The Twilight Samurai

In the last years before the Meiji Restoration, Seibei Iguchi (Hiroyuki Sanada) holds a low samurai post and a salary that barely feeds his two daughters and his mother, whose mind is failing. When Tomoe (Rie Miyazawa), a childhood friend, comes back into their lives, the house gets warmer, but Seibei's rank and his sense of what a samurai owes still hold him back. Yoji Yamada films the cramped rooms and daily chores in quiet, plain detail.