The Last Samurai Page #22

KATSUMOTO:

(bemused)

Do you really think we can defeat

them?

ALGREN:

I sure as hell want to find out.

KATSUMOTO:

You believe a man can change his

destiny?

ALGREN:

No. But I think a man cannot know

his destiny. He can only do what he

can, until his destiny is revealed.

A silent beat.

Then Katsumoto picks up a long bundle wrapped in cloth. He

unwraps it.

A beautiful long samurai sword.

He bows his head and offers it to Algren.

There are Japanese characters etched on the blade.

ALGREN:

What does it say?

KATSUMOTO:

"I belong to the warrior in whom the

old ways have joined the new."

Algren is moved beyond words. He bows.

As the CAMERA pulls away, Algren and Katsumoto squat side by

side, drawing in the dirt with a stick, planning the next

day's battle strategy.

Across the square, Ujio continues his elegant dance of death,

his graceful form illuminated in silhouette by a fire.

INT. YORITOMO'S HOUSE - MORNING

It is the day of the battle. Algren is buttoning the long

coat of his cavalry uniform.

He looks up to see Higen standing in the doorway, holding

the breast-plate of his father's armor.

EXT. YORITOMO'S HOUSE - DAY

Algren emerges from the house, wearing the breast-plate over

his coat.

Taka is at his horse, tying a bag of food to the saddle. She

turns and sees her husband's armor on this man. And her breath

stops.

Algren approaches her. They stand very close.

TAKA:

(subtitles)

Return.

ALGREN:

(subtitles)

If that is my destiny. Anshinritsumai.

[I wish you peace.]

TAKA:

Anshinritsumai.

He bows his head to her, she responds. The boys stand on the

porch, watching. He mounts his horse and trots off. They

watch him go.

Algren joins the line of samurai leaving the village. It is

the first time we have seen them in their full battle armor

since the battle in the fog.

Katsumoto in his black armor, Ujio in his jet black. And

Algren in the blood-red breast-plate. It is dazzling.

EXT. BATTLEFIELD - DAWN

We move along the line of waiting samurai. The faces are

stoic. Prepared.

Their horses are corralled well behind them.

Algren stands with Katsumoto and Ujio. Graham is nearby.

They peer into the plain beyond.

They have chosen a strong defensive position. A steep mountain

pass. Slopes on either side create a funnel ahead of them.

The Imperial Army will have to pass through the funnel to

reach them.

On a hill above them Higen is revealed. He looks down first

at the five hundred Samurai, then sees, beyond, the

overwhelming mass of the IMPERIAL ARMY.

Back on the battlefield A distant thud followed by a high-

pitched whine. A MASSIVE EXPLOSION ahead of the Samurai.

Artillery.

Algren finds Graham cowering at the base of a straw barricade.

ALGREN:

Mr. Graham...

GRAHAM:

Captain?

ALGREN:

Would you please stay with the horses?

Graham would like to be brave enough to remain, but he is

not a soldier.

GRAHAM:

As you suggest.

Graham starts to go --

ALGREN:

Mr. Graham... Take this.

From his coat, Algren takes his journal, hands it to Graham.

ALGREN:

Maybe you can use it for your book.

GRAHAM:

I will.

He heads back to the relative safety of the horse corral.

Meanwhile, the samurai remain impassive as artillery is

stepped in closer, the range bracketed. Then artillery rounds

begin to fall among them.

Samurai are blown to pieces as they bravely stand and await

death. Katsumoto BARKS a command to Ujio.

Suddenly, the Samurai break ranks and trot into a new defense

alignment. The artillery rounds now fall ineffectually where

once they stood.

Bagley directs the artillery to be re-targeted, It is a

laborious, clumsy process. They fire again. Another command.

The Samurai change position again.

Bagley is furious. Their fluid tactics have rendered his

field artillery useless.

Katsumoto and Algren share a look of grim satisfaction. They

are leveling the playing field.

Bugle calls are heard from the Imperial Army.

ALGREN:

The call to advance.

The rattle of the snare drums. The sound of marching boots.

And then they appear. Thousands upon thousands of them. The

Imperial Army marching relentlessly forward in strict

formation. The Rising Sun displayed.

Katsumoto gazes at the awe-inspiring sight. His 500 samurai

face a staggering 5,000 soldiers.

KATSUMOTO:

Tell me... what happened to those

three hundred warriors at Thermopylae?

ALGREN:

(a grim smile)

Dead to the last man.

Katsumoto glances to him, smiles.

EXT. THE SAMURAI POSITION - CONTINUOUS

The First Division of the Imperial Army moves into the funnel,

their numbers reduced by the size of the access, and head

toward the barricade.

Katsumoto and Algren watch as they move closer and closer.

We are expecting the samurai to open fire, but they do not.

They just wait.

Finally the Imperial soldiers are in rifle range. They stop

to fire a volley.

Bullets begin hitting among the samurai. Many fall.

Algren nods to Katsumoto, Katsumoto then calls out a command

and the samurai retreat.

They race back toward the rear of the funnel.

The Imperial Army soldiers climb awkwardly over the first

barricade and pursue --

The samurai, meanwhile, have taken cover behind a second

barricade that had been hidden from the Imperial soldiers'

view. Now safely behind the second barricade, Katsumoto calls

out a command and --

The samurai fire!

500 arrows explode -- almost instantly followed by 500 more --

Like an image from Agincourt, the clouds of arrows sweep

across the sky --

Imperial Soldiers fall, the attack falters --

From behind the new barricades, archers fire FLAMING ARROWS,

that hit the old barricade. It EXPLODES INTO FLAMES, trapping

the Imperial Army between the two barricades.

And from the second barricade, two large CATAPULTS send balls

of flaming pitch into the already panicking soldiers.

EXT. OPPOSING HILL TOP - DAY

Colonel Bagley, Omura, several German advisers and Japanese

Officers watch through binoculars. Stunned. As the First

Wave is routed.

HAGLEY:

What the hell?

OMURA:

It seems Katsumoto will resist his

destiny.

(snaps an order)

Send in the second wave. Two

divisions.

EXT. BARRICADES - DAY

Algren and Katsumoto wait behind the second barricade. We

note that this barricade is the real thing.

Katsumoto removes a piece of shattered armor from his left

forearm, a bullet wound beneath. Algren looks over the

barricade.

They see Imperial soldiers using semaphore flags to

communicate with their commanders on the opposing hilltop.

KATSUMOTO:

How long?

ALGREN:

They need to regroup and report our

position. Then they'll come hard.

Katsumoto considers the bodies of the dead Imperial soldiers.

KATSUMOTO:

It is sad to see brave men die without

faces. You cannot tell one warrior

from another.

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