Hiroyuki Sanada-list

The narrative unfolds sometimes before the beginning of the Meiji era; in the spotlight is a slight samurai and his family. The film presents accurately, but also with great sensitivity scenes from everyday life, so we are in a position to empathize with the samurai and his family and the hardships and deprivations they face almost heroically, making us think about what is in fact a hero.
The title has a double meaning, with clear reference to an era about to end, the hegemony of Shogun, but also referring to the character and our brave samurai.
The film is penetrating, with depth in story and characters, not focusing too much on fighting, there are two battle scenes in the whole movie, the main character trying to avoid both, but these scenes are presented with great realism.
The acting is exceptional, Hiroyuki Sanada undoubtedly doing his best role so far; his performance is subtle yet effective, he bears all the emotional weight of the movie on his shoulders.
Everything in this movie, from beautiful cinematography to appropriate music makes this movie memorable and one of my favorites

I'm a really big fan of Fiennes and Sanada, so I would see what ever movie they been in, no matter what genre, but "The white countess" wasn't what I did expect. It had all the right elements to be a great film. The casting is impressive, the story had potential, the photography is breathtaking, the costumes are lovely, the settings are beautifully, is a Ivory Merchant movie after all. Is a puzzle why this failed to become amazing. The main problem was that I haven't felt any of the passion Fiennes's character kept taking about, I think that Sanada's character thought the same, he looked pretty bored; the chemistry between the two leads is lacking, there's no spark, no nothing, and the ending is just a bit rushed and unsatisfying.

Is this terrible or what?
A film about Japanese culture, or better said about samurais. The story takes place in the second part of the XIX century, beginning with Meiji reformation. To some extent, the same subject was approached by the movie "Twilight samurai", but that was a million times better.
The movie is a treat for the eyes, but I expect more from a movie, and I'm not really convinced about the casting. Tom Cruise - in one of his worse roles,with his Mission Impossible II haircut, and his tight pants, he is there to save the day, because anyone with (no) a brain knows that Japan was hiring as army specialists drunken, depressed and without any interest in their jobs military men that were as high in rank as captains. Oh, yes, treachery was a must, who couldn't do it, wasn't eligible.
Ken Watanabe is pretty bad, I liked Hiroyuki Sanada, but his part was really small, unfortunately, and the little kid was cute too.
The casting is just one of the problems as the story is just atrocious and beyond.
So, the samurai clan was fighting against modernization, reformation, and foreigner penetration, but without even thinking twice they "adopt" an American, it's only logic if I think that the American just killed some of thir best fighters in the clan, and he even gets one of the victims wife in the end, wow, this Japanese people seem to be very grateful.
And and top of that, Nathan becomes a samurai in a little over 3 months. Poor and old samurais who were training for years, Nathan Algren just show them!
My favorite scene in the whole movie was when Sanada's character kicks Algren's butt, that was priceless!
And how on earth did Algren escape unhurt so many times, he wore a kevlar vest underneath it all? In the end he was even introduced to the emperor! the Japanese people seem to show a great deal of clemency ... and the writer a great deal of idiocy . He would have been shot or hanged after the charge, or even earlier.
"I will tell you how he lived...", sickening stuff, that goes for the music too.
This is not about Japanese people or culture or whatever, this is just a vanity project.

What a terrible, terrible movie! What the hell they were thinking when they done this? They can put together as many vomit inducing shots, supposedly "pretty", "dreamy", but they won't fool anyone this is a good movie, or a movie for that matter. I don't think I watched a movie so weak in a while now. Basically there's no plot, I would like to see a person (just one) that was in touch with what was happening on the screen, and I really, really tried to figure it out, as I like Sanada so very much, thinking to myself that he couldn't do something so awful as it appeared. Apparently I've got memory problems, as I forget about Speed Racer, another masterpiece, but at least in that one his part was small.
Embarrassing for everyone involved, this movie has a snail like pace, and a brain to match.

Just one word: kitsch! And plenty of that in this movie. When people decide investing their money into this kind of crap they imagine that kids must be idiots like they are, because I simply can't understand how on earth this movie was ever made. And with decent actors too!!! I don't care much about them really, but Sanada, man?he should be ashamed. Dull, moronic and cheap looking movie, but I think I can give it one credit, I think it can induce epileptic attacks. Yes, a real accomplishment, in deed!