Miyamoto Musashi (1954/I)

Director:

Hiroshi Inagaki

Writers:

Hideji Hôjô (play)
Hiroshi Inagaki (writer)

Release Date:

18 November 1955 (USA)

Genre:

Action | Adventure | Biography | Drama | History

Plot:

With his closest friend, Matahachi, Takezo (the town's wild, orphan kid) leaves his village to join an army on its way to battle...

Plot Keywords:

Samurai | Warrior | First Of Series | Jidai Geki | Japan

Awards:

1 win

Cast

Toshirô Mifune	...	Musashi Miyamoto (Takezo)
Rentarô Mikuni	...	Honiden Matahachi
Kuroemon Onoe	...	Takuan Osho
Kaoru Yachigusa	...	Otsu
Mariko Okada	...	Akemi
Mitsuko Mito	...	Oko, Matahachi's wife
Eiko Miyoshi	...	Osugi, Matahachi's mother
Akihiko Hirata	...	Seijuro Yoshioka
Kusuo Abe	...	Temma Tsujikaze
Eitarô Ozawa	...	Terumasa Ikeda (as Sakae Ozawa)
Akira Tani	...	Kawarano-Gonroku
Seijiro Onda	...	Chief Official
Fumito Matsuo	...	Petty Official
Masanobu Ôkubo	...	Petty Official
Jirô Kumagaya	...	Villager

Also Known As:

Master Swordsman
Musashi Miyamoto (USA) (video title)
Samurai
Samurai 1: Musashi Miyamoto
The Legend of Musashi

Runtime:

93 min

Country:

Japan

Language:

Japanese

Color:

Color (Eastmancolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Australia:PG

Company:

Toho Company

Movie Connections:

Featured in The 79th Annual Academy Awards (2007) (TV)

Rent All Three

This title is really only the first part of a three-part story of the early life of Musashi, the legendary Samurai. The three parts were released separately and Criterion DVD has released them on three separate discs, each disc about an hour and a half to two hours long. You can try to watch the first disc alone, it stand by itself, but it ends just as Mushashi starts out on his quest, and you'll miss Koji Tsuruta's serene and slightly creepy role as Kojiru, Musashi's arch-enemy, which for me was the best part of parts 2 and 3.

The DVDs feature not very well restored prints, maybe it was the best they could do, and there is no supplemental material.

The movie itself is a fun and lively retelling of the legend. Mifune is more wooden than usual, but this is a time when Japanese action films were taking their cues from westerns, and his Musashi grows from a wild spirit to the requisite strong, silent type. For a modern, charismatic, manga-style Musashi, try to get your hands on 2003's "Musashi" NHK miniseries.