The Twilight Samurai

Set in the late nineteen century as the feudal Shogun period was giving way to the Meiji Restoration, Seibei Iguchi (Hiroyuki Sanada) is a low-ranking samurai of the Unasaka clan in Shonai Province of northeast Japan. His wife has died of tuberculosis, and with two daughters, Kayano and Ito, and an elderly mother to support, he and his family must survive in austerity. The moment his daily work as a clerk in one of the clans warehouses is over, he hurries home, refusing to drink or eat with fellow samurai. Behind his back, his fellow samurai teasingly call him "Tasogare Seibei (Twilight Seibei)." The divorce of his childhood friend Tomoe (Rie Miyazawa) leads him into a confrontation with her violent ex-husband, a high-ranking samurai. When word of Seibei's easy victory using only a wooden sword begins to circulate, his reputation for swordfighting prowess begins to change his colleagues assessment of him. Just as Seibei begins to dream that despite his impoverishment he might win the hand of the long loved Tomoe, he is caught in the shifting turmoil of the times and, against his wishes, is assigned by his superiors to confront and kill a renowned warrior on the wrong side of a clan power struggle. TWILIGHT SAMURAI swept the Japanese Academy Awards last year, taking a dozen trophies, and was the Japanese Oscar entry as Best Foreign Language Film.

"Stylish flick, which harkens back to the work of old masters like Akira Kurosawa and Yasujiro Ozu." ~ V.A. Musetto, NEW YORK POST

"A transcendent, masterfully told story." ~ Lisa Rose, NEWARK STAR-LEDGER

"Extraordinary film." ~ NEWSDAY