What The Last Samurai Gets Right About Bushido

In this video, I want to describe bushido, explain how The Last Samurai gets it right, and by extension, why I think the film is profoundly moving.

So do I - "Hiding like a turtle in a shell is not living at all. A true warrior must have heroic courage. It is absolutely risky. It is living life completely, fully, and wonderfully."

[@brentsacks]

Hell of a quote, yes!

[@zestynotions]

Hagakure is an amazing book, and I think in terms of reflecting what bushido is, you can learn a lot more from the stories of a samurai turned monk in the 1700"s telling stories of old to a young warrior, than you can from almost contemporary writer like Nitobe. The hundreds of individual stories Tsunetomo tells the young warrior reveals much of what the values where are the time. (although of course they change over time, I think Hagakure paints the clearer image that in contemplating death every day we cannot help but feel alive and live) ... carpe diem Well done Brent.

[@brentsacks]

Thank you 🙏🏻

[@villamelonnn]

9:55 this is exceptional... As you said earlier, when mentioned the importance of "context" in how we perceive things, we have learned to avoid talking or even thinking about death, as something forbidden, when in reality it is our only certainty. For me, this is an invitation to live in fullness and with porpoise. Thank you for the video, it made my day.

[@brentsacks]

Well thank you for the comment, it made mine!

[@StarkSpartan]

Thank you for posting this. My favorite film of all time.

[@brentsacks]

I’m thrilled to hear it! I’m glad you enjoyed the video

[@gamerguysteve8984]

Great Video!

[@brentsacks]

Thank you! Tell your friends 😂

[@dariosmoviereviewchannel7555]

12:25 a bit before that....you made me choke up

[@brentsacks]

Thank you for the kind words 😭

[@Supernova2464]

Wow, very well done sir

[@brentsacks]

Omg thank you 🥹🥹

[@Supernova2464]

@@brentsacks it’s a really good video, you should be proud!

[@brentsacks]

@@Supernova2464 I appreciate that 🙏🏻 I wish this one had performed better, but alas

[@dwrdwlsn5]

History is not clean. It is rarely pretty and there are very few 'good guys'. That said? The core concepts of Bushido are worthy of memory. Justice Courage Compassion Respect Integrity Honor Loyalty Self Control Nothing in there about bowing down before whatever political overlords are in favor this week to make other people lesser than you, so in today's society, they do not matter to many. Some of us will remember, however.

[@brentsacks]

🔥

[@f3arfu1_raider36]

Bro proves you don't need a lot of views to make GREAT content

[@brentsacks]

Ugh thank you 😭 this means a lot to me

[@f3arfu1_raider36]

@@brentsacks I think living this way is the best but its really hard

[@zaxbitterzen2178]

A true "warrior" under a government or regime should at best be a walking weapon capable of effectively following, delivering and executing orders on behalf of his master's decree or his own which has been approved by peers and other qualified superior's. From a historical context I feel like Blue Eyed Samurai, and Seven Samurai painted the Japanese government and military most accurately in how incredibly corrupt and vicious it could be and actually was. It wasn't some katana-clashing paradise full of Sakura trees and horse-riding armored dudes with sick helmets and flags on their backs. The poor suffered most whilst the rich, prosperous and greedy took as much as they could like so many other semi-totalitarian states before, during and after.

[@brentsacks]

Yeah, your description is basically true of most places during most periods of history. But like with anything else, it will vary throughout history.

[@zaxbitterzen2178]

@@brentsacks definitely does vary but that was the gist

[@alexanderyaroslavich2703]

Apparently you've never heard of "Gekkokujo." Your analysis starts strong by fact-checking, then loses a lot of credibility at the end. This movie is "Japonisme" to the core, and not even worth any sort of serious analysis, unless that analysis is "how to throw a bunch of cliches about Japanese culture into one basket." Or as the cheesy gamers say: "Shamefur Disprayy"

[@brentsacks]

Not everyone has good taste, unfortunately

[@alexanderyaroslavich2703]

@@brentsacks Not sure what your comment meant, and I was trying to be respectful, but again, this movie is "white savior" trope-a-rama. That, and a it has a healthy frosting of Oriientalist Bullshido to satisfy the Weeabo dudes. The reality of Bakumatsu and Meiji-Era Japan is much more complex

[@brentsacks]

@@alexanderyaroslavich2703 You are of course entitled to your opinion, and I don’t want to be a jerk, but I don’t share your opinion ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ If this is a white savior movie, why isn’t the white person a savior? This movie’s plot literally bucks the white savior narrative at every turn. The samurai all get wiped out. Algren doesn’t save the samurai; they save him.

[@RanawakaRanaaka]

​@@brentsacks thank you for telling the truth!❤

[@robertmiles1603]

that movie sucked

[@brentsacks]

The haters are wrong