Zoku Miyamoto Musashi: Ichijôji no kettô (1955)

User Rating:

7.5/10   

Director:

Hiroshi Inagaki

Writers:

Hideji Hôjô (play)
Hiroshi Inagaki (writer)

Release Date:

20 October 1967 (USA)

Genre:

Action | Adventure | Biography | Drama | History

Plot:

After years on the road establishing his reputation as Japan's greatest fencer, Takezo returns to Kyoto...

Plot Keywords:

Japan | Young | Katana | Second Part | Samurai

Cast

Toshirô Mifune	...	Musashi Miyamoto (Takezo)
Koji Tsuruta	...	Kojiro Sasaki
Mariko Okada	...	Akemi
Kaoru Yachigusa	...	Otsu
Michiyo Kogure	...	Dayu Yoshino
Mitsuko Mito	...	Oko, Akemi's mother
Akihiko Hirata	...	Seijuro Yoshioka
Daisuke Katô	...	Toji Gion
Kuroemon Onoe	...	Priest Takuan
Sachio Sakai	...	Matahachi Honiden
Yu Fujiki	...	Denshichiro Yoshioka
Machiko Kitagawa	...	Kogure
Eiko Miyoshi	...	Osugi, Matahachi's mother
Eijirô Tôno	...	Baiken Shishido
Kenjin Iida	...	Jotaro

Also Known As:

Duel at Ichijoji Temple (USA)
Ichijoji no ketto (Japan)
Musashi Miyamoto Sequel: Duel at Ichijoji Temple (literal English title)
Samurai (Part II) (USA)
Samurai 2: Duel at Ichijoji Temple
Samurai 2: Ichijôji no kettô
Samurai II: Duel at Ichijoji Temple (USA) (video title)
Swords of Doom
Zoku Miyamoto Musashi

Runtime:

104 min

Country:

Japan

Language:

Japanese

Color:

Color (Eastmancolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Australia:M

Filming Locations:

Toho Studios, Tokyo, Japan

Company:

Toho Company

Goofs:

Continuity: The levels of water and the mud in the rice paddies at Ichijoji Temple vary between shots.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Kill Bill: Vol. 1 (2003)

Kurosawa Nemesis

Having seen and loved most of Akira Kurosawa's samurai epics and after discovering that Tôshiro Mifune could glue me and anyone I ever introduced to him to a screen anytime, I figured I'd check out the Samurai trilogy, despite the fact that it wasn't Kurosawa. Inagaki crafted these films (in beautiful color, as opposed to B&W favored by Kurosawa at the time)while Kurosawa was also using Mifune for two of his most famous B&W films (seven Samurai, Hidden Fortress. The great Kurosawa dodged color for long since the process wasn't good enough by his standards yet. I wasn't expecting the visual feast on display here. Furthermore, Kurosawa's love for Noh theater often showed in his films, musically and in his direction, albeit to a masterful effect. This series of films is more accessible to a western audience in both aspects. Both directors boast different strengths, yet common aspects render their films grand, as they do this: sense of photography and of casting, great screenwriting abilities... and Mifune. Mifune most of all. You'd expect to have a strong leading man to carry such a trilogy, and you'd be right. But Mifune can hardly be summed up as only "good". Here, he displays even more than his swordsmanship and physical strength: he shows a trotured and honest humanity that lifts an already very good film into the higher class of truly great and powerful films. I chose to comment part 2 because it is a good sample of the trilogy, the middle chapter always being the most difficult one, often suffering of "bridge symptom". This one isn't that way. It is everything a middle part should be, keeping us entertained as much with its sharp dialogue as with one of the craziest fight scenes in history (think uneven odds and you'll still be far off) enforced by Mifune's mounting fury. Creating great anticipation for the trilogy's conclusion while being highly entertaining while steadily improving throughout on the already very good first film, this is the most satisfying second chapter in a trilogy (including Two Towers) that I've ever seen, bar Empire Strikes Back. Inagaki must have given Kurosawa many sleepless nights with prospects of rivalry. And the best part of it all? Knowing that there's more ahead and that, by most accounts, part 3 is even better! Masterpiece on its own, unmissable as a whole!