Samurai Films - Themes

Themes

A samurai film must include samurai warriors, sword fighting, and historical setting. Samurai warriors, in film, are differentiated from other warriors by the code of honor, bushido, followed to honor the samurai's leader. Bushido did not become codified till the seventeenth century. A samurai must perforce be skilled in warfare and martial arts and ready to defend his honor even to his death. If not able to defend his honor, a samurai may choose to commit self-disembowelment, seppuku, in order to save reputation or "face." Instead, a samurai may exact vengeance in a case of the loss of someone the samurai cared about, such as occurs in the film Harakiri. In Harakiri, Hanshiro Tsugumo takes revenge on the house of Kageyu Saito for the loss of his adopted son-in-law, who was forced to commit suicide by the house of Kageyu Saito. The house of Kageyu Saito refused to give the son-in-law money. Because he had asked to commit suicide he was forced to perform self-disembowelment, with a remarkable twist not revealed in this discussion. Hanshiro knows an example was unrightfully made of his son-in-law in order to discourage the asking by impoverished samurai for donations from the house of Kageyu. In film, motivation may vary but the samurai’s behavior is to maintain honor even in death and is perpetuated by the code of bushido.

Also, looking at the historical setting of the film the audience can take cultural context of the samurai in that certain period. For instance the Sengoku era (1478-1603) saw Japan torn by civil war as daimyo warlords fought for control of land. In the Tokugawa era (1603-1868), peace from civil war meant there were no wars for the samurai to fight and some samurai became ronin, masterless warriors left to struggle to survive. In the Meiji era (1868-1912), we see a decline of the hereditary existence of the samurai and the rise of westernization. In this period the ideal of the samurai and the code of bushido are popularized into the military warrior’s belief. The time frame meant changes in the sorts of conflicts for the samurai to fight and film would capture their resistance against overwhelming odds.

A recurring conflict the ideal samurai encounters is the ninjo and giri conflict. Ninjo is the human feeling that tells you what is right and giri is the obligation of the samurai to his lord and clan. The conflict originated from overwhelming control of the Tokugawa bakufu government over the samurai’s behavior. Often samurai would question the morality of their actions and are torn between duty and conscience. This conflict transcends eras in samurai films and can create the perception of the protagonist as being the moral underdog or steadfast warrior. In The Last Samurai, Katsumoto is no longer of use to his emperor and sentenced to self-disembowelment. He goes against his duty to follow through with his sentence and flees to fight his final rebellion against the central government’s army. Ninjo and giri conflict is dynamic to the character of the samurai.

The meaning of an invented tradition is rooted in actual formally instituted practices in a society and added to these practices are less easily traceable characteristics. For invented traditions to be creditable, the set of practices need to have authority over society and are in natural repetition, which automatically assumes invented traditions to be long standing. Furthermore inventing traditions is a process of formalization and ritualization, which contains created rituals and symbols. For instance, Afro Samurai Resurrection, the protagonist Afro must earn his way to becoming the number one fighter through a series of fights. To become number one, he must get the number one headband, which is symbolic right to being the best fighter. To challenge the owner of the number one headband he must challenge owner of number two headband because only number two headband owner has the right to challenge the number one headband. This form of ritualization and symbols give the audience the ideal of an invented tradition, which has been in practice for a long period of time. Finally, the purpose of an invented tradition is the creation of nationalism to separate other societies and create independence. For Afro samurai, the fighting for headbands creates an exclusive group of warriors fighting for domination, which is well known by the populace in the world of Afro samurai. In film, the creations of new ideals of tradition help the audience construct a lawful society of samurai that is believable to the imagination.

The samurai warrior is often synonymous with his/her own sword. Although swordsmanship is an important aspect of warfare, idealizing the samurai and the sword as having a bond is an invented ideal, although it is popularized in many dramas. The Tokugawa period saw a change in the type of warfare, as combat shifted from the bow and arrow to close range combat with handheld weapons, and competitive sword competition.

There are a number of themes that occur in samurai film plots. Many feature roaming masterless samurai, seeking work or a place in society. Others are period historical tales of true characters. Others show tales of clan loyalty.