SCREEN

THE TWILIGHT SAMURAI

Martin Stein

Seibei Iguchi is a top swordsman reduced to poverty by debts from his wife's fatal illness, caring for his two daughters and senile mother, and the changing times. Rather than serving as a knight, he and other samurai find themselves relegated to such mundane duties as tracking soy bean stores in the castle warehouse.


Nicknamed "Twilight" by teasing co-workers, Seibei always scurries home at dusk to tend to his family, grow crops and make cricket cages to sell. His duties leave him no time for personal hygiene, another source of mockery. He shares a love with his childhood friend, Tomoe Iinuma, but his shame over his station in life prevents him from proposing. Eventually, he is sent to fight a samurai who refuses to commit hari-kari, but even this confrontation confounds expectations as the battle is preceded by a heart-to-heart between two warriors who know their time has passed.


Yoji Yamada lets the story unfold at its own pace, giving us a glimpse into a Confucius-ruled rural world, where famine is rampant, the caste system is crumbling, and Seibei's world of honor, duty and forbearance is fading from twilight to black.

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