MovieChat Forums > Tasogare Seibei (2002) Discussion > Similar To Apocalypse (SPOILERS)

Similar To Apocalypse (SPOILERS)

posted 19 years ago by tylerh1701
10 replies | jump to latest

I just thought the second part of this movie was similar to Apocalypse Now. "Twilight" is going after a man who refused to listen to orders from a higher authority. Once he arrives in his hiding spot, his desire to kill him (which was never really there) completely disappears. After a lot of dialogue, he finally kills the man.

It isn't a drastic similarity, and i'm not insulting "Twilight" in any way, i just thought that the two stories had similar occurences.

www.flyhive.blogspot.com

[–] 19 years ago

[deleted]

[–] j30bell 18 years ago

I think the similarities are more a question of style than substance. The final act is filmed in a similar way to Apocalypse, but it bears an only superficial plot similarity.

Yogo Zenemon is not really a Kurtz figure. He’s fallen out of favour because he was on the wrong side of a clan feud. In fact, the whole of that act happens against a backdrop of the wider political and social changes happening in Japan. This is completely absent in Apocalypse, which is a spiritual journey into the basic, primitive side of the human psyche – quite literally in the case of the Conrad novel Heart of Darkness that was the inspiration for Apocalypse.

From a style point though, I agree completely. The scene in the cottage is strikingly similar to the hut scene in Apocalypse. Hard to think it wasn’t influenced by it.

[–] mrfilm 18 years ago

Yep, I've notided that too - and I liked the scene in this movie better than the original in Apocolypse Now. Interesting enough though, the actor playing Yogo looked a lot closer to Col. Kurtz from the novel than Marlon Brando did. A withered living ghost, as opposed to a bald fatman.

[–] jasonbourneagain 14 years ago

i have to see apocalypse now again. colonel kurtz wasn't supposed to be fat. marlon brando became fat after shooting started.

[–] JacintoCupboard 14 years ago

Brando's weight issues forced those scenes to be shot in shadows. Interesting how such an iconic piece of cinematography was a matter of necessity rather than planned.

[–] tall_texan 18 years ago

The Apocalypse and Heart of Darkness similarity was going through my mind as well. The reclusive rogue samurai Twilight must deal with has basically seen through one of the fallacies of his own culture. Anytime someone looks closely at their own culture and decides to contradict is bound to face ostracism and in feudal Japan, this ostracism means death.

As an American who is angered every time I hear someone say that to dissent is to be unpatriotic, I find great relevance in this beautiful but tragic scene. The pathos of Twilight's willingness to let the soldier escape and the soldier's pride leading him to attack when he mistakes the wooden stick as an insult to his status as a warrior remind me of the dilemna America is facing today in Iraq. Back a beast into a corner and both of you find yourself unable to escape without harm.

[–] raretrick 18 years ago

good that you noticed that. this is a true parallel, not intended by the original story by Shuhei Fujisawa, but definitely acknowledge by Yamada. the lines such as "errand boy" were a direct take from Apocalypse Now. and (as i wrote in my thread) at the end when Zenemon is mumbling "Jigoku da" or "hell," this is directly from the japanese translation of Brando's "the horror... the horror." "jigoku da... jigoku da"
i got this information directly from the mouth of the producer of The Twilight Samurai, so you can trust it to be accurate.

[–] ionic66 17 years ago

the errand boy quote ruined the ending for me completely. All I could think about for the next minute or so was how this guy just ripped out a line from Apocalypse Now. I guess its not the end of the world to do something like that but up to that point there was nothing to remind me of Apocalypse. Like in Tarantino movies you know its a throwback to earlier movies but i didnt like how he just busted it out of left field.

[–] Eric-1226 16 years ago

The "errand boy" quote was perfect, from my perspective. Yes, I immediately thought of "Apocalypse Now," but I did not in the least think the similar use of the term "errand boy" in TS was any sort of rip-off of AN.

Hey, the characters in both movies called it exactly like they saw it. The usage of the term, and the thought behind it, was just as fitting in "Twilight Samurai" as it was in "Apocalypse Now."

[–] JacintoCupboard 14 years ago

Yes, the homage to Apocalypse Now is self evident.