16 years after the fateful "revenge of the 47 Ronin," involving samurais from the Ako domain who avenged their leader and then commited seppuku (ritual suicide), the sole survivor of that incident, Kichiemon Terasaka traverses the country on a mission. His purpose is to find the families of the fallen samurais and spread the truth of the ronin uprising. On his way to attend the 17th Buddhist ceremony for the 47 Ronins in Kyoto at Choho Shindo's mansion, Kichiemon unexpectedly comes across his close & long time friend Magozaemon Senoo - who ran away the day before the ronin uprising.
Slow-paced and somewhat eventless, The Last Ronin still manages to be one of the better samurai dramas in years. Koji Yakusho (13 Assassins) is one of my favorite actors, and he fits the role as an aging samurai perfectly. It's full of iconic imagery such as bamboo forests in fog and old temples. Nothing short of a samurai masterpiece.
Genre: Drama
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