Samurai 1: Musashi Miyamoto

1955 | 92 min. | Director: Hiroshi Inagaki | TVMA
Musashi Miyamoto was the first entry in Japanese filmmaker Hiroshi Ingaki's Samurai trilogy. Toshiro Mifune is Takezo, a good-for-nothing from the farming village of Miyamoto, who dreams of becoming a samurai in 17th century Japan. Over the course of the first part, Takezo evolves from being a man filled with rage and violence who is looked upon by others as a wild animal to being Musashi Miyamoto, a man yearning for a deeper understanding of himself and what it takes to be a true warrior. When first released in the US, Samurai 1 was "clarified" by the narration of William Holden, an actor with a long-standing fascination and affection for all things Japanese. Based on a mammoth novel by Eiji Yoshikawa, Musashi Miyamoto was followed by Duel at Ichijoji Temple and Duel at Ganyru Island . All three films were eventually combined into an epic single entity, Samurai Trilogy.