User reviews

This is a rare cinematic gem. Very few films will be like The Last Ronin. It is a kind of film where the director gives the audience plenty of time and space to allow us to get a feel for what is happening and the message that he wanted to express. It is essentially at its very core a film about the true spirit of the samurai, the emphasis of one's honor, the essence of duty and the importance of keeping a promise. In a true warrior spirit, the film does not try to be melodramatic to affect or connect to the audience, but rather allowing us to absorb the situation, the atmosphere and embrace the unwritten code of the warrior's way. It is certainly not a film for everyone, with its ultra slow pacing and with not much really happening, the film may well frustrate even the most patience of viewers. However, those who wait will be able to reap the rewards afterwards. Almost forgotten to mention, Nanami Sakuraba is truly stunning and beautiful in her role and is most certainly an actress for the future. Ultimately, The Last Ronin is a perfect example of executing the "show-not-tell" principle to maximum effect. All in all, The Last Ronin rewards those who sit and watch with patience and endurance and slowly by the end of the film, the audience is gained with extra knowledge knowing the puzzle is solved and most likely will finish off with a smile on their face. The Last Ronin takes us on a rare cinematic journey that allows the viewer to observe, understand and finally embrace the true meaning of being a samurai. A truly unique cinematic experience…

Neo rates it 8/10.

• www.thehkneo.com

I have seen many Samurai movies and most of them Action, and this one very different, Story is slow but never trying, As acting goes I was fantastic as long as you understand Japanese Samurai mentality.

A good watch .

In early 18th Century Japan, a group of 47 samurai plotted and carried out an assault on a lord's estate in order to avenge the wrongful death of their own lord. Following custom, after the act, 46 of them commit ritual suicide, and are honoured as heroes by all samurai thereafter. The 47th samurai is selected to remain alive, in order to travel the land and succour the dependents of the 46, while bearing witness to their bravery. That individual is Kichiemon Terasaka (Koichi Sato), and as our story opens, he has just completed 16 years of travel, to find and aid those families whom he had been instructed to help. He returns to Kyoto, to stay with another lord while awaiting the 17th-year ceremony honouring the 46. While there, he thinks he spies the one disgrace of his group, the samurai Magozaemon Seno (Koji Yakusho), who ran away the night before the assault and who hasn't been seen since. He's living with a young woman, Miss Kane (Nanami Sakuraba) in a modest home on the outskirts of town, and he holds his secrets from everyone. But secrets can't always stay hidden, not after 16 years....

This is a marvellously subtle and beautifully acted movie; the audience might go in expecting great samurai battles, but there's really only one and that is told in flashback and is short-lived. No, rather than a study of warrior culture in Japan by viewing the code of battle, this is a study of the warrior's interior culture, the ways in which the warrior code creates and suppresses feelings, the great emphasis on duty and honour, and the determination to maintain one's loyalty and integrity above all. There's loneliness and loss, affection and guilt, threaded throughout this film, all rendered with deep emotion and depth by the actors, especially Koji Yakusho, who has such an expressive face that every moment that the camera lingers on it, we are entranced by the humanity shining through. An absolute gem.

This is the most touching movie I have ever seen in my life. Kurasawa may have made better technical films but this one is just out of this world. I don't normally cry but I balled like a baby for the last half hour of film. It is beautifully made and the acting is great. Like other reviewers, I thought the ending was a bit ambiguous as well but, unlike brainless movies with totally predictable happy endings, this one, like a true masterpiece, leaves you thinking for weeks after the film.

I saw this movie on an ANA flight in April of 2011 and I have searched all over the world but I still can't find anyone who can tell where I can buy the DVD. I hope it will be released soon so I can watch this again and again.

Those coming to this moving expecting a fast moving swashbuckling tale full of samurai sword fights will be disappointed. Indeed, the one sword fight in this movie could have been cut in half, or cut altogether, and the movie might have been improved for it.

This movie is a wonderful character study, of duty, honour, of the nature of happiness and love and fulfillment.

Deeply moving, poignant, and one of the most amazingly ambiguous endings I can think of ... leaving the viewer with finality yet absolute wondering ... who is happy now, and who is fulfilled?

As I write this, the eyes of the world are on tragedy in Japan. This movie might shed some light for those wondering what culture is it that is dealing with this recent tragedy, and how will they manage it...