The Last Samurai

David and I rented The Last Samurai last night. I'm a big fan of historical dramas, so I liked it. Costuming, staging, and the general historical arc of the plot seemed accurate. The film did go overboard in glorifying the samurai, though. Meiji-era samurai were essentially reactionaries that resisted anything foreign or new. The movie didn't really portray that, which made the conflict more one-sided than it really was. Still, there was some subtlety to it, and as long as you maintain an appropriate amount of skepticism while viewing it, it's an enjoyable film.