#samurai trilogy

[chernobog13]

Toshiro Mifune as the legendary sword saint Musashi Miyamoto, and Kaoru Yachigusa as his long-suffering love, Otsu, in director Hiroshi Inagaki's Samurai Trilogy (1954-56).

[of-fear-and-love]

[cesarescabinet]

(this is spacekrakens lmao) dude idk anything about like 1950s Japanese cinema, do you have any recommendations? looking for stuff to toss on the watchlist now that I'm a bit burned out on horror (unless you have some horror recs)

Hey! If you’re curious about Japanese cinema (particularly 1950s), there’s a lot of avenues to explore! Musicals, crime, horror, historical—it all depends on what mood you’re in. (Putting this under a read more because I'm DEFINITELY going to be long posting about this!!!) Hope this is useful to you lol.

(Also noting if anybody wants to add to this list with their own recommendations feel free!!)

With old school Japanese cinema, I’ll always recommend Akira Kurosawa (obviously). He’s made some of the best Japanese movies (and arguably, the best movies of all time imo) and I feel like his work is a good gateway. It’s readily available on physical media/streaming too.

Specifically ‘50s stuff; Hidden Fortress (1958) is a good adventure flick whose structure was swiped for Star Wars, Throne of Blood (1957) is Japanese Macbeth if you like Shakespeare, and if you don’t mind a longer movie Seven Samurai (1954) includes Toshiro Mifune acting like this;

Gotta admit, though—my personal favorites from Kurosawa don’t come from the 1950s; Drunken Angel (1948) and Yojimbo (1961). One has a pathetic gangster as the main lead, the other is just a solid, breezy proto-action film (also has my beloved Unosuke but that's besides the point)

Some personal favorites of mine from the 1950s:

Life of a Horse Trader (1951) is a bittersweet story about a man trying to be a good single father to his son in the backdrop of Hokkaido. He tends not to be great at it. Stars Toshiro Mifune, the most famous face of Japanese cinema and for good reason!

Conflagration/Enjo (1958) is a single Buddhist acolyte’s fall into quiet insanity. Raizo Ichikawa is another amazing actor who I love! Also includes Tatsuya Nakadai who is the GOAT (in my heart).

Godzilla (1954) is AMAZING! If you liked Gozilla Minus One, it took a lot of familiar cues from this movie. It also technically counts as horror, depending on your definition.

Japanese horror from the 1950s:

Ugetsu (1951) (Not one I’ve seen personally, but it’s on Criterion)

The Beast Shall Die (1958) (American Psycho, but in Showa Japan. Tatsuya Nakadai is terrifying in this and absolutely despicable—stylish movie tho!)

Ghost of Yotsuya (1959) (Old-school Japanese ghost story. Honestly, there are so many different versions of this story on film that you can pick which version to watch and go from there—I’m partial to the 1965 version myself, because of the rubber rats and Tatsuya Nakadai playing a crazy person).

The Lady Vampire (1959) is the OG western-style vampire movie from Japan. Plays around with the mythos a lot, but hey our Dracula looks like this;

Misc movies that I think are neat or good gateway movies:

The Samurai Trilogy by Hiroshi Inagaki, which stars Toshiro Mifune as Miyamoto Musashi. Found that people otherwise uninterested in Japanese cinema really enjoyed this!

You Can Succeed, Too (1964) is one of my favorites from the ‘60s, also directed by Eizō Sugawa. A fun satire on the corporate world that's super colorful with catchy songs.

The Sword of Doom (1966) is also another favorite of mine, starring my beloved Tatsuya Nakadai as another bastard man (seriously though Ryunosuke is FASCINATING to me--). Fun gore effects and action scenes!

Kwaidan (1964) is an anthology of Japanese folk tales, labeled a horror film but in that kinda sorta old-school way. Beautifully shot by my favorite Japanese director Masaki Kobayashi (who, if you like this you should seriously check out his other work!)

[moviesiveseenandwanttoremember]

Hiroshi Inagaki's "宮本武蔵完結編　決闘巌流島" (Samurai III: Duel at Ganryu Island) January 3, 1956.

[retrocgads]

UK 1987

[onscreen-heartthrobs]

Toshiro Mifune in Hiroshi Inagaki’s “宮本武蔵” (Samurai I: Musashi Miyamoto) September 26, 1954.

[the-nightly-film]

June 14th, 2023

Unsurprisingly I finished off the trilogy with Samurai III: Duel at Ganryu Island (1956).

Since these films are maybe not as infamous to American audiences as some of Toshiro Mifune’s other samurai epics, I did not have overly high expectations of them like I do for some of his Kurosawa collaborations. HOWEVER, I am glad I began with these three films because Mifune’s performance as the infamous Musashi Miyamoto blew me out of the water. At the end of the film when he was in tears over Kojiro’s death, I cried with him.

The cinematography (especially the shot above) was breath taking all the way through and the costumes were unparalleled. Even though these films aren’t usually listed as specific inspirations to some of the movies that finally convinced me to start with the genre, I think they were a perfect introduction. You can see almost blatantly how the samurai film has influenced everyone from Clint Eastwood to George Lucas. This specific trilogy allows you to connect with the characters in ways that aren’t always accessible when constrained to a one and a half or two hour time frame. Understanding that Miyamoto was a real historical figure, it seems appropriate that he was given so much screen time. Even if there were several liberties taken with his life story.

I also fully understand why Mifune is considered one of the greats and while I respect his decision to turn the role down, I will always wonder what a world with his Obi-Wan Kenobi would have been like.

[ashitanozak]

Manga Vagabond by Takehiko INOUE vs The Movie "Samurai I: Musashi Miyamoto",

 both based on the novel "Musashi" by Eiji Yoshikawa.