Underplayed Gems

Life of an Expert Swordsman (1959)

Life of an Expert Swordsman poster
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
The 3D catalogue: film cases on wooden shelves, with the cat sitting at the counter next to its greeting.

The catalogue in 3D

The film shelves have a room of their own that you can walk around in. The cat behind the counter is the AI Catbot, and they pick real films from the same catalogue when you tell them what you feel like watching. Nothing is for sale, here or in there. Go in from here and this film is already out on the counter, with more like it waiting on the shelf next to it.

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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)

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