Samurai Trilogy (1954-1956)

11Sep08

Samurai I: Miyamato Musashi IMDB Link

Samurai II: Duel At Ichijoji Temple IMDB Link

Samurai III:  Ganryu Island Duel IMDB Link

Directed By: Hiroshi Inagaki

Written By: Hiroshi Inagaki

Starring: Toshirô Mifune

I’m completely down with Japan’s obsession with the Drangonball Z-ness. You know, the obsession with the giant spectrum of skill in anything where there is always a Michael Jordan somewhere. I’m so obsessed with the idea of a Jordan in any subject that I not only know there was a Jordan of lawyers out there but I want to know this guy’s story. Seriously, you know that in some time in history some lawyer was like 281-3 in cases and that he was feared, respected and a countless number of brash young bucks tried to take him down only to be owned.

This is probably why I love sports so much. Anyone who watched the gold medal match must’ve been equally blown away to see Lebron and D Wade willingly give Kobe the ball when it mattered because they all wanted to win. That’s fucking nuts that someone like Lebron would even think of giving it up but they knew, they all knew to get Kobe the ball. And if there’s a Jordan of lawyering and Jordan of hot dog eating contest, doesn’t that mean there has to be a Jordan of samurai?

Well there was and his whole life has probably been overblown but without a doubt he is legendary. The Samurai Trilogy tells the tale of real life Miyamato Musashi, formerly known as Takezo. The man was the living entity of anime fantasy, a Ryu but real, a wet dream for warriors. He seriously just walked the earth doing his own thing defeating everyone in sword fights over and over. He retired undefeated and wrote a still studied book “The Book of Five Rings”. How fucking awesome is that, a Jordan of fucking Samurai, a matchless samurai.

The trilogy is split up into 3 films each telling a very fairy tale-esque type of story. The first film sets up his origins as a wild crazy young kid with all the ambitious aspirations but going about it the wrong way. The second film is about his quest to become the greatest samurai ever as he walks the earth learning what it really means to be a samurai, not only the mastery of the blade but keeping the mind sharp. And the final film is about the aftermath, what it all came too, how he views life and his greatest and most famous duel ever in Japanese history.

All of the films were clearly the “big opener” of Japan at the time, the big studio film that had all the cash. It stars their biggest star ever in the history of film and a personal favorite of mine, Toshiro Mifune and it’s all backed in the crazy color array of what looks like technicolor. The movie is very old fashioned and has all the old movie qualities that seem, well, old fashioned. The music always rises up in a crash especially when the titles come up, the women are nothing but walking bags of cry-fest and the sets all look fake but stylish as they were mostly shot in a studio. There are also the big close-up embraces you never see anymore and the violence is no where near the level of detail we have today.

But the trilogy has all the great samurai/Japanese themes I love seeing on film but are hard to find: honor and dignity. Lots of people liken films to telling stories around the campfire, a way to pass on your values to the next generation and if anyone were to pinpoint the culture undoubtedly obsessed with honor it is Japan. The Samurai Trilogy was their way of trying to pass it on again to the next generation. This is where we started, this is how to live, this is how we should always live. And there’s something really romantic about honor, dignity and courage seen through the life of the greatest samurai ever. There are so many strangely human and weird emotions you watch when your watching Musashi mature into the legend he is.

My favorite of the three without a doubt is the second film as it tackles all the samurai things I love. We see Musashi amazing with the blade but unable to grasp why people hesitate to call him a samurai. We see a priest tell him his greatest strength is his greatest fault. We see his greatest ally and rival respect and revere his ability and want nothing but the goal of his life to challenge him to the greatest duel ever which we see in the third movie.

There’s a whole greek tragedy type story-line that is the B plot which was entertaining at times and tiresome at others. A former bride of his best friend and a woman he meets on the road fall in love with him, waiting for him, wanting him and their lives will be worthless without him. It’s funny how every single woman he meets falls madly in love with him and he has no thoughts about them.

I don’t know why but knowing there was this incredible warrior makes me happy. It’s as if this guy was born with the clear intention of wielding a sword to it’s utmost potential and the fact that someone could master a piece of steel so well to never be killed, to win over one hundred duels, to go undefeated is mind boggling to me. Then we have the fact that he had the duel vs the second greatest swordsman, man that’s awesome. It must’ve been like “The Rumble in the Jungle” but people are still talking about it over in Japan.

I wish I was a samurai. I’ve decided that I would have dedicated my whole time to learning some abstract weapon like one of the guys he fights, like a chain and sickle. Fuck a spear, that shit is whack.

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Tags: Jordan, Miyamato Musashi, movie review, Samurai Trilogy