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Essay / Research Paper Abstract
A 4 page paper which considers whether or not this film can be recommended as a source of historical information. Bibliography lists 3 sources.
Page Count:
4 pages (~225 words per page)
File: TG15_TGlastsam.rtf
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Unformatted sample text from the term paper:
by auteur filmmaker Akira Kurosawa, whose films like The Seven Samurai were quite popular with Western audiences. It seemed only a matter of time before a Western director would
cover this exciting chapter in Japanese history, and Edward Zwick, an admitted Asian aficionado, appeared to be more than sufficiently prepared to tackle the subject with historical accuracy. Released
just prior to the peak Christmas film season, Zwicks production, The Last Samurai, appeared to be the perfect action vehicle to showcase American movie star Tom Cruise. But whether
or not it can be regarded as reliable historical information is another matter altogether. The Last Samurai is set in the year of 1876, which director Zwick portrays as a
watershed moment in Japanese history because it marks a dramatic change "from the antique to the modern" (Keirstead, 2004, p. 496). For thousands of years, Japanese society had been
practically engraved in stone, with the proud samurai perched atop the class hierarchy (Beasley, 1963). But when Emperor Mutsuhito assumed power in 1868, he decided to name his rule
"Meiji," which translates to mean "enlightened rule" (The Meiji Restoration and Modernization, 2002). He decided that in the name of self-preservation, Japan should become more westernized so that it
could prosper economically and protect its territorial independence. Suddenly, a new working class supplanted farmers and merchants, while the samurai was losing their position of preeminence. When conscription
of all men became the Japanese national army in 1872, which included commoners as well as samurai fighters, the public image of these defenders of people and values sustained a
direct hit (The Meiji Restoration and Modernization, 2002). Back in the United States, the Civil War has hardly faded into memory for the soldiers that survived its atrocities.
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