Yoji Yamada’s “The Twilight Samurai” is a samurai movie about a master swordsman who presents a humble persona to the world: a seemingly over-the-hill warrior burdened by family cares and unable to ...

A major commercial success in Japan, where it opened late last year, veteran director Yoji Yamada’s first samurai picture, "The Twilight Samurai," is unlikely to make an international impact at the ...

TOKYO — Samurais are Yoji Yamada’s new passion. They have almost nothing to do with the Western image of fighting machines drenched in blood or the sword-wielding, testosterone-filled heroes of ...

The Twilight Samurai: Starring Hiroyuki Sanada, Rie Miyazawa. Directed by Yoji Yamada. Written by Yamada and Yoshitaka Asama. (Not rated. In Japanese with English subtitles. 129 minutes. At the Bridge ...

For Westerners unschooled in the way of the movie samurai, the classic image of the loyal retainer doubtless looks something like Obi-Wan Kenobi — or the late John Belushi. A genial riff on the great ...

has recently issued the film on Blu-ray as part of their Limited Edition Series (3,000 copies in total). Yamada presents Seibei as a man of quiet dignity. He’s embarrassed when called out for his poor ...

"The samurai's day is done," confesses a grizzled veteran swordsman before his showdown with the impoverished hero, Seibei (Hiroyuki Sanada), in the final moments of the elegiac "The Twilight Samurai.

Think of "Twilight Samurai" as the equivalent of a late-'50s western. I'd date it to about 1958, as the genre, after 55 years, is overcome by fatigue. It has worked through most of its permutations: ...

For Westerners unschooled in the way of the movie samurai, the classic image of the loyal retainer doubtless looks something like Obi-Wan Kenobi -- or the late John Belushi. A genial riff on the great ...

If you’re looking for an epic and blood-drenched ronin movie fraught with dozens of sweeping sword-fighting set-pieces, debased honor, and the stinging ring of swooping kata on bone, you might want to ...

A low-ranking samurai in the waning days of the Edo period, Hiroyuki Sanada scrupulously fulfills his duties; when the day is done, he leaves for home to care for his two motherless children and ...