Plot Details: This opinion reveals major details about the movie's plot.

This is the third review in my ongoing Samurai Papers series. The first two reviews can be found HERE, and HERE.

In this review series I am endeavoring to look at Samurai films (as well as a few books), the themes that run through them, and the influence they have had on the films of the west.

This review will be the first in the series to look at a film not directed by Akira Kurosawa. However, this movie does star Toshiro Mifune. Mifune, as loyal readers will remember, starred in the other films we have considered. He is something of a theme in and of himself. We will notice him popping up again and again in these reviews.

Samurai 1 Musashi Miyamoto, directed by Hiroshi Inagaki, is the first part of a trilogy of films based on the novel Musashi Miyamoto by Eiji Yoshikawa.

The film follows Takezo, played by Toshiro Mifune (Seven Samurai, High and Low) in the year 1600. Japan is embroiled in a series of civil wars for control of the feudal state. Takezo and his young friend Matahachi, played by Rentaro Mikuni, go to join the fighting.

Their people are defeated. Takezo and Matahachi are both wounded and exhausted. They seek shelter with a woman and her daughter. While there Takezo fights off a group of bandits that have come to rob the woman. She then makes advances toward Takezo, and he flees.

Takezo returns to his village to find himself wanted. He hides in the forest while the villagers hunt him. Finally he is captured by a Buddhist priest who begins him down the path of learning to be a Samurai. It is no easy task.

Along the way we are given two separate love stories, and a look at a man who creates his own self destruction. It is a dark, and tragic tale. Of course, we only get the first third of the story from this film. Like a few recent movies (including LoTR, and The Matrix: Reloaded) we are left hanging in the middle of the story without any sort of satisfying conclusion. We shouldn’t be upset by this. It is, after all, a trilogy. Unfortunately the second and third installments are harder to locate than the first. Many viewers will find themselves longing for a conclusion that they may never be able to find.

This film is packed with information. It is hard to absorb it all in a single viewing. Each shot seems filled with important action, and nuance. This is a movie that cries out to be watched over and over again.

Inagaki's direction is flawless. He uses beautiful Japanese vistas, angry stormy skies, and muddy fields to create so many beautiful shots. He shares certain characteristics with the great Akira Kurosawa. Rain is a motif that runs through Kurosawa’s films. Here, the moment before it rains becomes a similar motif. There is something of dread in the blackened skies of this film. Storm clouds stand in as metaphor for the difficulties our hero will face as the story progresses. As the storm is building, so is his trouble.

The action scenes are beautifully choreographed. There is something operatic about the movement of the players in battle. Watching the fluid way the fighters move calls to mind the films of Woo, and his favorite actor Chow Yun Fat. Inagaki brings beauty to violence, and makes it into an art.

Toshiro Mifune may be Japan's greatest actor of all time. While this is not his best performance (see High and Low, or Seven Samurai for his best work) he is always believable. Mifune creates a moving and realistic performance. He is able to create nuance, and subtle emotion with a simple gesture, or a movement of his eyes. Mifune, who remains best known and loved for his work with Kurosawa, will also be remembered as the perfect Samurai. Yet, he was capable of carrying off virtually any role.

This film is not as well known in the west as Kurosawa’s work. For that reason it never served as a real influence on the movies of western film makers. Yet it stands within a tradition that has been influential. It carries some of the same themes, and style of presentation that would so deeply effect some of today’s best known directors.

Above all, this film is a great example of Mifune’s work beyond the films of Kurosawa. Unfortunately, most Americans will remember Mifune for roles in films like 1941, and Shogun. Neither of these movies properly capture the depth, the complexity of this fine actor.

I cannot say enough about the skill, and talent of the late Toshiro Mifune. If you haven’t guessed by now, he is one of my favorite actors. He could lend class to even the most dreadful film. Like Olivier and Welles, Mifune declined in his later years, lending his stature to lesser films, and even serving as a product pitch man. This film is a wonderful look at him before he fell from greatness.

Samurai I is a fine film. It is enjoyable, and exciting. Although not as great as some of the Samurai films of Akira Kurosawa, it is a great opportunity to view something in the genre other than those few films that most of us in the western world have become familiar with. In addition, it is another example of extraordinary acting on the part of Toshiro Mifune. I highly recommend this film not only to those interested in samurai films, but to anyone who loves the cinema and wishes to know more of its history. The lack of any sort of resolution does, in some small measure, detract from the overall enjoyment of this movie.

It is difficult to find a watch able version of this film. The Criterion DVD is the best available and even it contains so many flaws in the picture that it is hard to keep count. It is unfortunate that no one has gone through the trouble to restore this masterpiece. I was disappointed that Criterion, which usually presents beautiful pristine transfers, gave us this less than perfect rendition of the film. I expect better from them. But then, they recently released Armageddon, which shows that they may be losing it. The poor picture quality is a detriment to one’s ability to fully appreciate this nice film.

This has been the third in my ongoing review series which I call The Samurai Papers. The first two films reviewed were:

Yojimbo

Seven Samurai

The next review will change gears and look at a book. By way of background, we will consider The Hagakure, which is a manual for Samurai warriors.
After this brief digression we will return to looking at Samurai films.

I hope you are enjoying this series. See you soon.






Recommended: Yes

Viewing Format: DVD
Video Occasion: Fit for Friday Evening