paper

There are several different meanings, and themes presented in the movie “Twilight Samurai”. This movie takes us through the everyday life of a 50-koku samurai. It is presented as a flashback, told by Iguchi Seibei’s daughter Kayana. The movie starts off with sorrow and hardships which is a very consistent theme throughout the movie. The title of the movie is very appropriate in my opinion. “Twilight Samurai” is not only the nickname that his colleagues gave him, but the word twilight also describes the period in Japanese history immediately before the Meiji restoration, which brought an End to samurai power and privilege (Twilight Samurai, 2005). Twilight Samurai is a movie about loyalty, honor, love, hardships, and death, but a huge part of this movie is also describing the dramatic changes in Japanese culture, and the meaning of life in a new world.
Hardship and sorrow is a common emotion throughout the movie. The very first scene starts off by showing us the death of Iguchi’s wife. It is raining outside, there is very little lighting, and the mood is very gloomy. As the film goes on it doesn’t seem to lighten up. It shows the struggles of Iguchi, The loss of his wife were the beginning of his problems. His income was miserable and he had the responsibly of his two daughters, as well as a senile mother. Along with the dishonor and humiliation from his colleagues. The death of his wife took away all of his life savings, which made his living situation much more difficult. The only happiness in his life was the pleasure of watching his two girls grows up.
The happiness and love that is displayed in the film comes from his two daughters, and his childhood friend Tomoe. The middle of the movie things started looking up toward Iguchi. Tomoe became a huge part of his life, and she made his life a lot easier by taking care of the children and doing the household chores that he would normally have to do after his long day at work. Their relationship grows strong,