Seldom would you find a culture as rich as Japan’s, with the Samurai being its cultural crown jewel. The robed, sword-wielding warriors are often viewed as the enigmatic portrait of danger, combined with a wholesome quotient of loyalty that runs deep and thick. To the point where the samurai’s significance still holds a considerable degree of clout in the modern world. Throughout the ages, Japan has added a garnish of cultural spice to the melting pot of world cinema, with films about the samurai paving the way. This thereby substantiates the claim that the time of the samurai may have ceased, but their influence and importance still thrive. Here are some of the best samurai movies of the 21st century.
10Blade of the Immortal (2017)
Who would’ve thought that immortality can play out to be a curse? Not samurai Manji, that’s for sure. After being victorious in a deadly battle, the samurai gets “cursed” with immortality, having to bear the pain of living with the guilt of his actions that enabled him to survive. Manji’s drudging, long existence gets a framework of meaning when he’s hired by a young girl, Rin toavenge her parents. As Manji takes on Rin’s emblem of fate, his monotonous existence starts taking shape.
9Rurouni Kenshin (2012)
The tenets of Japan’s culture operate on a set of basic virtues like justice, courage, and loyalty. Expanding on this,Rouroni Kenshincinematically underlinesthe journey of an assassinwho leaves behind a life of death and blood after surviving a brutal war. On a path of repentance, Kenshin Himura traverses throughout Japan, defending the weak and needy, without killing his opponents. Counter to Western belief systems of annihilating the enemy,Rurouni Kenshinintricately highlights the trite a warrior must face defending the weak, without turning into a symbol of oppression himself.
Related:The 10 Best Samurai Movies of All Time, Ranked
8Hara-Kiri: Death Of A Samurai (2011)
Hara-kiri is a ritual that sees the samurai commit suicide by disembowelment with a sword. The practice of hara-kiri was prominent during the era of the samurai warriors and was deemed a matter of honor. In Takashi Miike’s slow-burning samurai saga, the director puts the audience through a wringer of emotions, sporadically filled with moments of gut-wrenching instances from beginning to end.
Related:The Best Takashi Miike Movies, Ranked
747 Ronin (2013)
Contrary to its showingsat the box office,47 Roninisn’t as bad a film as it has been painted to be. Having said that, the film does have overly corny moments that feel like nothing but a hard sell, but Keanu Reeves and Hiroyuki Sanada just about manage to salvage this revenge saga. The film is based on a fictionalized account of 47 Ronins (masterless samurai) as they avenge their master’s death at the hands of his rival. The problem with the film doesn’t lie in its lack of creativity, but in its excess of it, as47 Roninputs in too many elements in the blender, resulting in a lumpy, half-baked narrative.
Related:Best Keanu Reeves Movies, Ranked
6The Twilight Samurai (2002)
With honor comes responsibility. And without responsibility, a man cannot be a man, let alone a samurai. This is the core crux of Yoji Yamada’sThe Twilight Samurai.Hiroyuki Sanada births a Stoic and sensitive, low-ranking samurai, who’s torn between the everyday realities of life as he struggles to raise his young daughters while caring for his senile mother. Desperate for help and affection, Seibei’s childhood love, Tomoe, comes back into his life, but Sebei’s code of honor forbids him from remarrying.The Twilight Samuraiisn’t a conventional samurai movie that focuses on violent themes of revenge, rather the film works as a mood piece, highlighting the intangible aftereffects of a strong samurai ethos.
5Zatōichi (2003)
Modern-day samurai films often portray samurai through a set of glasses that are tinted with shades of misery. Offering a clear contrast between the glory days of war and honor, juxtaposed alongside their modern-day remains. Playing along those sensibilities,Zatōichifollows a blind master swordsman who traverses across Japan, offering his services as a masseur. AsZatōichiarrives at a village that’s infested with warring gangs,the blind master decides to take a standfor the townspeople and protects them from violence. Acting on the Japanese tenets of strength and justice,Zatōichiis a violent visual spectacle that hits home Mark Twain’s quote “It’snot the size of the dog in the fight, it’s the size of the fight in the dog”
4The Last Ronin (2010)
Loyalty is synonymous with the code of the samurai. This is demonstrated to the point where samurai perform seppuku (ritual suicide) after losing their master. But before that, they ensure they have the head of the person that’s caused their master’s death in the first place.The Last Roninthrows light on the inner code of the samurai, while also touching upon the external technicalities of war, giving the viewer a well-rounded perspective into the life of the samurai.
3The Hidden Blade (2004)
While the samurai were known to be fearless warriors, they also had a certain gentleness to them that often translated into love. Throughout the plethora of samurai movies that are made, only a few reflect on this side of the warrior’s emotional range, painting them with a shade of humanity and empathy.The Hidden Bladeis one film that does just that, the film documents the chaos a young samurai goes through, when he falls in love with a servant in his household, while simultaneously being tasked with killing hisdearest friend on account of betrayal.
2When The Last Sword Is Drawn (2002)
Even when samurai go rogue, they do it for a cause, while suffering a major moral crisis throughout the length and breadth of their questionable tasks. A samurai would rather kill himself than find himself on the other side of morality. Exploring this rare phenomenon,When The Last Sword is Drawnisn’t the easiest film to follow, as it’s rich with historical references, stirring a potent reaction from within the viewers who are cognizant of Japan’s cultural frameworks. For those that don’t, the film works as a breath of fresh air, as it offers another perspective to the samurai that the world might not associate them with.
1The Last Samurai (2003)
The reasonThe Last Samuraiworks, is because it lies in the unabashed ability toembrace another culturewithout being afraid of the cost it comes with. The agent of this change, Captain Nathan Algren (Tom Cruise), deep dives into the cultural milieu of Japan and resurfaces with nothing but love and loyalty to a way of life he’s only recently known. Initially tasked with the suppression of the samurai rebellion, Captain Algren imbibes the values of the samurai, rejecting Western oppression and fighting shoulder-to-shoulder with the men who he was hired to kill.
