Hiroyuki Sanada did not receive an Oscar nomination for portraying Seibei Iguchi in The Twilight Samurai.
The Twilight Samurai is a wonderful film depicting a widower samurai near the end of the feudal system.
If I may quickly bemoan the Hollywood mentality when it comes to foreign language actors. Where evidently they wish to cast them after seeing or at least hearing of their work in their own home countries then only to cast them in largely thin and generic roles. That is of course the case for Hiroyuki Sanada, though I will say that always creates a bit of a bread crumb trail for me to find what was that sparked this interest to begin with. Well here it takes me to this film, where I'll admit I always have a bit of enthusiasm to find Japanese cinema outside of the golden era, given sadly so little of it makes an international impression. This film being both a throwback and modernization I'd say on so many of the films of that golden era however, being based around the life of the samurai. The difference being that our central character of Seibei Iguchi isn't some great lord or general, nor is he a renegade ronin or something. He's really just a guy who happens to be a samurai. Well and Hiroyuki Sanada's performance is wonderful by portraying him just as that. This in the early scenes of the film where we see him interacting in his little home with his 2 daughters and his mother. Sanada bring such a fantastic unassuming quality to his work. This in just a guy really very much content within this existence and most importantly brings this warmth within his interactions with his family. There's such a sense of love in his eyes and we see a man who really adores his existence in a certain sense.
We witness though Seibei interact within society where things are a little different however from that contentment within his home life, no matter how simple or small his surroundings might be. In this we see Sanada portray this certain shyness within the samurai as he must interact with the feudal hierarchy, however as a man unable to really deliver on the pomp or circumstance requested for his class of samurai. This to the point that when he ponders if he could maybe someday be a farmer instead of being a samurai Sanada delivery is of just this earnest question of a man who really would rather live as such. Sanada shows the shyness really in this sense of a man who knows he will be looked upon with ridicule by other along with this sense of unease largely by the nature of the life he really has no great comfort with. This when he is admonished for his somewhat unkempt demeanor Sanada is great in showing that rather it really being a blow to his pride it rather just the intense reactions of others that causes a sense of any distress. This as Sanada shows a man really just wanting to do the best to succeed with his family and with those around him rather than holding a need to be seen anything more than he is...in fact Seibei might honestly be fine with being seen as less if it would help his circumstances. Sanada creates the right sympathy for this though in creating that understated quality of the man who isn't looking to make a big splash but rather just float within the joys he does have.
Things change slightly when an old childhood sweetheart returns, Tomoe (Rie Miyazawa) who comes to stay with his family and reminisce though no romance is spoken of. Sanada's chemistry with Miyazawa is pitch perfect. This in as Sanada brings a genuine charm within that warmth he brings with the interactions and a strong sense of their connection from the past. In that though he grants still that hesitation and shyness of the relationship of old now technically detached. Sanada being terrific again in showing the man's very palatable love for her in glimpses though hidden still within his nearly always retiring manner. This even when Seibei is proposed the idea of marrying Tomoe through an intermediary, Sanada honestly is heartbreaking through how genuine he makes Sanada's distress in the moment. This in reacting with embarrassment as though it would be ridiculous for a woman of some status to marry a samurai of his low standing of wealth. Sanada is great as he speaks every word of his own struggle with his former wife due to the very little he makes from being a retainer samurai. Sanada is fantastic in bringing such a quiet heartbreak within every word of Seibei struggle that shows the man's wish more than anything to avoid further complication knowing how life can be difficult within poverty. Sanada emphasizing the man's vulnerability of this beautifully within the man's modest style as a person.
The one place where it seems that perhaps there is more to Seibei than meets most eyes as the samurai derided by most as the "twilight samurai" that is in dueling. This we initially see as he defends a friend from an ornery samurai through fighting with a wooden sword. In this duel though Sanada's performance is important as he presents a man directly to the point in every action. This as a man attempting to end the conflict as quickly as possible, not as a purposeful badass but really an accidental one. This in he grants the sense of conviction but only to finish the fight, not to relish in any sense of defeat. This as we see after the successful duel, Sanada's manner shows a man looking down and away, along with a timid voice that denies any great feat or any great skill within himself. This again showing a man avoiding being beyond his source of contentment within his family. Eventually though pressed to take on a rogue samurai by his Zenemon Yogo (Min Tanaka) who has balked at a request harakiri and instead killing anyone who approaches his home. Although in his usual manner Sanada depicts the man avoiding really pushing his boundaries, but eventually is forced to through the demands of his lords.
We then see different shades of the man one real and one sort of fake. The real one is when he decides to take the chance to fully declare his love to Tomoe. This is an amazing scene for Sanada as the earned pride in the moment, and the reflection of the internalized love now externalized is palatable. This made heartbreaking when it appears she can't accept because she's accepted a different proposal. Sanada's switch back to the man's old self is heartbreaking, as in his eyes you see the man's being torn up from it but he speaks with just quiet assurances that he was foolish to make any such request. Now there Sanada showed a real different side, however in his intention as a lord's warrior we see the false side. This in Sanada showing the man basically trying to be the cold calm samurai as he approaches his task, and faces the man in his home. Sanada's manner though instantly reverts when the Yogo instead surprises him by inviting him to a drink to discuss their mutual lives of hardship despite their status as samurai. Sanada is outstanding in the scene in his reflections upon Seibei's hard life particularly regarding the death of his wife. This as Sanada brings the right somberness but almost this comical manner of laughing upon his own misfortunes given how poverty seemed to create one problem after another for himself. Sanada in the moment granting this idea of truly living the memory within his head as he speaks the words to Yogo. Sadly these troubles eventually amount to Yogo believing Seibei isn't taking the man seriously leading to a duel after all. Again I love the way Sanada makes the inherent skill of the man a given as he attempts to avoid killing the man as long as he can in this state of consistent control but never hateful violence. This within the overarching idea of the character that Hiroyuki Sanada so beautifully realizes This as a samurai who is defined through his love for his simple life and his family, not his ambitions of any kind. This creating a uniquely moving portrait of a samurai in turn, one of quiet power of a family man just trying to life his simple life.
