From the massive praise this film seems to command, I have to say this was a snoozer. While its only a bit over two hours, three and a half hours of Seven Samurai positively flies by comparison. Twilight Samurai is one of those movies that is so bland one wonders how so many people could rave about it.
Is it a bad movie? Absolutely not. The film is very well acted and has a beautiful score, but I never really got into the story. I never felt much more than this was another movie that has the hero walk home to his kids at the end. Guess what? I didn't like Unforgiven either, but at least that film had some general entertainment rolled in. The windowed father/hero is about as cliché as it gets, I was surprised they just didn't go all the way and ask Mel Gibson to play the part. He has that widowed father/hero part on monopoly.
Twilight Samurai would have made a good book, but its just a white bread bland movie. It seems more like a PBS mini-series that has been horribly chopped from 6 hours to 2. The narration of the daughter is redundant and unnecessary. It seems the film was supposed to be told from her perspective, however so little of the little plot revolves around the girls or their view point that the voice-over seems quite unwelcome and out of place. This story has been told before, it's been done and in better ways. That jump from the dad coming home to the funeral block with the daughter and flowers is quaint, neat, and quite abrupt. They were in a hurry to get it over with, but by the end I can't blame them, I was falling asleep.
I am a follower of everything Kurosawa so I am aware of things that may be considered "Japanese," things that may not translate visually or story wise well to westerners. I also do not compare this movie as high as some of Kurosawa's best, but even to lesser movies, Twilight Samurai isn't up to snuff. Despite the good performances, this one was a flat bore. Pass.
Is it a bad movie? Absolutely not. The film is very well acted and has a beautiful score, but I never really got into the story. I never felt much more than this was another movie that has the hero walk home to his kids at the end. Guess what? I didn't like Unforgiven either, but at least that film had some general entertainment rolled in. The windowed father/hero is about as cliché as it gets, I was surprised they just didn't go all the way and ask Mel Gibson to play the part. He has that widowed father/hero part on monopoly.
Twilight Samurai would have made a good book, but its just a white bread bland movie. It seems more like a PBS mini-series that has been horribly chopped from 6 hours to 2. The narration of the daughter is redundant and unnecessary. It seems the film was supposed to be told from her perspective, however so little of the little plot revolves around the girls or their view point that the voice-over seems quite unwelcome and out of place. This story has been told before, it's been done and in better ways. That jump from the dad coming home to the funeral block with the daughter and flowers is quaint, neat, and quite abrupt. They were in a hurry to get it over with, but by the end I can't blame them, I was falling asleep.
I am a follower of everything Kurosawa so I am aware of things that may be considered "Japanese," things that may not translate visually or story wise well to westerners. I also do not compare this movie as high as some of Kurosawa's best, but even to lesser movies, Twilight Samurai isn't up to snuff. Despite the good performances, this one was a flat bore. Pass.