The Samurai Historical Accuracy

On the other hand, the film does correctly portray a vast amount of historical background. Japan was in the throes of Modernisation at the time and the Imperial Emperor was obsessed with the Western world’s weaponry and advancements in technology (Source 17). Further truths were uncovered when Captain Nathan Algren was offered an extravagant sum of money to attend to Japan’s needs (Source 2). This aspect was correct in that foreigners were offered preposterous amounts of money to train the Imperial Army.

More intricate details of historical context were also conveyed correctly. The film does credit the “deliberate program of moral and ethical and historical propaganda, the aim of which was to instill in Japanese a sense of unity centered on

In fact, most of the film was fictional and an enormous amount of factual evidence had been removed from the film in order to make the Samurai seem more honourable. The Samurai glorified as heroes of war who fought for their honour and traditional values. The film further romanticised the Samurai as placid warriors whose wisdom is boundless and valuable, when in actuality, the Samurai class were greatly feared. Other aspects of exaltation of the Samurai image was in the way the film portrayed the Samurai’s ultimate goal as to purely send the message that traditions are important. However, in actuality, the Samurai only fought against the Imperial Army in an attempt to prove their worth to the Daimyo and to ascend the hierarchy of the Japanese social order. Other aspects were also glorified in the film such as the American involvement in the Japanese civil war. Algren should not have been given the title of The Last Samurai as in actuality; this would have been considered a disgrace to the Samurai. Therefore, the hypothesis of this investigation has been proved correct as the film The Last Samurai, directed by Edward Zwick, is not an accurate portrayal of the events that occurred during the Japanese Civil War of the 19th