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It is probably inevitable that American audiences will compare “Mibu gishi den” (”When the Last Sword is Drawn”) with “The Last Samurai,” in that both films deal the Meiji restoration. This is also a similarity between the two in that this 2003 Japanese film from director Yojiro Takita (”Komikku zasshi nanka iranai,” “Onmyoji”) also is concerned with a character learning the true meaning of being a samurai. The difference is that instead of an American mercenary played by Tom Cruise it is a city samurai, Hajime Saito (Koichi Sato), who learns much from Kanichiro Yoshimura (Kiichi Nakai), who he dismisses at first meeting as a “country” samurai.

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The story here is told mostly in flashback from the perspective of 1899 when Saito, now an old man, brings his ailing grandson to see a doctor. In the home of the doctor there is an old photograph of a samurai that Saito recognizes, and the memories come flooding back to both the old man in the doctor (only the viewer is privy to both). The two samurai first met during the last days of the Tokugawa Shogunate, as clans were forced to choose between obedience to the Shogun, who wanted to maintain the old ways, and the Emperor, who favored opening Japan to the rest of the world and modernizing the country. The group to which Saito belong remained loyal to the Shogun, which dooms them as the troops of the Emperor take control of the country.

The civil war is creating a time of famine and poverty in Japan, so Yoshimura has left not only his clan but also his wife and children behind to find work so that he can send money home to his family. Since he is a mercenary Saito and the other samurai see Yoshimura as being dishonorable. When Yoshimura talks with love of the land from which he came, Saito, who cannot conceive of being loyal to a place rather than to a man, decides to kill Yoshimura. But the “country” samurai is too good with a sword and believes that Saito’s attack is just a test. However, the key difference between the two is clearly established: Saito is alive because no one has killed him, while Yoshimura kills because he wants to stay alive.

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It is clear that Yoshimura represents for Takita the personification code of Bushido. Time and time again my Western sensibilities intruded into this film because with his great love for his family and the land from which he comes, I kept expecting Yoshimura to simply go home, but eventually got it through my thick skull that the point here is that he cannot go home, for several reasons. Despite the brief battle and swordplay sequences, “Mibu gishi den” is really a character study and like Saito we come to recognize the true value of the strange samurai from the country, especially when the doctor finishes the tale and provide a sense of closure for the both old man and the viewing audience.

In the 2004 Awards of the Japanese Academy, “Mibu gishi den” won Best Picture with Nakai picking up the awards for Best Actor and Sato for Best Supporting Actor. It was nominated for eight other awards, but apparently in Japan winning the Best Picture award does not carry over into a lot of technical categories. However, I would certainly argue that it is Nakai’s performance that elevates this film above the high levels of sentimentality that take up almost the entire final act. Quite simply his performance was what made me round up in the final analysis on this decidedly different samurai film.

This was the closing film at the 2002 Tokyo International Film Festical. Yoshimura Kanichiro, “the wolf of Mibu”, who toils through the end of the Shogunate era armed only with his sense of justice.

I have owned this movie for some time now and never tire of watching it again to pick out details of the story I had missed before. I find it has a rich mixture of sights and sounds that make it a story worth repeating. The characters are believeable and full of emotion. The action is well played. I’ve found it to be a keeper.
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