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Nathan Algren: Film Analysis

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The film continued to convey untrue information as the story progressed. Soon after Algren agreed to aid the Emperor in training the Imperial Army, he left for Japan. The second scene filmed in Japan was of Captain Nathan Algren meeting the Emperor (Source 2). The first notable inaccuracy in this scene was the age of the Imperial Lord. The actor appears to be eighteen or nineteen years old. However, during the Meji period, the Emperor of Japan was only fifteen years old (Source 5). The film went on to incorrectly portray the Emperor as he spoke directly to Nathan Algren after inviting him into his throne-room (Source 2). This was a completely false interpretation of the young Emperor as he was unable to speak English at all, yet, in the film, he addresses Captain Algren in English (Source 17). Furthermore, it was essential that an appointment was made in order to address the Emperor, yet, Algren is introduced to the Imperial Lord on the same day that he arrived in Japan (Source 12). Therefore the film introduced further contradictions of historical truths. …show more content…

The inaccuracy in this instance is that Nathan Algren is a fictional character (Source 5). Therefore, by dubbing Nathan Algren The Last Samurai in the film, the director intentionally distorted history. Captain Nathan Algren was purely used as a source of entertainment for the Western world (Source 1). This hypothesis was drawn from the fact that the true Last Samurai in 19th century Japan, was Takamori Saigo, who was the inspiration for Katsumoto’s character in the film (Source 16). This meant that the director purposefully titled Captain Nathan Algren incorrectly as Katsumoto should have been seen as The Last Samurai (Source 17) (Source 5). Therefore, simply by introducing the main character, the film is historically

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He follows the stories of three soldiers, Colonel Kota and Major Nakamura, two Japanese officers, and the Goanna, a Korean guard. He accurately describes the pressures put upon the Japanese soldiers from their service of honor and duty to the Emperor, as shown through Major Nakamura. Ridden with jungle ticks and dependent on methamphetamine, it is clear the Major is also a prisoner of The Line. He looks down upon his prisoners because that what his training had taught him to do and he, like many other Japanese soldiers, wished to “never live to experience the shame as a prisoner”. The ethics of the Japanese military of this time were based on the Bushido tradition that commanded complete sacrifice, and regarded surrendering as an intolerable dishonor.

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Even so, the director and the writer did add some historically inaccurate information of the politics of Rome. Begin with a senator in the film, saying that the Roman Senate was elected by the people of Rome to represent the people of Rome. This is false the senate was selected by a high ranking official like the emperor never the people. The film also mentions that the Rome was a Republic when it was founded. This statement is false as well Rome was founded as a monarchy in 753 BC with Romulus being the first king.

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That morning, he believed, he was a new creation” (Hillenbrand 383), he forgives Watanabe and even the Japanese colonel who made him struggle. He became more

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The progression of Martin that you suggest is most definitely prominent in the film, and I completely agree with your connections between Martin’s progression due to both the situation and those he is surrounded by. But alongside Martin’s search for himself in the film I see that Ethan also had to find himself throughout the course of their adventure. While obviously Ethan has much more previous time in his life to make decisions and change due to experience than Martin does, this big event can be displayed as changing both men. Initially in the film, Ethan is displayed with the aura of experience and strong bravery, while also being defined as a wanderer and not a family man. Throughout the film, he turns more aggressive as he attains further

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For example, the protagonist Saigo was a fictional character only portrayed in the movie. The character of Saigo could lead the viewer to believe that he was a real person. Furthermore, the movie showed Kuribayashi during a banquet where he said, “the United States is the last country in the world Japan should fight." In reality, the quote is taken from a letter that he had written to his wife (Chen par. 1).

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For example, when becoming emperor of Rome, Commodus was a teenager who already had a wife. Also, in the battles, he was very strong and outgoing. In the movie, however, commodus became emperor when he was an adult . He was not married and he had a secret love for his sister. Another idea that was inaccurately depicted was the way gladiator battles were shown.

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Clint Eastwood’s 2006 film, Letters From Iwo Jima starring Kazunari Ninomiya is about a young soldier named Saigo who is forced to serve in the Imperial Army in attempts to defend the island, Iwo Jima, from Americans. The movie Letters From Iwo Jima is an example of historical fiction with both fictional and historical aspects of the movie. The film is set in the time of World War II in 1944 when Iwo Jima is the last Japanese Island not captured by Americans. Even though the story of Saigo is fabricated, the events of the battle depicted by the movie are historically accurate. While many of the film’s characters were fictitious, the weapons, battle, and events are straight from history.

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Introduction In 1876, Captain Nathan Algren, an ex- United States Army Captain is traumatized by experience fighting in the civil war and Indian war. Algren accepts a job by a Japanese businessman to train the Imperial Japanese Army to inhibit a samurai rebellion, led by Katsumoto Moritsugu. He sails to Japan. Most of the soldiers being trained are just slightly better than peasants and farmers that are not experienced.

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The three films shown to us during the module – Rashomon, Gone Girl and Memento - presents us with situations where the context of the facts changes the perception of the truth entirely. In Rashomon, we see multiple interpretations of a single event – the death of the samurai. The samurai’s death is the only event that is maintained as true, but the events surrounding his death turned out to be extremely pliable, with each character involved in it having a different version of the truth. Each character, depending on his or her background, personality, motivations or self-interest – in essence, their ‘context’, either distorts or omits facts to give their version of the truth.

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