A major commercial success in Japan, where it opened late last year, veteran director Yoji Yamada’s first samurai picture, "The Twilight Samurai," is unlikely to make an international impact at ...

But “The Twilight Samurai,” winner of 12 Japanese Academy Awards (an all-time record), is Yamada’s career capstone. Yet as one is watching it, this film seems simple, almost commonplace.

The title character of “The Twilight Samurai” is not quite like any samurai we’ve seen in films before. And that has everything to do with the movie’s charm.

For Westerners unschooled in the way of the movie samurai, the classic image of the loyal retainer doubtless looks something like Obi-Wan Kenobi — or the late John Belushi. A genial riff on t… ...

A near masterpiece, this atypical samurai movie is more an epic of the heart than the battlefield.

Although “Twilight Samurai” was his first outing in this genre, Yamada made his name years ago with the world’s longest series of sequels, “Tora-san” comprising 48 pics between 1969 and ...

For Westerners unschooled in the way of the movie samurai, the classic image of the loyal retainer doubtless looks something like Obi-Wan Kenobi — or the late John Belushi. A genial riff on t… ...