Recently saw this Tom Cruise film, The Last Samurai. Had the writer and director worked a little harder, the film would have become a classic. Thankfully, they put in some ideas also into the film other than action and emotion.
I was really charmed and impressed by the Samurai way of life and their philosophy of Boshida. I began to think and saw a connection between a Samurai and a Muslim. It is all about discipline, truth, committment, and honor. The film says that a Samurai need not make a promise. Whatever he speaks is a promise, truthful and honorable. A Muslim too is supposed to speak only the truth and have a disciplined life. A Muslim cannot break a promise (but how many such Muslims exits anymore, I wonder). I imagined the Muslim fundamentalists (MFs) having a similar life of simplicity, discipline and determination. The samurai did it for their feudal patrons. The MFs do it for their faith. There is blindness in both the acts. Acts of faith, right or wrong for us, are acts of faith! The common people feared the samurais. For 1100 hundred years they served their masters. Then with the modernization of Japan, they became obsolete. They perished.
Tom is splendid in the movie. Good job!
"The world is what it is; men who are nothing, who allow themselves to become nothing, have no place in it." ― V.S. Naipaul, A Bend in the River
3 comments:
'Bushido' or the Samurai way of life is an interesting concept. If you like it so much, you should probably read Clavell's 'Shogun'. Come to think of it, the writerly way of life seems to share remarkable similarities... blind loyalty to the craft for one... death over dishonour for another!
I'm not Tom Cruise's fan, I think he has this 'cocky' air he carries with him in his movies until I saw The Last Samurai. I'm not sure either he is more matured, or the cinematography effect, or the movie itself or all other factors, but I saw a humble man in him. And Ken Watanabe was simply divine. I love The Last Samurai.
Hi Anasalwa,
Thanks for posting your comments. I understand what you are refering to here. Tom's 'cockiness' can taken as his style. I like when you say "I saw a humble man in him." That is a great complement, I guess. We will have to wait for The War of the Worlds to see if Tom has actually shrugged off his cockiness. Let humility prevail!
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