Went to see Last Samurai tonight. Good show - didn't feel like the three hours that it was. Simplistic story but nice message. Couple of reality breaks that I noted... there were an aweful lot of palm trees in the mountain village that is supposedly snowed in for the winter. Living in modern Tokyo, I am stared at practically every day - and yet when Tom Cruise is brought into the village, which has surely never seen a white man before, no one is gaping at him. And for this one I had to suppress a snicker... I'd estimate that 25% of Japanese men would no longer fit into samurai armour - that stuff is small! There is no way that Tom Cruise would. Unless it belonged to some giant gargantuan one...
Loved the use of cherry blossoms. Seeing the samurai face masks actually on someone brings new dimensions to their coolness. Liked how the cast was actually Japanese and not random Asians. Liked how Japanese were portrayed.
What's the Western view on this one? I may have a different understanding having lived in Japan for so long.