Miyamoto Musashi: Ganryû-jima no kettô (1965)

Director:

Tomu Uchida

Writers:

Naoyuki Suzuki (adaptation), Tomu Uchida (adaptation),

Stars:

Kinnosuke Nakamura, Ken Takakura, Wakaba Irie

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Kinnosuke Nakamura	...	Miyamoto Musashi (Takezo)
Ken Takakura	...	Sasaki Kojiro
Wakaba Irie	...	Otsu
Chieko Naniwa	...	Grandmother Osugi
Isao Kimura	...	Hon'iden Matahachi
Yoshinobu Kaneko	...	Misawa Iori
Michiyo Kogure	...	Oko
Satomi Oka	...	Akemi
Kusuo Abe	...	Fuchikawa Goroku
Chôichirô Kawarazaki	...	Kichijiro Hayashi
Koreya Senda	...	Hon'ami Koetsu
Zeko Nakamura	...	Zushi Nojisuke
Sumiko Hidaka	...	Court Lady
Shinnosuke Ogata	...	Kawajo no Kumagoro
Takahiro Tamura	...	Yagyu Tajima

Storyline

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Plot Keywords:

jidai geki | sequel | fifth part | based on novel

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Genres:

Action | Drama

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Details

Country:

Japan

Language:

Japanese

Release Date:

4 September 1965 (Japan)

Also Known As:

Miyamoto Musashi: Musashi vs Kojiro

Company Credits

Production Co:

Toei Company

Technical Specs

Runtime:

121 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Connections

Follows Miyamoto Musashi: The Duel at Ichijoji (1964)

User Reviews

Fifth and final

For anyone who hasn't seen the first four films, never fear. This episode begins with quite a long recap. But beware ! Some of the recap misrepresents the story. But no matter. Episode 5 is pretty good, in fact nearly as good as the first ep.

All the familiar characters are still there. Otsu (MM's great love), Akemi, Matahachi (his former fellow soldier), old lady Osugi (still doggedly trying to defeat MM), and even the return of Priest Takuan (the man responsible for MM's journey towards enlightenment). But most of all, the boastful, long-haired and long-sworded Kojiro Sasaki. Most of the final ep builds up to MM's battle with KS. However, the highlights for me were Takuan's brief appearances (this guy is just so likeable !) and another love scene between Otsu and MM. Curiously, there is also quite a lot of humour in this one. For instance, the scenes featuring the horse traders, who initially try to oppose MM but soon become his faithful followers, are simply hilarious.

I found the final battle with KS to be quite a letdown, particularly as it was to be the climax of the series.

But, again, no matter, this is still well worth watching. Either as part of the series or on its own.