kanichiro Yoshimura a man who leaves his clan in search of a higher paying job so he can better support his family. The Shinsengumi, a renowned group of elite samurai soon hire Kanichiro as an instructor. He works alongside Saito, a shrewd and traditional samurai. Kanichiro is seen as an unprofessional, greedy, backwoods samurai and is labeled as greedy because he is overly concerned with money. Kanichiro takes all of the money that he earns and sends it home to help his family survive.

The story is told from Saito's point of view through a series of flashbacks. A much older Saito's memory is sparked when he notices a picture of Kanichiro in a doctor's office. Although these flashbacks are hokey at times, this technique works more often than it does not.

This story is set near the end of the samurai era, just before Emperor Meiji gained control over all of Japan. Kanichiro's plight parallels that of the samurai from that time period. Kanichiro is doing all he can to ensure survival and safety for himself and his family. These samurai are struggling to preserve their way of life.

The cinematography by Takeshi Hamada is amazing. The colors are vibrant and natural. The color and lighting make the film feel authentic and faithful to the period. Each shot is framed so that the screen seems almost too small to contain everything. The enormity of each individual shot is perfect for a movie as epic as this.

As a period drama, this movie is effective. Although the melodrama in the end is cheesy, it fits with the overall tragic theme of the narrative. When the Last Sword is Drawn is so well made that its few shortcomings seem fairly minor when coupled with all of the wonderful elements presented therein. Hopefully this movie will serve as a much needed resurrection of traditional samurai cinema.