Samurai III: Duel at Ganryu Island (1956)

Musashi Miyamoto is challenged to a duel by a confident swordsman Sasaki Kojiro. He agrees to fight him in a year's time.

Director:

Hiroshi Inagaki

Writers:

Hideji Hôjô (play), Hiroshi Inagaki

Stars:

Toshirô Mifune, Mariko Okada, Kôji Tsuruta

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Kôji Tsuruta	...	Kojiro Sasaki
Toshirô Mifune	...	Musashi Miyamoto (Takezo)
Kaoru Yachigusa	...	Otsu
Michiko Saga	...	Omitsu
Mariko Okada	...	Akemi
Takashi Shimura	...	Sado Nagaoka the court official
Minoru Chiaki	...	Sasuke the boatman
Takamaru Sasaki	...	Omitsu's father
Daisuke Katô	...	Toji Gion
Haruo Tanaka	...	Kumagoro the horse thief
Kichijirô Ueda	...	Priest Ogon
Kokuten Kôdô	...	Old Priest Nikkan
Ikio Sawamura	...	Innkeeper
Nakajirô Tomita
Sônosuke Sawamura

Storyline

A humble and simple Takezo abandons his life as a knight errant. He's sought as a teacher and vassal by Shogun, Japan's most powerful clan leader. He's also challenged to fight by the supremely confident and skillful Sasaki Kojiro. Takezo agrees to fight Kojiro in a year's time but rejects Shogun's patronage, choosing instead to live on the edge of a village, raising vegetables. He's followed there by Otsu and later by Akemi, both in love with him. The year ends as Takezo assists the villagers against a band of brigands. He seeks Otsu's forgiveness and accepts her love, then sets off across the water to Ganryu Island for his final contest.

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Plot Keywords:

japanese history | felling tree | cutting wood | cutting down a tree | becoming a farmer | 

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Genres:

Action | Adventure | Drama | Romance

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Certificate:

Not Rated

Did You Know?

Trivia

This film is part of the Criterion Collection, spine #16.

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Goofs

When Okaya is fighting Sasaki, the position of his spear when he removes the covering changes between the close and the long shots.

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Quotes

Akemi: Toji, you were there when she was killed!

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Connections

Featured in Bye Bye Jupiter (1984)

User Reviews

A great finale to a mythic trilogy

It has been more than a decade since I first and last saw this movie, and it still haunts me. This whole trilogy of films, about two rival samurai in medieval Japan, is mythic. It even inspired me to write a poem-- which I will spare you. It is not just a male flick, either. The sub-plot about Otsu is very romantic, though in a non-feminist, self-sacrificial way. On the other hand, she is the only character who gets what she wants. She just has to wait through three movies to have it. Throughout the trilogy, Mifune plays the famous samurai Musashi Miyamoto who develops from an outlaw wild-man in the first movie to a mystic philosopher in this one. While his rival, Kojiro, possesses consummate skill, Musashi achieves, in this film, a graceful detachment which almost makes him resist the climactic sword fight. But swashbuckler fans need not worry because the final confrontation is spectacular.

Details

Country:

Japan

Language:

Japanese

Release Date:

November 1967 (USA)

Also Known As:

Bushido

Filming Locations:

Japan

Company Credits

Production Co:

Toho Company

Technical Specs

Runtime:

105 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color (Eastmancolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1