Aru kengo no shogai

I really enjoyed this movie. Mifune (as Heihachiro) is a powerhouse throughout the movie in the lead role and has remarkable presence in all of his scenes. The first part of the movie is a little slow, but the movie begins to pick up half way through as the relationship between Heihachiro and Jutaro (Akira Takarada) develops.

There are some great moments you don't want to miss, especially the scenes between Mifune and Yôko Tsukasa. In one particular scene, he is covertly expressing his feelings for Lady Ochii, and it is extremely powerful. This is a solid overall Samurai flick, although it is a little light on the action and heavier on story.

The Japanese version of the famous play 'Cyrano de Bergerac', which tells the story of Komaki, a samurai/poet with a huge nose, who falls in love with a woman who loves another man.

It was the first film to feature Toshiro Mifune that I saw, outside the 'Kurosawa saga', and it is evident that he was not a product of Kurosawa, but rather a natural actor, one of the best that has ever been in cinema, in my opinion.

The narrative begins with a slow pace, but becomes exciting and with moments of great quality action as we enter the second act of the film.

It pulls on the viewer's feelings and emotions, in a subtle way, and leads him to sometimes have to choose between which character "deserves" to have a happy ending.

It is a poetic tragedy, well written, performed and that touches anyone, even those that aren't confortable with the Japanese cinematographic universe.

While I love Japanese versions of Western stories (such as Kurosawa's version of Macbeth--THRONE OF BLOOD), I guess I've just never been the biggest fan of the story of Cyrano. I have seen the José Ferrer and Gérard Depardieu versions and this film is at least as good--perhaps a little better due to its wonderful sense of artistry and the acting of Toshiro Mifune (though the other two did great jobs as well). The cinematography is exquisite and the poetic nature of the dialog is wonderful as well. But, because I knew exactly how the story would go, there was no suspense and this prevented the movie from receiving a higher score. THRONE OF BLOOD did receive a higher score because it was so unique in how it approached the material that it was almost a completely different story, but this one never veered far enough off course to make it more watchable. Excellent, but familiar.

Yes, it works! With Toshiro Mifune at his magnificent best it works remarkably well. Edmund Rostand's Cyrano was translated into Japanese early in its life. Consequently, it became a part of Japanese culture. That means that the more the Japanese sample and absorb from other cultures, the more fundamentally Japanese they become.

Toshiro Mifune is totally original and compelling as the Cyrano character. No, his nose does not proceed him by a quarter hour, like Rostand's French original. In Japan, large noses are relatively flat and spread out across the face. This Cyrano writes haiku and duels in classic Samurai style. Mifune is scruffy, earthy and throroughly engaging.

Some understandable liberties have been taken with Rostand's plot in order to make it consistent with Japanese culture. However, the climax remains absolutely consistent. It is as deeply felt and as moving as any Cyrano you will ever see. It is set in a a walled cherry orchard. As Mifune is dying, the cherry blossoms fall like snowflakes. Cyrano's dying words, "I fight on...", need no translation.

For fans of Cyrano; or Toshiro Mifune; or Samurai films; or great romantic stories; or even if you've never particularly liked any of them, this is one you don't want to miss.

I started this thinking it was going to be a fairly standard samurai movie (not that there's anything wrong with that!), but found out right before starting it that it was actually a version of Cyrano de Bergerac, except with samurai. This made it sound much more interesting, because I've seen a few takes on that story (off the top of my head, two direct adaptations, and Electric Dreams from the 1980s, if that counts), and it's always a satisfying tale.

I feel like it works pretty well here, but anyone expecting it to be the kind of Western-to-Japanese adaptation that someone like Kurosawa pulled off with films like Throne of Blood and Ran might want to temper their expectations a little. Maybe that's where my mind went, because Toshiro Mifune plays the lead role here, and though he was in plenty of great non-Kurosawa movies, it's sometimes hard to think of one of those guys without thinking of the other (I also watched High and Low last night, so that might be another reason for that).

Mifune's really good here, delivering a performance that can be equal parts funny and tragic. And the story here's fairly compelling, even if it's very direct of an adaptation, meaning those familiar with the narrative might find it a little less compelling/surprising as a result. But for good acting, solid filmmaking, and a little action here and there to keep things exciting, I'd say this makes for an overall pretty good time, and its positive qualities make Cyrano de Samurai worth a watch for fans of samurai movies and/or Toshiro Mifune.