Pure spiritual transcendence
I believe the fundamental message of this movie is about self belief and a conviction to follow through your beliefs. Though the act of killing (scum bag criminals) may be seen, by some, as immoral, and working for an organised crime syndicate is hardly an advised career choice :) the most noble aspect of this film is the absolute determination to live one's life to a strict set of codes as posed by the main character Forest Whitaker.

Basically there are two codes - the modern Mafia's and the ancient way of the samurai. Whitaker is the embodiment of an ancient samurai portrayed in a modern setting - silenced weapons take the place of katatas. This character's determination is admirable, even facing certain death, his belief and will does not falter, in fact he almost seems happy/(understands the meaning of it all).

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What I'm trying to say is that even though he kills people, working for an organised crime syndicate, in the end he transcends all this and becomes truly enlightened (or something). Even if a samurai's head were to be suddenly cut off, he/she should still be able to perform one more action with certainty, if one becomes like a revengeful ghost and shows great determination - though his/her head is cut off he/she should not die...

JUST WATCH THIS MOVIE!!!

enough said

Carl Owens