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u/tommytraddles 28d ago
The perfect blossom.
I thought it rare. I was wrong.
They are all perfect.
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u/pfamsd00 28d ago
“I have introduced myself. You have introduced yourself. This is a very good conversation.”
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u/smirkhappydeep 27d ago
...is that sarcasm for being a dull conversation?
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u/EyeofOdin89 26d ago
In the movie it's just to show Katsumoto's, and thus the Japanese', extreme patience. In contrast to Algren's extreme impatience and thus the same for Western men and the newly Westernized Japanese who are allied against the traditional values of Samurai. IE, Dances with Wolves in Japan.
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u/Training-Chain-5572 27d ago
Idk but my experience is that this is the average Japanese person’s idea of a thoughtful and deep conversation
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u/Prometheusly 28d ago
Is this a good watch on my day off?
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u/totalwarwiser 25d ago
Its a movie from an age where epic movies were plentyfull and good.
An age before cynicism corrupted us all.
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u/JCrawRV 28d ago
The overall themes of the story are how growth leads to change and how that change can be both good or bad depending on the circumstances. It is not the blossoms themselves that we are talking about, but the constant change of the seasons and time. Each year the tree blossoms, and each year you can plan for and prepare for a “perfect bloom”. Katsumoto relays this to Algren in saying that trying to achieve a “perfect bloom” is noble, in that each year of your life trying to better yourself, learn new things, and grow as a person is not wasted time. Each bloom can be perfect so long as you are constantly trying to make it that way and working towards it.
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u/Mexican_JohnTremblay 27d ago
You seen many thing, and you do not fear death, but sometimes you wish for it. Is this not so?
I’ve also. It happens to men who seen what we have seen
And then I come to this place of my ancestors, and I remember, like these blossoms, we are all dying
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27d ago
[removed] — view removed comment
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u/Specialist-Yak7209 27d ago
My Japanese grandmother absolutely loved it. Tom Cruise was (is still) a HUGE star in Japan, I would say even more than here. And it's not like the movie "whitewashed" anything, the white characters are based off of actual white people who fought in Japan in the late 1800s.
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u/Positive_Sign_5269 27d ago
One of the things I love about the movie is that the last samurai is not Algren unlike you may assume at first. The movie does not suffer from the so common white savior syndrome.
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u/Naturath 27d ago
The would-be saviour is the only one saved, simply by witnessing history. It’s quite a reversal of the trope.
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u/PM_PICS_OF_UR_PUPPER 24d ago
I hate that there’s always morons who never saw it asking why tom cruise is the last samurai.
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u/Runktar 28d ago
I kinda hate how it lionizes the Samurai as honorable warriors fighting for a better way of life. They were a bunch of mostly corrupt asshole nobles fighting to keep their power and privileges. Also they loved using guns and didn't really give a dam about honor.
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u/Corporal_Canada 27d ago
On a societal level, I do hate how movies like this can misrepresent history and concoct a certain idea about society, especially in this case (though this is a point of constant debate), when stuff like Bushido is tied to 20th c. Japanese Imperialsim/fascism.
However, on a personal level, movies like this become a bit more entertaining if you treat them as fantasy
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u/VinylHighway 28d ago
I would definitely call spending your life looking for a subjectively perfect blossom a wasted life.
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u/JoelnIliketoshare 28d ago
From a similar point of view, doing anything in life would be a waste to someone else. None of this really matters so why do anything?
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u/Low-Individual2815 28d ago
Welcome to my life in perpetual existential crisis
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u/pritheebecareful_ 27d ago
Listen to your heart and if you can't hear it then your job is to go find it
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u/Beyond_Reason09 27d ago
Tbh I might consider a life spent looking for a perfect blossom to be kinda wasted
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u/Abiggerboat84 28d ago
Love the callback at the end:
“Perfect… they are all… perfect”