Samurai II: Duel at Ichijoji Temple

I wasn't sure this second part of the trilogy would be better than the first part. It is mostly because Toshirô Mifune was the actor he was. In the first part, he's a silly, mistaken young man who thinks that war is cool and life's going to be easy. He'll make a hero of himself in the war and become a samurai. That film has him learning that becoming a samurai involves sacrifice and a lot of very hard work. This film opens with him proving that he has become a good warrior but still not yet a samurai. Not a silly boy anymore, though, and that's Mifune's strength as an actor. He shows us the path of this man's life, his foibles and his triumphs, and we have no trouble believing it. And empathizing as well. The second part is in color, but lit very darkly. It's rare that a scene takes place in the daytime. Sword fights take place at dusk and creeping around happens at night. The cinematography is even more incredible this time around, e.g., early silent (except for warrior yells and screams) battles through rice paddies and forests in the moonlight. There are more villainous characters in this part and it gets a little tough to keep everyone straight. In particular because there are two women in love with him from the first part and they continue to follow him and try to win his love in this part. I found the hand-wringing of the females quite irritating the further into the film I got. The women continually moan that they can't do anything else in life but follow him around. Yet he can't be with a woman because of his samurai code. His is a life of denial and heartbreak. I understand the oath he cannot break, but I find it difficult to accept the women's point of view. They supposedly love him because he's so honorable and better than all the other guys, but in fact he consistently ignores them. Are these women who only want what they can't have? I guess I'll have to wait for the third film to find out.

original title: Zoku Miyamoto Musashi: Ichijôji no Kettô
year: 1955
length: 104 min.
rating: 3.0
IMDB link: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0048579/combined