is a 2003

2003 in film

The year 2003 in film involved some significant events. Releases of sequels took place with movies like The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King, 2 Fast 2 Furious, Charlie's Angels: Full Throttle, The Matrix Reloaded, The Matrix Revolutions, Pokémon Heroes, Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines,...

 Japanese movie directed by Yōjirō Takita

Yojiro Takita

Yōjirō Takita , is a Japanese filmmaker.-Career:Yōjirō Takita entered the film industry throughMukai Productions, where he served as an assistant director...

 loosely based on real historical events. When the Last Sword Is Drawn won the Best Film award at the 2004

2004 in film

The year 2004 in film involved some significant events. Major releases of sequels took place. It included blockbuster films like Shrek 2, Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, The Passion of the Christ, Meet the Fockers, Blade: Trinity, Spider-Man 2, Alien vs. Predator, Kill Bill Vol...

 Japanese Academy Awards

Japanese Academy Awards

The , often called the Japan Academy Awards or the Japanese Academy Awards, is a series of awards given annually since 1978 by the Nippon Academy-shō Association for excellence in Japanese film...

, as well as the prizes for Best Actor (Kiichi Nakai) and Best Supporting Actor (Koichi Sato). It received a further eight nominations.

Synopsis

The film tells the story of two Shinsengumi

Shinsengumi

The were a special police force of the late shogunate period.-Historical background:After Japan opened up to the West following U.S. Commodore Matthew Perry's visits in 1853, its political situation gradually became more and more chaotic...

 samurai

Samurai

is the term for the military nobility of pre-industrial Japan. According to translator William Scott Wilson: "In Chinese, the character 侍 was originally a verb meaning to wait upon or accompany a person in the upper ranks of society, and this is also true of the original term in Japanese, saburau...

. One of them is Saitō Hajime

Saito Hajime

was a Japanese samurai of the late Edo period, who most famously served as the captain of the third unit of the Shinsengumi. He was one of the few core members who survived the numerous wars of the Bakumatsu period.-Early years:...

 (played by Kōichi Satō

Koichi Sato

is a Japanese actor.He is the son of veteran Japanese actor Rentarō Mikuni.-Films:*The Last Chushingura *Nobody to watch over me * Shonen Merikensack * The Magic Hour * Smile Seiya no Kiseki...

), a heartless killer and the other is Yoshimura Kanichiro (played by Kiichi Nakai), who appears to be a money-grubbing and emotional swordsman from the northern area known as Nambu Morioka. The main storyline is set during the fall of the Tokugawa shogunate

Tokugawa shogunate

The Tokugawa shogunate, also known as the and the , was a feudal regime of Japan established by Tokugawa Ieyasu and ruled by the shoguns of the Tokugawa family. This period is known as the Edo period and gets its name from the capital city, Edo, which is now called Tokyo, after the name was...

, but it is told in a series of flashback

Flashback (narrative)

Flashback is an interjected scene that takes the narrative back in time from the current point the story has reached. Flashbacks are often used to recount events that happened before the story’s primary sequence of events or to fill in crucial backstory...

s as two characters reminisce. The themes include conflicting loyalty to the clan, lord, and family.

More than just a story of swordplay, it is the story of a man willing to do anything for the good of his family, even if it means never being able to see them.

Cast

• Kiichi Nakai — Yoshimura Kanichiro
• Kōichi Satō
  Koichi Sato
  is a Japanese actor.He is the son of veteran Japanese actor Rentarō Mikuni.-Films:*The Last Chushingura *Nobody to watch over me * Shonen Merikensack * The Magic Hour * Smile Seiya no Kiseki...
  
   — Saitō Hajime
  Saito Hajime
  was a Japanese samurai of the late Edo period, who most famously served as the captain of the third unit of the Shinsengumi. He was one of the few core members who survived the numerous wars of the Bakumatsu period.-Early years:...
  
  
• Yui Natsukawa
  Yui Natsukawa
  is a Japanese entertainer. She was born on June 1, 1968 in Yatsushiro, Kumamoto, Japan. She is a left-hander . She was given a Best New Talent award at the 1995 Yokohama Film Festival for her role in Yoru ga mata kuru.-Drama:...
  
   — Shizu/Mitsu
• Takehiro Murata — Ono Chiaki
• Miki Nakatani — Nui
• Yuji Miyake — Ohno Jiroemon
• Eugene Nomura — Hijikata Toshizo
  Hijikata Toshizo
  was the vice-commander of Shinsengumi, a great swordsman and a talented Japanese military leader who resisted the Meiji Restoration.-Background:...
  
  
• Masato Sakai
  Masato Sakai
  is a Japanese actor. He won the award for best actor at the 31st Yokohama Film Festival for Kuhio taisa and Nankyoku ryourinin and the award for best supporting actor at the 2008 Nikkan Sports Film Award, at the 33rd Hochi Film Award and at the 51st Blue Ribbon Awards...
  
   — Okita Soji
  Okita Soji
  , was the captain of the first unit of the Shinsengumi, a special police force in Kyoto during the late shogunate period. He was one of the best swordsmen of the Shinsengumi, along with Saito Hajime and Nagakura Shinpachi....
  
  
• Ito Atsushi — Young Chiaki Ono