Last Samurai Standing | Official Trailer | Netflix
Netflix
The Japanese realized that in order to match the industrial and military might of the Western imperial powers, Japan had to abandon feudalism for a capitalist economy with a strong central government. In November 1867, the unpopular shogun relinquished his authority to the emperor, who was seen as a unifying figure by the Japanese. Thus began the Meiji Restoration. Between 1869 and 1871, the daimyo (Japan's feudal lords) were stripped of their lands and titles. Their domains became prefectures subject to the authority of the imperial government. Some former daimyo were given government jobs, but most retired with lavish pensions.
The dissolution of the daimyo class made the samurai defunct as a feudal retainer caste, so the Meiji government began repealing their special rights and privileges. In 1869, the government reclassified high-ranking samurai as shizoku (warriors) and lower status samurai as sotsuzoku (foot soldiers). In 1872, the sotsu rank was abolished and the sotsuzoku were reclassified as shizoku. In 1871, the government banned the samurai topknot. From 1873 to 1879, the government started taxing the stipends and transformed them into interest-bearing government bonds. The main goal was to provide enough financial liquidity to enable former samurai to invest in land and industry. In 1876, the government forbade anyone outside the military to wear swords even if they were of samurai lineage, and repealed the right of a samurai to strike an insolent commoner with potentially lethal force.
So by the time of this movie the Samurai have been thoroughly disenfranchised, nobody wants them, but they are still out there rattling around and occasionally making trouble, so some big shots come up with a scheme to get rid of them. They'll stage a contest where the winner takes all. All he has to do is kill all the other contestants. Then when he comes to claim his prize, the big shots will only have to kill one man and they'll be rid of the troublesome Samurai once and for all.
It's a fairly stupid show, but we get boat loads of sword fighting and people getting chopped up, so, entertaining.
Based on the novel written by Shogo Imamura.
Wikipedia has a list of the actors and their character's name, but not much about their roles. I guess it doesn't matter much, they are mostly all cut-throats.
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