The Last Samurai asks the question, “What does it mean to honor something?” Family, culture, tradition, your enemy, your word, principles, change…the film addresses humankind’s tendency to devalue things which are by nature worthy of respect. Among the many, many examples of this theme throughout the movie, the two primary examples were the country’s struggle to preserve the sacred tradition of the Samurai and Captain Algren’s need to reconnect with life. At the beginning of the movie, Captain Algren has lost his soul to war. Embittered by an inhumane encounter with the American Indians, he claims, “I’ll kill whoever you want for $500 per month.” A drunken cameo hero working for Winchester, he values neither his life nor the lives of the rebels he is paid to suppress. However, his stay with the Samurai reintroduces him to friendship, self-respect, spirituality, serenity, and a desire to preserve rather than destroy. The country’s struggle occurs in the opposite direction. Rather than fighting to regain a sense of value, Japan struggles with losing that value. The time-honored tradition of the Samurai warrior faces extinction. The Emperor desires to embrace the fleeting economy of the West, but has enough innate respect for things culturally sacred to defer drastic change. The worthy adversary, Osuma, quickly wields his influence to convince the Emperor to forsake the past and embrace change. Though opposite in approach, both storylines address the question of what is to esteem something or hold it in high regard.

There are so many examples of this in the movie, it is worth seeing a second time just to absorb a new perspective on things our culture has forgotten. Algren’s strange relationship with Taka forces us to take a look at the value of family, courtesy, and destiny. Katsumoto introduces Capt. Algren to friendship, faith, discipline, the value of keeping one’s word, service, and war as life rather than death. Capt. Algren in turn teaches the Samurai that death for one’s principles is a matter of passionate expression rather than a shameful display of defeat.

Ujio represents courage, loyalty, and discipline.

Graham, who documents history, shows the importance of leaving some things undocumented.

The Emperor’s struggle reveals the difficulty of governing a nation through changing times.

Each of these things commands honor in its own right, and it is interesting to note the dynamic contexts in which this word is used.

The problem of assigning value to that which is truly important is not new. Greece had a similar problem during the time the New Testament was written. Jesus introduced the word agape to the disciples and they could not understand why He would want to use it. It was a relatively unacceptable word for love because it suggested a kind of love that gives without receiving anything in return. To the Greek (and to the American today) this concept of “honoring” something above one’s self was foreign. But that is what Christ taught, and it is what He lived. The words of Philippians 2:6-8 have always astounded me. Every time I read them, I am taken aback by the level of love, commitment, passion and true honor that Christ has given us. To be the very God who created humanity, to come to earth and die by our laws, to give his own life so that we could be reconciled with Him…that is honor. That is esteeming someone on a level that I cannot pretend to match.

By the end of this movie, I couldn’t get the one question out of my head: What does it mean to honor something? And then, what is it that I honor? Honestly, I had to rearrange some of my priorities and become reacquainted with several things lost in the shuffle of my life. Although my academic mind feels obligated to explore the other amazing themes of this movie, I think I will leave them alone for today. Perhaps I will go see the movie again, this question of honor now being resolved in my mind.