TWILIGHT SAMURAI

TUESDAY 28 OCTOBER AT 7:10PM UGC SHAFTESBURY AVE SCREEN 1



Country Japan Running Time 129 mins Format 35mm Dir Yoji Yamada Prods Hiroshi Fukazawa, Shigehiro Nakagawa, Ichiro Yamamoto S'play Yoshitaka Asama, Yoji Yamada DoP Mutsuo Naganuma Cast Hiroyuki Sanada, Rie Miyazawa, Nenji Kobayashi, Min Tanaka Print Source Tartan Films E cbarwick@metro-tartan.co.uk

Iguchi Seibei (Sanada) is a samurai in the twilight of his calling's era. He loses his wife to consumption and is forced to sell his sword to afford the funeral. Left alone and in poverty to support an elderly mother and two young daughters, Seibei maintains his dignity working as a low-level samurai. Despite his bad luck and hardship, Seibei is blessed with the love of his childhood sweetheart, Tomoe (Miyazawa), who is recently divorced and, having learned of Seibei's predicament, becomes devoted to him and his family. When she is pressured by her family to remarry, she expresses her desire to marry Seibei, and while her family agrees, he does not. He resists protesting that he is of a lower class than Tomoe and unworthy of her hand.

Following his rejection, Tomoe and Seibei cease to see each other, until the day that he requires her help to prepare him for a duel: a task from which he may never return. Director Yamada's traditional samurai love story is a tender and compassionate film that has captivated audiences the world over. The film topped this year's box office in Japan in addition to sweeping the boards at the 2003 Japanese Academy Awards. NJS

Yamada Yoji made his first film, Nikai no Tanin (Stranger Upstairs) in 1961. In 1969 he launched the popular Tora-san series, which, with nearly 50 instalments, is the world's longest running theatrical film series. The Twilight Samurai is his 77th film and marks his 41st year as a director.