Life of an Expert Swordsman (1959)

Original title

或る剣豪の生涯

Directed by

Hiroshi Inagaki

Genre

drama film, Jidaigeki

Country

Japan

Runtime

1h 51m

Rating

6.9 of 10 from 19 voters

Elsewhere

IMDb

How it feels

A samurai with great skill in swordsmanship is secretly in love with a princess. He helps a handsome but less talented rival win her affection.

melancholictragicwittyromantichonorablenostalgicbitter-sweetpaced

What happens

Life of an Expert Swordsman (Japanese: 或る剣豪の生涯, Hepburn: Aru kengo no shōgai) is a 1959 samurai film directed by Hiroshi Inagaki and starring Toshiro Mifune. Its story is an adaptation of the 1897 Edmond Rostand play Cyrano de Bergerac, and its basic plot faithfully follows that of the play. The film was released in the English-speaking world with the title Samurai Saga. In the film, Mifune plays a samurai named Heihachiro Komaki, who is analogous to the Cyrano character. Yoko Tsukasa plays Komaki's love interest, Princess Chiyo, who is analogous to Cyrano's love interest, Roxane. At the end of the film, when the mortally wounded Komaki visits Princess Chiyo at her convent to bring her the latest news of the outside world, he mentions the defeat of Kojirō Sasaki in a duel by the famed samurai Musashi Miyamoto. Prior to filming Life of an Expert Swordsman, Mifune had played Miyamoto in Samurai Trilogy, also directed by Inagaki, which chronicled Miyamoto's life, culminating in his legendary duel with Sasaki. (from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA)

More like this

• Chikamatsu's Love in Osaka (1959)
• Samurai II: Duel at Ichijoji Temple (1955)
• Tsukigata Hanpeita: Hana no maki; Arashi no maki (1956)
• Sansho the Bailiff (1954)
• New Tale of Zatoichi (1963)
• 血斗水滸伝 怒涛の対決 (1959)
• ほんだら剣法 (1965)
• Satan's Sword II (1960)