SAMURAI I: MUSASHI MIYAMOTO (1954)
Our latest entry in the films that inspired Disney+'s The Mandalorian - written by guest writer and first time blogger Ann Avallone....
First in a series of samurai films based on real-life Japanese samurai, Musashi Miyamoto who lived from 1584 to 1645. Won the 1955 Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film.
Fun Fact: The title character in the popular cartoon series Speed Racer in the 1960’s had a full name of Go Mifune in honor of the actor in the title role of this film, Toshiro Mifune.
Run Time: 93 mins
Genre: Drama, Action, Japanese
Format: 4:3 format, Color, Subtitled
Director: Hiroshi Inagaki
Starring: Toshiro Mifune, Rentaro Mikuni, Kuroemon Onoe, Kaoru Yachigusa
As a lover of classic movies, but a novice to samurai movies, I couldn’t help but see many similarities in this film to the classic westerns of the same era in Hollywood: The cinematography captured the director, Hiroshi Inagaki’s obvious love of both Japanese history and landscapes. Even the majestic opening music in the film is reminiscent of Hollywood westerns filmed in this era. The title character is a lone, heroic figure and is seen as an outlaw. He is known as “Lawless Takezo” and later a Ronin (a samurai warrior in feudal Japan who has no lord or master and is seen as a wanderer). He cannot get close to anyone, including the woman he loves, which further exemplifies his loner persona. Upon closer examination though, this movie enhances the stereotypical western character of the lone gunman by adding the spiritual element of a samurai’s growth and development as a warrior.
Takezo (Musashi Miyamoto’s given name) begins the film with a strong desire to leave his village of Miyamoto. He and his childhood friend Matahachi leave the village to fight in the battles being fought for supremacy in Japan in 1600. Matahachi is engaged to Otsu, another villager who faithfully waits for his return.
Takezo and Matahachi soon find out how difficult war is. Their army is being beaten by the opposition. They do not retreat as others do but dig trenches and continue to fight demonstrating their bravery. They both thought the road to becoming a samurai would be easy, but clearly, it is more complex than they realize.
The two friends wander off after the battle they have survived and find shelter where they can recover from the battle with Oko and Akemi, a mother and daughter. These two women masquerade as herb farmers, but in reality, make their living by stripping dead samurais of their valuables before the brigand comes.
The path to samurai is not only physical, but spiritual. Both Takezo and Matahachi are tested spiritually as they recover from their wounds. Matahachi proves to be the weaker of the two and attempts to force himself on Akemi and win her over when he knows his fiancé Otsu is faithfully waiting for him. Takezo conversely, has both Oko and Akemi throw themselves at him and he gallantly deflects them knowing that he has a more important calling.
The spiritual path Takezo must take really becomes the essence of the film after he believes that Matahachi has deserted him. Matahachi later marries Oko who ends up prostituting herself to support Matahachi and her daughter Akemi. He repeatedly proves his cowardice and lack of spirituality throughout the film. His lifepath is the antithesis of his friend Takezo’s lifepath.
When “Lawless Takezo” returns to his village of Miyamoto, his reputation of being an angry, violent warrior precedes him. He is a wanted man for his destructive behavior and refusal to answer to a lord or master. Takezo hides with his friend Matahachi’s mother. She lets the local people know where he is hiding and they attempt to capture him, but he escapes. The local priest, Takuan vows to capture him. Otsu joins the priest in his search and the two of them cleverly capture Takezo. When they return to the village, Takuan ties Takezo up in in a tree for days on end. This is where his spiritual journey begins to transform him.
Takuan tells Takezo that wisdom and strong virtues combined make a man. He continues to try to convince Takezo that he cannot become a samurai unless he studies and learns the value of wisdom and virtue. Takezo finally makes a spiritual breakthrough and cries out to Takuan, “Spare my life! I want to live! God help me live!”
Otso receives a letter from Matahachi’s wife, Oko telling her to forget about Matahachi. After learning this, Otsu sneaks over to the tree at night and begins asking Takezo about her fiancé Matahachi. Takezo reluctantly tells her that he will not come back to her. Otsu begins to realize that Takezo is a much stronger person than Matahachi. She struggles and lowers him from the tree. They run off together and are pursued because he is still considered an outlaw. Otsu is caught and taken to Himeji Castle. Takezo manages to get away.
Priest Takuan spots Takezo climbing up a hill near that castle attempting to rescue Otsu. Takuan tells him that Otsu is safe and asks him to follow. Takuan leads him to a small room in the castle and traps him there. The room is filled with books. Takuan tells Takezo that the room will be his for some time and that Otsu is safely sheltered near the bridge of Hanada. He advises Takezo to master the books and reflect on them. Priest Takuan then visits Otso at the bridge of Hanada and asks her if she will wait faithfully for Takezo. She says she will.
Three years pass and Takuan sees that Takezo is a warrior and man of exceptional qualities. He has grown spiritually and continues to grow morally. Takuan intervenes on Takezo’s behalf to the lord of Himeji Castle to ask if Takezo can serve as a samurai. The priest asks to give him a title appropriate for a samurai, “Miyamoto Musashi.” Takezo accepts the name and agrees to begin his moral training in preparation for service in the cause of Himeji Castle.
This marks the true beginning of the life of Musashi Miyamoto.
I really enjoyed this film because I could see its appeal to both men and women. Very few films have such broad appeal. There was lots of fighting and action as well as a love interest for the title character. I was particularly impressed with how strong many of the female characters were (both physically and mentally). To me, this was unexpected considering that this was a true story from hundreds of years ago.
I must admit that my favorite character was the priest, Takuan. His sense of humor and adept handling of Takezo was very entertaining. He played an integral part in Takezo’s development in becoming a samurai. The priest’s spirituality and how he communicated it was incredibly effective and inspiring to me. He was gentle, but obviously not a pushover, particularly when he strung Takezo up in the tree for days to teach him a lesson. I look forward to viewing the rest of the trilogy.
Toshiro Mifune was much more widely known for his work with director Akira Kurosawa. I can see his acting talent as well as physical agility in the choreographed fighting scenes in this film even though he was working with a lesser known director. Mifune had a very long, productive career which truly was a testament to his talents.
This entry was written by Ann Avallone. Ann’s passion for classic movies began with watching annual (pre VCR/DVD/DVR) television viewings of “The Wizard of Oz”, “It’s a Wonderful Life”, “King Kong” and Laurel & Hardy’s “March of the Wooden Soldiers” during her childhood. As a teenager, she would set her alarm clock to watch classic movies that only aired after midnight. Naturally, as an adult, she has watched Turner Classic Movies (TCM) faithfully. She is eternally grateful to Digging Star Wars founder Chris Mich for her first opportunity to write a blog entry! Ann and Chris are both members of the Classic Movie Fans of Philadelphia. Ann’s all-time favorite movies are “It’s a Wonderful Life”, “How Green Was My Valley”, “The Women”, and “Smilin’ Through”.
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| This image of the Criterion DVD Box cover was acquired from IMDB.com. |
First in a series of samurai films based on real-life Japanese samurai, Musashi Miyamoto who lived from 1584 to 1645. Won the 1955 Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film.
Fun Fact: The title character in the popular cartoon series Speed Racer in the 1960’s had a full name of Go Mifune in honor of the actor in the title role of this film, Toshiro Mifune.
Run Time: 93 mins
Genre: Drama, Action, Japanese
Format: 4:3 format, Color, Subtitled
Director: Hiroshi Inagaki
Starring: Toshiro Mifune, Rentaro Mikuni, Kuroemon Onoe, Kaoru Yachigusa
 |
| The writer of this blog entry, Ann Avallone at the TCM Film Festival 2019. |
As a lover of classic movies, but a novice to samurai movies, I couldn’t help but see many similarities in this film to the classic westerns of the same era in Hollywood: The cinematography captured the director, Hiroshi Inagaki’s obvious love of both Japanese history and landscapes. Even the majestic opening music in the film is reminiscent of Hollywood westerns filmed in this era. The title character is a lone, heroic figure and is seen as an outlaw. He is known as “Lawless Takezo” and later a Ronin (a samurai warrior in feudal Japan who has no lord or master and is seen as a wanderer). He cannot get close to anyone, including the woman he loves, which further exemplifies his loner persona. Upon closer examination though, this movie enhances the stereotypical western character of the lone gunman by adding the spiritual element of a samurai’s growth and development as a warrior.
Takezo (Musashi Miyamoto’s given name) begins the film with a strong desire to leave his village of Miyamoto. He and his childhood friend Matahachi leave the village to fight in the battles being fought for supremacy in Japan in 1600. Matahachi is engaged to Otsu, another villager who faithfully waits for his return.
Takezo and Matahachi soon find out how difficult war is. Their army is being beaten by the opposition. They do not retreat as others do but dig trenches and continue to fight demonstrating their bravery. They both thought the road to becoming a samurai would be easy, but clearly, it is more complex than they realize.
The two friends wander off after the battle they have survived and find shelter where they can recover from the battle with Oko and Akemi, a mother and daughter. These two women masquerade as herb farmers, but in reality, make their living by stripping dead samurais of their valuables before the brigand comes.
The path to samurai is not only physical, but spiritual. Both Takezo and Matahachi are tested spiritually as they recover from their wounds. Matahachi proves to be the weaker of the two and attempts to force himself on Akemi and win her over when he knows his fiancé Otsu is faithfully waiting for him. Takezo conversely, has both Oko and Akemi throw themselves at him and he gallantly deflects them knowing that he has a more important calling.
The spiritual path Takezo must take really becomes the essence of the film after he believes that Matahachi has deserted him. Matahachi later marries Oko who ends up prostituting herself to support Matahachi and her daughter Akemi. He repeatedly proves his cowardice and lack of spirituality throughout the film. His lifepath is the antithesis of his friend Takezo’s lifepath.
When “Lawless Takezo” returns to his village of Miyamoto, his reputation of being an angry, violent warrior precedes him. He is a wanted man for his destructive behavior and refusal to answer to a lord or master. Takezo hides with his friend Matahachi’s mother. She lets the local people know where he is hiding and they attempt to capture him, but he escapes. The local priest, Takuan vows to capture him. Otsu joins the priest in his search and the two of them cleverly capture Takezo. When they return to the village, Takuan ties Takezo up in in a tree for days on end. This is where his spiritual journey begins to transform him.
Takuan tells Takezo that wisdom and strong virtues combined make a man. He continues to try to convince Takezo that he cannot become a samurai unless he studies and learns the value of wisdom and virtue. Takezo finally makes a spiritual breakthrough and cries out to Takuan, “Spare my life! I want to live! God help me live!”
 |
| Image acquired from IMDB.com |
Otso receives a letter from Matahachi’s wife, Oko telling her to forget about Matahachi. After learning this, Otsu sneaks over to the tree at night and begins asking Takezo about her fiancé Matahachi. Takezo reluctantly tells her that he will not come back to her. Otsu begins to realize that Takezo is a much stronger person than Matahachi. She struggles and lowers him from the tree. They run off together and are pursued because he is still considered an outlaw. Otsu is caught and taken to Himeji Castle. Takezo manages to get away.
Priest Takuan spots Takezo climbing up a hill near that castle attempting to rescue Otsu. Takuan tells him that Otsu is safe and asks him to follow. Takuan leads him to a small room in the castle and traps him there. The room is filled with books. Takuan tells Takezo that the room will be his for some time and that Otsu is safely sheltered near the bridge of Hanada. He advises Takezo to master the books and reflect on them. Priest Takuan then visits Otso at the bridge of Hanada and asks her if she will wait faithfully for Takezo. She says she will.
Three years pass and Takuan sees that Takezo is a warrior and man of exceptional qualities. He has grown spiritually and continues to grow morally. Takuan intervenes on Takezo’s behalf to the lord of Himeji Castle to ask if Takezo can serve as a samurai. The priest asks to give him a title appropriate for a samurai, “Miyamoto Musashi.” Takezo accepts the name and agrees to begin his moral training in preparation for service in the cause of Himeji Castle.
This marks the true beginning of the life of Musashi Miyamoto.
 |
| Image acquired at tvtropes.org |
I really enjoyed this film because I could see its appeal to both men and women. Very few films have such broad appeal. There was lots of fighting and action as well as a love interest for the title character. I was particularly impressed with how strong many of the female characters were (both physically and mentally). To me, this was unexpected considering that this was a true story from hundreds of years ago.
I must admit that my favorite character was the priest, Takuan. His sense of humor and adept handling of Takezo was very entertaining. He played an integral part in Takezo’s development in becoming a samurai. The priest’s spirituality and how he communicated it was incredibly effective and inspiring to me. He was gentle, but obviously not a pushover, particularly when he strung Takezo up in the tree for days to teach him a lesson. I look forward to viewing the rest of the trilogy.
Toshiro Mifune was much more widely known for his work with director Akira Kurosawa. I can see his acting talent as well as physical agility in the choreographed fighting scenes in this film even though he was working with a lesser known director. Mifune had a very long, productive career which truly was a testament to his talents.
 |
| Ann Avallone with TCM Host Alicia Malone at the 2019 TCM Film Festival. |
This entry was written by Ann Avallone. Ann’s passion for classic movies began with watching annual (pre VCR/DVD/DVR) television viewings of “The Wizard of Oz”, “It’s a Wonderful Life”, “King Kong” and Laurel & Hardy’s “March of the Wooden Soldiers” during her childhood. As a teenager, she would set her alarm clock to watch classic movies that only aired after midnight. Naturally, as an adult, she has watched Turner Classic Movies (TCM) faithfully. She is eternally grateful to Digging Star Wars founder Chris Mich for her first opportunity to write a blog entry! Ann and Chris are both members of the Classic Movie Fans of Philadelphia. Ann’s all-time favorite movies are “It’s a Wonderful Life”, “How Green Was My Valley”, “The Women”, and “Smilin’ Through”.
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