Zwick, E. (Director). (2003). The Last Samurai.[Motion Picture]. Los Angeles, CA: Warner Brothers Pictures.
In the 1870s, Captain Nathan Algren, a cynical veteran of the American Civil war who will work for anyone, is hired by Americans who want lucrative contracts with the Emperor of Japan to train the peasant conscripts for the first standing imperial army in modern warfare using firearms. The imperial Omura cabinet’s first priority is to repress a rebellion of traditionalist Samurai -hereditary warriors- who remain devoted to the sacred dynasty but reject the Westernizing policy and even refuse firearms. Yet when his ill-prepared superior force sets out too soon, their panic allows the sword-wielding samurai to crush them. Badly wounded, Algren’s courageous stand makes the samurai leader, Katsumoto, spare his life, Once nursed to health, he learns to know and respect the old Japanese way. Algren participates as advisor in Katsumoto’s failed attempt to save the Bushido tradition, but Omura gets repressive laws enacted. When the conflict returns to the battlefield, Algren must now choose to place his loyalty to one of the embittered sides. Written by KGF Vissers