The Last Samurai

This film tells the story of Nathan Algren, a former United States Army captain, played by Tom Cruise. Nathan Algren is a reliable captain who experiences psychological trauma and is trapped in alcohol dependence due to the American-Indian war. Long story short, Algren is contacted by his former commander named Colonel Bagley who offers to form and train the Japanese imperial army. The existence of the Japanese imperial army is important to Omura, a politician and businessman who is close to the young Emperor of Japan. The main purpose of forming this army is to confront rebel groups led by samurai. These samurai were considered to be against the young Emperor of Japan. While in Japan, Algren meets Simon Graham, a translator and photographer who has knowledge related to the samurai. Simon becomes an important informant for Algren to find out what and who the samurai are.

These soldiers are citizens who work as farmers and have no combat experience. Unfortunately, Omura and Colonel Bagley ask Algren to fight the samurai, even though Algren's troops seem unprepared. In that battle, Algren's troops lost, on that occasion Algren was seriously injured. When Algren thought he was going to be killed by the samurai, Katsumoto (the samurai leader) actually arrested Algren after being impressed by Algren's tenacity. The essence of the film starts from this moment. Algren is then taken by Katsumoto to his village. In the village, Algren is cared for by the Taka family which turns out to be a family of samurai who were killed by Algren in battle. At first, Algren was seen as a dangerous stranger to the villagers, his every move being watched by the samurai. While in the village, Algren was fascinated by the existing social system. Japanese society divides its social functions and everyone has a high level of discipline and commitment to do the best job possible. For archers, every day people practice archery. Even so with gun makers, every day people are actively making weapons.

Several months passed, Algren became friends with Katsumoto, Algren increasingly realized the main reason for the rebellion against the young Japanese empire. One of the main reasons lies in the development of western technological advances which are considered to be eliminating traditions in their society. One night in the middle of a party, there was an attack on the village by ninjas with the aim of killing Katsumoto. At that moment, Algren managed to save Katsumoto's life and managed to defend their village. After the incident, Katsumoto asked to meet the Emperor of Japan in Tokyo.

At that time, Algren was also taken by Katsumoto, especially with the aim of freeing Algren. There was an interesting moment, when a passing soldier asked for a weapon from Nobutada (Katsumoto's son). Nobutada was about to fight, before finally Algren came and asked to follow the army's directions, especially to avoid conflict, moreover the Japanese imperial army was now much better trained than when they were still in training under Algren's control. At that moment, the samurai pigtail (samurai bun) Nobutada was cut by the Japanese imperial army. For Nobutada, the loss of the samurai pigtails was one of the humiliations of the Japanese imperial army.

While meeting the young Emperor of Japan, Katsumoto realized that the Emperor was under Omura's great influence. There is a new rule drawn up by Omura, when samurai are prohibited from carrying weapons in public. Omura then asked Katsumoto to do it harakiri (suicide by stabbing himself in the stomach) in order to protect his honor, moreover the Emperor no longer cares too much about samurai. At this moment, Algren and Graham tried to save Katsumoto. During this attempt, Nobutada is shot and sacrifices himself so that Katsumoto and Algren can escape.

When he returned to the village, Katsumoto intended to commit hara-kiri, remembering that the Emperor no longer cared about samurai and traditions, but Algren prevented this intention from convincing Katsumoto to fight until the end. The moment then shifts to the final battle. Algren ends up wearing the armor from the Tada family, the same one worn by the samurai Algren killed. In the final battle, the imperial troops, who felt confident with their western technology of warfare, were caught in the strategy of the samurai who showered the soldiers with arrows. When the imperial army is pressed, Katsumoto and Algren rush to the forefront of the war. In the battle, Algren manages to kill Bagley, but on the other hand, Omura and the war captain who Algren trained before appear. The two of them fired automatic weapons at the samurai who were still in the middle of the field. Seeing that many of the samurai were down, the captain asked for the machine guns to be stopped, even though the move meant disobeying Omura's orders. When Katsumoto was seriously injured, Katsumoto, with Algren's help, committed hara-kiri. The imperial soldiers who initially fired at the samurai, then paid homage to the samurai by kneeling.

At the end of the film, while the Emperor is negotiating trade, Algren comes to see the Emperor of Japan. He wanted to hand over the sword from Katsumoto, and asked the Emperor to remember the traditions that the samurai tried to maintain until they died. In the end the emperor realized that despite the demands for modernization, the Japanese people should not forget their history and traditions. In the end the Emperor refused to sign the business agreement Omura had drawn up. This made Omura angry, the Emperor then threatened to confiscate his family's assets and asked for the same commitment as the samurai had shown. The Emperor approaches Algren, asking how Katsumoto died. Algren firmly said that he would not tell how Katsumoto died, but would tell how Katsumoto lived (by holding on to his principles). The film ends with Algren returning to the samurai village to meet his new family.

Meiji Restoration

This film takes the setting of the Meiji restoration (1868-1912), namely the process of returning Japanese power to the figure of the Emperor, when previously Japan was under the rule of the Tokugawa military family (1603-1867) or better known as the shogunate. The Meiji Restoration was one of the starting points for Japan's progress, from what was originally known as a closed country in the era of the Shogun regime. Under the Meiji empire, Emperor Musuhito decided to open himself up to foreign influences, primarily through organizing trade with outside nations. Another crucial policy taken at this time was to move the capital from Kyoto to Edo (currently known as Tokyo). On the social dimension, the Emperor also abolished the caste of Japanese society which had been in effect since the 12th century. The caste consisted of four groups, namely samurai, farmers, craftsmen, and traders (Kumparan, 11/29/2019).

The Meiji Restoration is the main backdrop for this film. When watching this film, I was reminded of one of the books when I studied comparative politics. The book is entitled ”State Directed Development” by Atul Kohli. In short, this book tells about how the concentration of power, especially during authoritarian rule, can become an important momentum to encourage industrialization. The main premise that this book tries to convey is the importance of the authoritarianism phase as an important part of the development of capitalism. Kohli presented case studies in Korea, Brazil, India, and Nigeria. The four countries are classified by Kohli into three main categories, viz cohesive-capitalist state (Korea), fragmented-multiclass state(Brazil and India), and neo-patrimonial state (Nigeria). The three differences in these categories are related to how power is managed.

In the case of Korea, the Meiji restoration had a major influence on the development of industrialization in Korea. Japanese-style colonialism encouraged its formation mini Japan in Korea, including forming the same social structure and work ethic as in Japan. This colonialist structure then encouraged the creation of social order in Korea. On the other hand, the political economy elite in Korea is not as complex as it is today. When he was in the authoritarian phase under Park Chung Hee, the Korean elite who controlled the political economy were under his control. Korea has instruments of violence and is capable of forming a social order that allows industrialization to develop in this region. Hence Kohli gave it a label cohesive-capitalist state for Korea, before the authoritarian phase slowly shifted to a democratic regime.

In contrast to Korea, in the cases in Brazil and India, the authoritarian period was not managed successfully as a momentum to encourage industrialization. The main inhibiting factor is the unconsolidated political economy elite. This shows that elite consolidation is a crucial factor, especially in countries that adhere to an authoritarian system. The large number of unconsolidated political economy elites in Brazil and India, is labeled by Kohli as fragmented-multiclass state. Unlike Nigeria. This country is labeled as neo-patrimonial state bearing in mind that the consolidation of the political economy elite did not occur. The state is exclusively attached to one of the tribes, as a result of which political-economic stability does not occur in Nigeria.

Kohli's work shows how the Meiji restoration and Japanese colonialism provided important explanations for the industrialization or development of capitalism. Apart from the drama side of the film "The Last Samurai", this film opens a discussion on how a nation deals with modernization. For the most part, modernization has been swallowed whole without seeing how the traditions that have been rooted in the community play a role in creating social balance/order. Modernization seems to be an important way for industrialization and especially the development of capitalism in a nation, so that traditional values are ultimately seen as an obstacle. In this film, the samurai, who are part of the old social structure, become a symbol that upholds identity as a Japanese nation.

Impression

When viewed from the storyline, especially related to the drama in this film. Actually this film is not too special, the best value of this film lies in the clash between modernization and tradition. This film, in several parts, manages to provide an overview to the public regarding the dilemma of the Meiji restoration masses. In the end, choosing a middle way between modernization and identity in holding on to tradition is the way to go. This step actually made Japan a capitalist through opening up trade with other nations and countries, but on the one hand Japan did not lose its identity as a nation. The proclaimed Meiji Restoration ultimately led to the formation of the Meiji constitution, a constitution which had been promulgated on February 11, 1889, but only entered into force on November 29, 1889.

Through the constitution, the duties and powers of the Emperor were regulated up to trade issues. This constitution also became the basis for the formation of the Japanese Parliament which adopted a bicameral system, namely a parliament consisting of an upper house and a lower house. The upper house consists of people appointed by the Emperor or people who are members of the royal family, while the lower house consists of people who are elected by the people. The establishment of the Meiji restoration in 1889 made Japan one of the first countries in Asia to independently implement a modern legal system (Kumparan, 29/11/2019). This film gives an important message that social and governmental practices in other countries are not necessarily appropriate to be implemented in other countries. In the case of the Meiji restoration, precisely finding a midpoint between the traditional values that have lived in society and modernization, was able to bring Japan into the respected nation and state it is today.

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