lokko53
A fascinating conclusion to a legendary character. Like the previous film, this one focuses on one particular event of the real life Musashi: the duel at Ganryu Island. In the previous film Musashi undergoes a transformation at the end where he realizes that there is no benefit in seeking to kill his opponents. He has matured and is no longer interested in instigating duel matches. It begins the section on Musashi interestingly with a match by Zen monks where a young arrogant monk challenges anyone in public.Throughout the film Musashi is constantly assessing each situation and trying to choose the humble path. In the first film we catch a glimpse through dialogue that Musashi farmed the land and was unhappy, but now that he has lived his dream as a samurai he returns to the farming life in order to protect a defenseless village. Before returning to farming Musashi lived in a city where he considered becoming an employed samurai but instead avoids it and starts to take up wood crafting Mahayana buddhas. He leaves when he was set to duel with Kojiro Sasaki who had been waiting for Musashi to gain in prominence in order to benefit from his victory in the duel.Musashi postpones the fight for a year and the final scene sequence presents the duel match as the climactic scene. The final scene was masterfully choreographed and a memorable samurai duel on the beach side as the sun rises in the morning. There is not much fighting per se, but the build up of suspense and style is excellent.This film also relies on the continued obsession of Otsu and Akemi with Musashi and his unreturned love. Musashi is truly concerned with virtue and wants to avoid misleading women when his true love remains the life of a samurai. Musashi is tortured by the last scene with Otsu in the second film where he threw himself over her and she rejected him. He felt that he had committed a rash, dishonorable action, while in truth she was simply conflicted. The third film opens up with a monologue by Kojiro Sasaki where his obsession with fame includes the killing of Musashi provides a chilling introduction into his character. Sasaki becomes the paradigm of unfettered fame at all costs. Otsu who followed him out of confusion, finally decides to leave him and seek out Musashi. Again, the women present themselves as strong characters still at the mercy of savage men.There is a sense of flawed portrayals of the female characters. While at times they are multi-dimensional characters, at other times it can come across as soap opera type acting and plot wise. In addition, the story of Musashi as the ideal samurai is difficult to accept given our cynical age, but Musashi is a Japanese folk hero that has been influential to Japanese virtue for over 400 years. Mifune does provide depth to the character, but is limited given the goodness that the character represents within a patriotic context.Nevertheless, the film represents excellent story telling and cinematography that stands the test of time. While the presentation of the ideal samurai will die in the coming years with the birth of the anti-hero by Kurosawa, this is a quintessential trilogy for the historical appreciation of the genre that in a few years would reinvent itself and influence western film making.While the Musashi Miyamoto trilogy is far from historical accuracy, they provide an entertaining introduction to this Japanese character that transcends time.
ebiros2
Although this is a samurai movie, story is far more than just sword fights. Musashi Miyamoto is perhaps the most famous swordsman in Japan. He starts from a humble beginning to become the best sword fighter in Japanese history. His arch rival Kojiro Sasaki is hounding him to a duel. Kojiro is also a master swordsman. Based on a novel by Eiji Yoshikawa, the final chapter of Musashi trilogy focuses on meeting between Musashi and his arch rival Kojiro Sasaki. The two battles in the most famous duel in Japanese history at Ganryu island.I've read Yoshikawa's novel before seeing this trilogy, and the battle sequences are less gritty than the way they are depicted in the novel. This is perhaps not to portray Musashi as a mean swordsman.There's dignity, and consideration for other human in Musashi. The caliber of people living a humble life around him seems to have dignity and innocence that's not seen these days. As a society, we are definitely going down hill compared to the times this movie was made.You get to see young Toshiro Mifune , Kaoru Yachigusa, and Mariko Okada in their prime delivering their A list performances.A very classy film that's worth watching.
DICK STEEL
I thought it was interesting as it was also a contrast between real life experience and the real deal, versus one who learns from books. Takezo's fame and fortune comes from the countless of duels he had overcome, and each dispatching of an opponent builds upon his reputation. For Kojiro's case, here's one lesser known samurai, no doubt skilled as we learn from Part 2 in his attainment of a certificate from a top school, but knows no fame like Takezo's. While he is competent, many such as the Shogun still seeks out the tried and tested for his troops' training, preferring very much someone who has shown mettle from his battle scars, versus a textbook warrior. Hence Kojiro's envy just grows to a level of a glory seeker where he takes a step forward, and issues a duel challenge. Kojiro's evilness becomes more pronounced here, in the way he kills just to lure our hero out.We continue to see the mellowing changes to Takezo, in a very restraint introduction in a fight sequence no less, and quite unlike his younger, brash self, there's a very different, almost Zen approach to various situations, though still no pushover if the situation calls for his drawing of the sword. His skills have grown considerably, and in a key scene we see him gaining admiration without physical violence, and earns a disciple in the process. In this installment, an episode with the Lord Shogun's teacher puts him off totally, where he learns of there being no glory in dead men, that he turns toward a higher calling, to help poor villages in need of protection against bandits, in a sort of Seven Samurai way. Hence his turning back to a dream of being a farmer, and with his estranged lover Otsu (Kaoru Yachigusa) joining him in an attempt for reconciliation, Takezo has his hands full with their brand of restrained emotional love getting a little more airtime, though at least it results in closure from the open-endedness in the second film.There are still a number of shortcomings of course, and it stemmed from the introduction of characters in the final arc of the story, such as Kojiro's lover Omitsu (Michiko Saga), who serves little purpose than to pepper the trilogy with yet another weak woman character (though of course, quite in line with the times), and for her and her family to serve some pride in having Kojiro as a relative-to-be after his appointment by the Shogun. Little is seen beyond the demonstration of class, and for conversational pieces with Kojiro to highlight his inner desire and turmoil. Takezo's childhood friend Matahachi (Sachio Sakai) also gets conveniently forgotten here, despite my feeling that he could have played a larger role in the lead up to the finale. But he's relegated to a support character, undeserving of a proper sending off.The most startling development belonged to Akemi (Mariko Okada), the tragic character whose unrequited love gives her new found strength to do something quite despicable in the series. As the adage goes, hell hath no fury like a woman scorned, and although the character becomes somewhat negative in her outlook, with vengeance and jealous rage clouding her mind, it's a far cry from the helpless, innocent lass that she started out as, no thanks to a shameful episode from the past that pushed her somewhat over the edge of desperation, especially when her dreams and hopes get dashed, being a character cornered. While some would like to argue that the best fights are to be found in the second film of the series, I thought the ultimate one, happened to be here (saving the best for last of course), where 2 top pugilist arrange to meet in a death match, each understood that the other stands in their way to claim top honours. And the steady progression made by Takezo can be demonstrated none other than his carefully crafted weapon while en route to the fabled Ganryu island, where he takes a wooden oar and shapes it into his final weapon of choice.I thought this had plenty of significance in pugilistic stories of the East. Famed swordsman usually has precious swords in their possession, and one of the best in Chinese author Louis Cha's folklore is - whose name I literally translate - "Lonely, Seeking Defeat", a top pugilist who nickname spells out his frustration at being alone at the top, and without an opponent of his equal to spar with. Amongst the weapons that he has at the time of death include a humongous iron sword, and a humble wooden one. I suppose the latter will be one's weapon of choice just because one has no need of weapons that could maim or kill. Only a confident exponent would choose to utilize a weapon from that material against an opponent with a conventional weapon, and Takezo through this simple aspect, has shown supreme assuredness over Kojiro Sasaki's long katana "Clothes Rod", and his famed move, the "Swallow's Tail".So what's my verdict of the Samurai Trilogy? It's a lot better than expected despite the transfer showing the age of the film. It moves at snail's pace no doubt, but has a couple of highly intense, though at times short, fight sequences that are still capable of wowing a modern audience. At its core, a solid story about a legend's life from zero to hero, and a transformation within himself in order to pursue a higher calling.
espinal
I have seen the three films in one shot, and I have to say: AMAZING ! Samurai's life is a must know: honor, proud, philosophy it was a way of life. The three films from Inagaki are really great: good photography, well directed moving camera, it really seems that you are eating rice in the middle of the 17th century in Japan. This is also due to the language, its japanese...yes Japanese, but doesn't matter because it's better ! The strength in the talks are only comprehensive in the native language. If you like adventure, historical, romance or action movies you MUST see this three films (cannot be considered one to one). Inagaki received the Oscar in 1955 for Samurai I, thats all. And enjoy!
