Hacker Cinema
The Last Samurai
2003 · Film · 154 min
Directed by Edward Zwick
Nathan Algren is an American hired to instruct the Japanese army in the ways of modern warfare, which finds him learning to respect the samurai and the honorable principles that rule them. Pressed to destroy the samurai's way of life in the name of modernization and open trade, Algren decides to become an ultimate warrior himself and to fight for their right to exist.
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15 comments on Hacker News
Nope. Schoolhouse Rock, multiple Monty Python films, The Last Samurai, The Magic Schoolbus, Romeo and Juliet... but never any Charlie Brown.
Interestingly, The Last Samurai was extremely popular in Japan. It sold more tickets in Japan than the US (even though the US population was over 2x as large in 2003). This is in stark contrast with basically every other Western movie representation of Japan (edit: I think Letters from Iwo Jima was also well received and for somewhat similar reasons).
From what I understand, they of course knew that it was alternative history (aka a completely fictional universe), but they strongly related to the larger themes of national pride, duty, and honor.
Yeah, I would like to credit my powers of AI detection also, but here's the thing: how would you know if you had seen an AI generated piece of media that perfectly mimicked what human could do? To illustrate, the Last Samurai (2003) was a special effects heavy movie but the casual user would barely have noticed any SFX, that was 20 years ago. We are rapidly approaching a similar moment with AI image generation capabilities, if not already past it.
Funny enough there were black people on pirate ships and black people were around in Victorian England. Black people did serve in WWII as well. White people have a long history of white washing roles for Asian people e.g. in Kung Fu, Dr. Strange, Last Air Bender, etc. And inserting themselves in a ahistorical movies e.g. Last Samurai. Mocking black people in vaudeville minstrel roles (e.g. Mickey Mouse). I am not moved by these sudden appeals for accuracy in fiction.
tldr; I shed crocodile tears when I hear that white people are offended by race switching in modern period films.
*I agree with antfam's comment (it's not objective, nuanced or scholarly at all ... "quatch"), nevertheless:
This is a war time (mood) ...propaganda is the name of the game on either side, there is no point of contest. A trivial observation can be made from comments here or on any other forum, and talking to people about this conflict, that people once set on a position on this issue (over the many angles it can be approached) will not change their mind simply by a piece of (propaganda) article or other information. [So I would not worry about that].
However, as Katsumoto eloquently expressed when meeting N. Algren (T. Cruise) "... I want to learn about my enemy.." [The Last Samurai movie]. Despite my "pun" way of introducing the point, I do think it is valid one. One has to resolve to fully suspend one's (natural) emotions that are always invested into our model of the world in order to read the opposite side (not only to study its capabilities, but more importantly motives, goals, perception management, etc). I submit it is mighty difficult and the benefit to one-self is debatable, however, that might be said about lot of things over which we have no control in any case.
On the other hand, having a reasonably well formed epistemological understanding of the other side gives one ability to engage (one-on-one type of conversation) with a willing individual on the other side. ( in no way it means accepting stated/implied premises or conclusions; but to refute or to point out fatal flaw, one has to have it understood in a degree (not in a pure category).
I think it was Lincoln who attributed to have said: "Do I not destroy my enemies when I make them my friends?”
(*Im addressing this opinion in the context of a debate "space" among/between non-combatants/civilians, not the military aspect. That would be a different topic).
The 'results' are more plain to see in callout culture, but the negative effects are usually systematic and hidden.
In entertainment - we don't see all the scripts that were given a pass, the actors that were not considered because they were going to cause controversy by being the wrong ethnicity/gender, comedy writing rooms in particular are generally 'anything can be said unsafe spaces', which is an important part of the culture of good writing that has a questionable future.
If you go and have a look at films made just between 2000-2015 - you can see how many of them - even though they don't rise to the level of controversy today, and are probably not inherently controversial - would not get made today.
'The Last Samurai' with Tom Cruise - some could argue it's 'appropriation' I think many would argue that it's not, it's not really a 'White Saviour' film either. Though it shouldn't be objectively controversial per say, though maybe fodder for discussion, it probably would not get made because it just has the potentiality for ruin: there is just far, far too much risk in an escalating cascade of populist voices calling the film all sorts of things with or without legitimate grievance it won't matter - the mob rules.
Tom Cruise has 10 projects on the drawing board, and he's getting pitches daily, so there's going to be 'a different film' without the risk profile to his personal brand.
Studios (and BigCos) are risk averse and so what we see is a 'watering down' effect across the board.
Conan O'Brien had Sean Penn as a guest on his podcast and has some thoughtful things to say about it.
So does the analogy hold for capitalist control of Open AI? Possibly.
MSFT might be able to push for some 'results' which are seemingly more obvious and public, but the systematic effect of 'closed' and 'proprietary' results in stifled innovation and opportunity otherwise.
It's actually an interesting analogy but I think it's probably good for maybe reasons you might not suspect, and that is, the big part of the iceberg that never gets seen.
> commander perry forced them to open trade
Tangential: if anyone is interested in learning more about this, I recommend the YouTube channel History Buffs' review of the film The Last Samurai
The last samurai isnt tom cruise it's the dude he meets after being injured by the japanese government, when he begins to appreciate the shogun via his interactions with the last samurai. Comments on the movie tend to give the impression that cruise is playing an asian man rather than an injured western soldier.
Ah yes, the famous Hollywood documentary “The Last Samurai”. :-)
Genetics is one thing, but Japan definitely did allow foreign culture into their mix. Just look at the movie "The Last Samurai" to see what I mean. I wonder if it's possible to put out a number for that.
As for my Country, as Europeans we are heavily influenced by Americans, who we completely seem to accept as our cultural leaders. How do the Japanese feel about them though?
Probably a frenchman nostalgic of the Republic of Ezo :-)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Republic_of_Ezo
Yes the Last Samurai had a kernel of truth, but it was not about an American guy, it was a bunch of French officers who deserted to help the Shogun in exchange of him proclaiming a republic. It has all the elements of an epic movie, including a desperate boarding of an ironclad by a samurai-French force that was repelled by a gatling gun: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Miyako_Bay
"Soundtracks."
That isn't a genre, but each soundtrack offers has its own themes and style. Depending on mood you can have techno (Hackers/Matrix), fantasy (LOTRs/Interstellar), Pop (Greatest Showman/Guardians of the Galaxy), Regional Styles (Last Samurai/Moana), or even just calming/relaxing (Sims 3: Pets).
PS - Try not to dismiss soundtracks just because you never liked the movie/game. I never played the Sims 3, let alone the "Pets" expansion, but the soundtrack remains me of SimCity's sound.
And yet on those foreign soils they prefer to watch Hollywood stuff instead of domestic.
Fiction needs to be entertaining not realistic. I never considered Dukes of Hazard and The Last Samurai documentaries.
If someone is interested in a culture - just visit the place.
I love the UI and the results! I'd just say that I have two concerns; while the click-to-add nature of the genre list is great, I don't think it's immediately intuitive. Perhaps I'm just part of the old "if you click a link it takes you to a page" demographic, but clicking to add or subtract -- while in my opinion the right mechanic here -- isn't immediately obvious. Making it more clear how this works could save you some traffic by avoiding requests from people who don't immediately understand how the UI works.
The second thing is that, on browsing movies "from Japan," I immediately get Band of Brothers, Kill Bill, Lost in Translation, The Last Samurai, and the latest American reboot of Godzilla. If it's intended to show movies set in a particular country, that's potentially a really cool gimmick, but as it is it seems inaccurate.
Love the site, though! Great work!
Everyone who saw the Tom Cruise movie knows that the last samurai was white, too. :P