The TWILIGHT SAMURAI was in the official competition of the Berlin Film Festival in 2003 and one of the films that the ecumenical jury (of which I was privileged to be a member) considered for a prize. Michael Winterbottom’s IN THIS WORLD won out (a pseudo-documentary about a displaced Afghan living in a refugee camp in Pakistan who travels to the UK illegally and obtains residency until his 18th birthday) but this lovely Japanese hisorical romance was a contender.
Not all the samurai were wealthy, and Seibei struggles to fulfill his destiny as a samurai though poor and without material goods to offer a prospective wife as his first wife has died, leaving him with two little daughters. He overcomes many obstacles with gentle honor, marries a good woman of a higher class who truly cares for him and the children.
I won’t give away the ending … This is a lovely film. Don’t let the subtitles deter you.
Leave a comment
No comments yet.
Sister Rose's My Movies Weblog 
Leave a Reply