While advances in today’s technology have caused a rise in virtual migration, the subject of physical migration remains relative to the conversation of globalization. Reality itself is an important factor of migration as A. Aneesh states in his article, Virtual Migration, “Wars are still written in blood.” (1) The drama based war film, The Last Samurai, (Edward Zwick, 2003, USA) illustrates the struggles that migrants have with assimilating into new cultures and changing their own identities.
The narrative of the film revolves around Nathan Algren (Tom Cruise), an ex-United States Army captain and an alcoholic that fought in the Civil and Indian Wars. In an attempt to escape his past and find a new life, Algren takes a lucrative job opportunity in Japan. 
He enters the country during a difficult time, a time that director Edward Zwick explains as "the moment of change from the antique to the modern." (2) The plotline focuses heavily on migration as Ezra and Rowden explain in their article on transnational cinema, “A soldier deployed in a distant country is in many ways as much a displaced person as an immigrant who migrates in search of a better life.” (3) There he and several other American soldiers train the new Western-style Imperial Japanese Army in the art of modern warfare. As the inadequate soldiers are sent to their first battle, Algren is taken prisoner by the Samurai and brought to their remote village by Lord Katsumoto (Ken Watanabe).
At first, we see Algren angered and confused by the foreign customs which surround him. When he witnesses the Japanese ritual known as seppuku, which is the suicide of wounded Samurai warriors, he misinterprets it as an unnecessary death. The Samurai on the other hand, view the ritual as a way of maintaining honor. During his captivity, Algren forms a sense of admiration and respect for the Samurai and the honor they carry. He assimilates into this new society by forming strong relationships with Katsumoto and other local villagers while learning the Japanese language and practicing bushido, the way of the Samurai. This transformation is explained in the text of Ezra and Rowden as they state that, “…identities are necessarily deconstructed and reconstructed along the lines of a powering dynamic based on mobility.” (3)
It is through this assimilation that we witness Algren take on a new identity. Although his outer ethnicity now contrasts his inner self-awareness, he is accepted into the village society for the loyalty he displays towards the villagers. It becomes apparent that due to his initial purpose of migration, the army he first set out to train is now directed to destroy what he has come to love, the Samurai village. This order comes from the government as they see the Samurai as a threat towards Japan’s progress towards modernization. Relating to what Sebastião Salgado says in his article, Migrations, about the Yanomami Indians, the Samurai are “…being driven towards assimilation, or extinction.” (4)
When released from his “imprisonment”, Algren returns to Tokyo where he is viewed as a prisoner of war by his American comrades. His is given a stipend for his time spent in captivity and offered a boat home. Forced to choose between returning to his old lifestyle in America and fighting for his new home in the Japanese village, Algren chooses the latter which is viewed by the Americans as treachery. Ezra and Rowden on the other hand, explain in their text that Algren’s decision to forget his past is due to the fact that, “…leaving one’s homeland entails leaving behind both physically and emotionally the familiarity that home implies.” (5) Meaning Algren has formed a new national belonging with the Samurai culture.
Throughout The Last Samurai we witness a Western immigrant transcend emotionally into a rural Japanese citizen. The inner migration that occurs is supported in Salgado’s text as he states, “There aare differences of color, language, culture, and oppurtunities, but people’s feelings and reactions are alike.” (6) It is through these inner struggles of the narration Nathan Algren’s inner-migration that we realize the power of migration and its role in the process of globalization.
Endnotes
(1) Aneesh, A. “Virtual Migration.” Virtual Migration: The Programming of Globalization. (Durham and London: Duke University Press, 2006) p. 67
(2) Keirstead, Thomas. “The Last Samurai (Film)” American Historical Review. (Apr2004, Vol. 109 Issue 2) p. 496
(3) Ezra, Elizabeth and Terry Rowden. “General Introduction: What is Transnational Cinema?” Transnational Cinema: The Film Reader. (London and New York: Routledge, 2006) p. 7
(4) Salgado, Sebastião. “Introduction.” Migrations: Humanity in Transition. (New York: Aperture, 2000) p. 10
(5) Ezra, Elizabeth and Terry Rowden. “General Introduction: What is Transnational Cinema?” Transnational Cinema: The Film Reader. (London and New York: Routledge, 2006) p. 11
(6) Salgado, Sebastião. “Introduction.” Migrations: Humanity in Transition. (New York: Aperture, 2000) p. 15
Works Cited
Aneesh, A. “Virtual Migration.” Virtual Migration: The Programming of Globalization. Durham and London: Duke University Press, 2006.
Ezra, Elizabeth and Terry Rowden. “General Introduction: What is Transnational Cinema?” Transnational
Keirstead, Thomas. “The Last Samurai (Film)”. American Historical Review. Indiana University, Bloomington. April 2004, Vol. 109 Issue 2, p. 496
Salgado, Sebastião. “Introduction.” Migrations: Humanity in Transition. New York: Aperture, 2000. 7-15.
