WHEN THE LAST SWORD IS DRAWN (Japan, 2003)
Directed by: Yojiro Takita
Starring: Kiichi Nakai (Yoshimura Kanichiro), Koichi Sato (Saito)

2003 Japanese Academy Awards

Winner – Picture of the Year
Winner – Outstanding Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role – Kiichi Nakai
Winner – Outstanding Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role – Koichi Sato

A samurai movie on the other end of the spectrum — posh where Azumi is hard and lush where Azumi is stark — this historical epic is a high class production full of melodrama, razor sharp battle scenes, and enough end-of-an-era angst to sink a small nation. The classical chambara (samurai) movie shares the same fate as the American Western — solid programmers for decades, they fell out of favor in the 70's and 80's as audiences demanded more cosmopolitan films. But, like the Western, sometimes a director will deconstruct the genre with powerful results. 2003 was a watershed year for chambara — Hollywood threw its hat in the ring with The Last Samurai, a cross-cultural cliche circus, and Shochiku studios in Japan produced Oscar-nominee, Twilight Samurai, and the sweeping box office hit, When the Last Sword is Drawn.

All three films take place during the Meiji Restoration which closed the 19th Century, sweeping away feudal Japan, eliminating the Shogun, and consolidating power in the hands of the Emperor. In a handful of disruptive decades, Japan went from being an isolated, feudal nation to a modernized, dynamic, outward-looking country. But just as the lost cause Confederates have become the romantic heroes of the Civil War, so too have those who opposed the Meiji Restoration been remembered as tragic figures lit by a fading, golden twilight. The most tragic are the Shinsengumi (also known as "The Wolves of Mito"), an elite samurai clan who pledged loyalty to the Shogunate, but considered themselves protectors of the Emperor. When the Shogunate was abolished, they were forced to choose sides, turning on each other before the Emperor's army rode into town and chopped their sword-wielding ranks into bloody ribbons with their cannons and rifles. The recent movie revival have sparked a boom in samurai (and Shinsengumi) culture, with kendo (swordsmanship) classes, Shinsengumi tours and Shinsengumi TV serials suddenly springing up out of nowhere.

WHEN THE LAST SWORD IS DRAWN starts in 1899 when an elderly Saito brings his grandson to a doctor's office and discovers that his immortal enemy, Kanichiro, is a family friend of the doctor. While they wait, the doctor and the old samurai talk, putting together their pieces of Kanichiro's story to form a whole picture of the money-grubbing, penny-pinching rube with an over-developed sense of self-preservation who long ago joined the Shinsengumi for the money. He was just there to send cash home, and his presence was an affront to the "death before dishonor" samurai. Pompous Saito, who's all about skewering whomever he thinks has most recently dissed him, instantly targets him for a quick death only to discover that Kanichiro is as hard to kill as a cockroach. The two square off: one, a good-hearted survivalist; the other a sadist who's disgusted by everything that breathes. Duels, betrayals, executions, revolutions and the rise of firearms mark the passing years as Saito and Kanichiro face off again and again, as the Meiji Restoration gets underway and the world they knew gets swallowed up whole by the great beast of history.

Known mostly as a comedy director, Yojiro Takita moved into the mainstream a few years ago, becoming a much-sought-after journeyman director. The past few years have seen him move more toward period films, and he became especially well-known for the 2001 fantasy hit, The Yin-Yang Master. When the Last Sword is Drawn, is the kind of sprawling, beautifully-made, big-budget epic that Japanese studios just don’t make anymore.