For a long time, I've waited for this moment. I see Ken dressed in armor commanding on a battle field. For more surprise, he is not in a Japanese movie, but he is in a Hollywood spectacular movie opposite to No.1 Hollywood star, Tom Cruise.
Ken is stunning as Katsumoto, the last leader of samurai who take a final battle in face of their last days of ancient samurai culture after their long time dedication to the Emperor.
His skilled acting embodied the spirit of samurai. I was deeply impressed by his presence as "The Last Samurai".
When Ken was 28, he was about to be a top star actor after he became extremely famous for his role as Date Masamune, a leading samurai character in national TV drama "Dokuganryu Masamune (Masamune: one eye dragon)",which hold a record of highest average TV rating in Japan history. Then he got a leading part in Director Kurosawa's movie "Ten to Ti to (Sky and Earth)" which was a big production of "Samurai" movie.
He was about to fly high with all his success----but life is sometimes cruel. Ken fell down at the studio, and had to leave his big chance for the Kurosawa movie. It was leukemia which forced him to take a long absence from his acting carrier. It's easy to imagine how he felt in despair. He was going to fly high to the top, but in the next moment, he felled to the ground deep in the dark. His absence from showbiz was a shock to me.
After years of fight against leukemia, Ken restarted his acting career, however he was no more a star in Japan showbiz. I saw his appearance in some TV dramas and they were not worth for his acting career.
Like going out from a long dark tunnel, Ken played some important role in Japanese movies such as "The Sun rise again" in 2002 and awarded as a best supporting actor in Japanese film award.
Then this "The Last Samurai" came. In this big budget Hollywood movie, he finally shows brave Samurai face to us. What a cool appearance! Ken is back! Nobody but Ken is able to play this role. His gallant figure in armor remains like 15 years ago, but this time he is truly mature actor with skills. He can tell character's mind without saying any lines like Russell Crowe in "Gradiator".
Thanks for Director Edward Zwick and brilliant Tom Cruise, this movie has big themes and produced with full respect for "Bushido", ancient Japanese culture.
I'm looking forward to seeing Ken and whole samurai production team with Oscar this year.