Sean Lamberger Kurosawa regular Toshiro Mifune stars as an unfocused ball of furious youthful energy in this first installment of the famed Samurai Trilogy. As Takezo, the adopted black sheep of a small feudal village, Mifune is wild, passionate and unfocused in his quest for adventure and respect. Seeking a romanticized status as samurai, he rushes off to join the losing side of a civil war, enticing his best friend to tag along in search of similar fame and fortune. What follows is a broad adventure across the landscapes of Japan, chance encounters with a colorful batch of faces, and an awful lot of unresolved plot threads. As can be expected with the first act of any saga, there isn't much finality to be found here; it really seems as though we're only beginning to scratch the surface when the curtain drops, and that compete lack of closure left me feeling a touch jilted, justifiably or not. Later chapters have a wealth of storytelling riches to expand upon, though, with two rebellious youths beginning to come of age in vastly different ways, a fistful of foils closing in on each, an unresolved love triangle muddying the waters and a clear-cut destination on the horizon. On its own, this is little more than an incomplete tease. In the context of a three-film arc, though, it's much more digestible as a rich, diverse pin-setter. I want more.

ebiros2 Although this is a samurai movie, story is far more than just sword fights. Musashi Miyamoto is perhaps the most famous swordsman in Japan. He starts from a humble beginning to become the best sword fighter in Japanese history. Based on a novel by Eiji Yoshikawa, the first chapter of Musashi trilogy focuses on seminal years of Musashi as he grows up as Takezo Shinmen in the village of Miyamoto. He's rambunctious youth that needs discipline and education. He receives his first lessons from monk Takuan. He also meets the love of his life Otsu, his childhood friend Matahachi, and Akemi.There's dignity, and consideration for other human in Musashi. The caliber of people living a humble life around him seems to have dignity and innocence that's not seen these days. As a society, we are definitely going down hill compared to the times this movie was made.You get to see very young Toshiro Mifune , Kaoru Yachigusa, and Mariko Okada in their prime delivering their A list performances.A very classy film that's worth watching.

MisterWhiplash I watched the first part of the Musashi Miyamoto trilogy, dubbed simply Samurai 1 on the video, thinking that it might be a lot more stylish &/or violent than I was led to believe. It is the first part, but of the second part it is but only up to a point. This is a 1950s style epic tale through and through, and the violence is done in a kind of sweepingly done style, where it goes by fairly quick, no blood at all, though all the while there's the sense of loss that goes with seeing, for example, the big battle sequence early on. This is a trilogy that I saw long ago, but this one, along with some scenes from 2 and 3, sticks out in my mind to this day. There's a lot of touching care taken in what was Hiroshi Inagaki's power as a filmmaker. Like a Hollywood director actually more than a typical Japanese director, one might say, his take on the legendary samurai Miyamoto is one of reverence but wisdom, of production values of the highest standard (of the studio standard of Toho at the time), with brilliant color photography putting the colors in striking displays throughout at a time when Japan was first getting into it. If it's less than really great, like a Kurosawa film, it's maybe because Inagaki is a little too comfortable at times with what's 'safe' in the story, particularly with the romance between Takezo/Musashi (Toshiro Mifune) and Otsu (Kaoru Yachigusa). This actually becomes a little more unbelievable at times in parts 2 and 3, but for the sake of its magisterial, dedicated studio roots, it's not that bad, most notably the final scene at the bridge. Some of the plot on the first viewing may not be completely clear, at least through parts of the middle section involving the betrayals and Takezo's friend Matahachi's relationship with Oko. There are one or two really noteworthy supporting performances, like from Mitsuko Mito as Oko. But it's really Mifune's show here, and he plays Takezo in this film like a more naive but still as ambitious and unruly version of his character in Seven Samurai. He's not altogether, but he has it in him to be more, which of course then leads out into the rest of the trilogy. It's one of his better performances outside of his work with Kurosawa, and it gets better as the films go on.Of course, it's best to start here with Inagaki's passionate, rousing work, and even if it isn't the best of the three it still has its high points. It's a very good example of an 'old-school', big-budget Toho picture with their brand of excitement and romance. If you're thinking it will be as graphic or darkly comic as Kurosawa's films though, it's not really here (though only in little sparks, as is more Inagaki's straghtforward style).

mtwmtw The first of a trilogy that really should be viewed as a whole. This elegant film tells of the very humble beginnings of Miyamoto Mushashi, who has become a paragon of Bushido and Giri. A Samurai's Samurai.However, you have no inkling of this at the beginning of the movie. What we see is dirt and squalor and a desperate chance to get out from beneath the mud. It all goes wrong and things look desperate.As the movie progresses in the slow, methodical, often obtuse, Japanese fashion we become engrossed in the plot and the lives of our protagonists. Toshiro Mifune shows a vast range of emotion, power and character growth in these this movie. To get the full flavour of the story you must also watch the next two movies in this trilogy (2) "Duel at Ichijoji Temple"(1955) (USA)and (3) "Duel on Ganryu Island" (1956)(USA.