Learning Bushidō From Abroad: Japanese Reactions To The Last Samurai
Hollywood, struck by a case of Japan "fever" in the early 21st century, churned out a crop of Japan-oriented films such as Lost in Translation [Coppola 2003], Kill Bill Vol. 2 [Tarantino 2004], Memoirs of a Geisha [Marshall 2005] and Letters from Iwo Jima [Eastwood 2006]. But among all...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Penerbit Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM Press)
2011
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| Online Access: | http://eprints.usm.my/40517/ http://eprints.usm.my/40517/1/JaysonChun-BushidoTheLastSamurai.pdf |
| Summary: | Hollywood, struck by a case of Japan "fever" in the early 21st century, churned
out a crop of Japan-oriented films such as Lost in Translation [Coppola 2003],
Kill Bill Vol. 2 [Tarantino 2004], Memoirs of a Geisha [Marshall 2005] and
Letters from Iwo Jima [Eastwood 2006]. But among all these, The Last Samurai
[Zwick 2003] received the most positive Japanese audience reaction. This film,
about an ex-Civil War American soldier who takes up arms to fight with the last
of the samurai, played to mixed reviews in the U.S. but enjoyed a wildly popular
reception in Japan. Judging from Japanese online discussion posts and media
articles, many Japanese audiences read the film differently from the American
critics. Why and what do these reviews tell us about Japan in the beginning of the
21st century? By being a foreign film, The Last Samurai allowed Japanese
audiences to celebrate the nationalist messages taboo in a domestically produced
film. |
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