100 All-Time Films (To see the entire list, click here)
Hiroshi Inagaki’s The Samurai Trilogy (1954-1956) The films in the trilogy are Samurai I: Musashi Miyamoto, Samurai II: Duel at Ichijoji Temple, and Samurai III: Duel at Ganryu Island.
The novel based around these trilogy of films are considered to be the Gone with the Wind of Japan. It follows the character of Musashi Miyamoto and his journey from brash young solider to introspective samurai leading to his duel with the greatest opponent he can face. Played by the great Toshiro Mifune, Inagaki’s character study of Miyamoto is as good as it gets in cinema.
It is a biography on possibly the greatest swordsman who ever lived and is said to be a very accurate representation of his life. It is shot beautifully and unravels kind of slowly, but Musashi Miyamoto’s life is so interesting that you are willing to sit through it. This is a different Mifune role compared to his badassness in other films like Yojimbo or Samurai Rebellion. You always root for him but you feel extreme passion for his character’s journey. It’s all about him.
It is a bit melodramatic (like I said, it’s like Gone with the Wind) but if you enjoy that sort of film, you’ll love The Samurai Trilogy. You may not have heard of it but it should be talked about more among the canons of film history.
