Lessons from The Last Samurai Part 1

Act 1 -- Establishing Stakes

Ken Watanabe as Katsumoto, Last Samurai, 2003 Warner Bros. Editorial use.

The Last Samurai (2003 Warner Bros) is one of my favorite movies and it has popped up in both conversation and otherwise so often in the last month that I decided it was time to finally talk about it. I’m going to approach it from a writer’s viewpoint, not a historical one.

Know th…