Matrixston Wow! Such a good movie.

Grimossfer Clever and entertaining enough to recommend even to members of the 1%

Nayan Gough A great movie, one of the best of this year. There was a bit of confusion at one point in the plot, but nothing serious.

Mehdi Hoffman There's a more than satisfactory amount of boom-boom in the movie's trim running time.

joelgibbo7 Exquisitely beautiful film, moved me so much. The acting was sublime, the story/journey timeless. To be able to portray a swirling storm of emotion, heartache, passion and pain just beneath the surface of a seemingly serene exterior. This film led me to explore this genre although it's evident that this is a very special samurai film, even when compared to some of the classics.

BustedKnees A true master piece in my opinion.Set in the early days of the Meiji Restoration, when power was being returned to the Emperor and Japan was in a period of rapid modernisation, this charming film shows that the choice of accepting change is a very personal one.The main character is a samurai clerk who has moved away from war, and has found delight in spending a lot of time with his daughters. However, when his clan sides with the traditional ruling Shogunate against the Imperial forces, he has to make some very crucial decisions about his life, and his family.Beautifully filmed with a refreshingly slow pace, this is a superbly made film in every way.

billha47 Told from the perspective of an impoverished samurai's daughter, the film becomes a study of a man of great character--meditative, caring for his two daughters and senile mother, reluctant to fight until ordered to by his clan. It develops slowly, with time to give dimensions to the main characters, and a sense of the daily lives of the minor characters. The care with which the characters are developed reminds me of Ozu's wonderful films. The contrasts between dark interiors and the sunlit landscapes enhances the sense that humans needlessly create suffering in such an environment. The "Twilight" in the title also indicates that in the 19th century, the various clans were breaking up,and the land was filled with wandering lord-less samurai, loyal only to themselves.

ebiros2 As an Asian movie affectionado, this movie was hard to pass up. As seen from the high ratings, this is an excellent movie. This was the first movie made by director Yoji Yamada on a novel by Shuhei Fujisawa. This was also the first authentic samurai movie he's directed, and reportedly it took him over 10 years of planning, and over a year of historic research to complete this film. This movie was based on two other novels by Shuhei Fujisawa called Takemitsu Shimatsu, and Iwaibito Sukehachi.It seems strange that a story that is based on such a foreign culture gets universally accepted by people around the world. What part of the life of Seibei has such appeal is a mystery to me. Artistry of director Yoji Yamada is undeniable. He makes the finest samurai movie that's not seen in recent years. Indeed without him, Japanese period piece movies would be missing the artistry it should have.This is the first of Yoji Yamada's successful series of samurai movies based on Shuhei Fujisawa's novel. The movie won Japanese Academy Award in all divisions which was the second time in Japanese movie history since "Shall we Dance". To me, the ending was little weak, but it was a very entertaining movie to watch.