Ujio

So, I just finished watching The Last Samurai, it's been a while since I last saw it.

The following clip below is hands down one of my all time favorite scenes in any movie.  I feel like it's not just a typical awesome martial arts fight for a couple of reasons...

The character Nathan Algren is a tormented man, who chooses to escape from his past by climbing inside of a whiskey bottle throughout the story.  This particular part takes place after he has lived in the samurai village for a short time, going through withdrawals and slowly evolving as a character.  Ujio beating the living hell out of him in a rainstorm... it's cool as hell of course, haha.  However,  I feel like it symbolizes not just the strong will of Algren, but a cleansing of his past and an awakening from his hypnosis of suffering.  It's like he is being beaten back into presence by Ujio.  That's how I view this scene anyway, I always get inspired watching it.

Here are a few sketches below I drew of Ujio.  I started with a color sketch of him and then started a black and white of the scene with him and Algren...

Here is the clip from the film...