Duel à Ichijoji

Samurai II picks up where the first film left off; Takezo, now Miyamoto Musashi (Toshiro Mifune) has been released by the priest and is clearly more disciplined after having absorbed his teaching. After we see him dispatch a foe swinging a wicked kusarigama, however, an old man who's witnessed the affair comments that he lacks chivalry, and taking this next step in his development is the subject of this installment in the trilogy. Mifune is wonderful and joined by many of the characters from the first film, as well as the leader of an unscrupulous samurai school (Akihiko Hirata) and another samurai, Sasaki Kojiro, who is clearly on the path to higher development (Koji Tsuruta). Unfortunately, while there are some really fine moments, narratively the film is bit tangled, which kept me from truly loving it.

For one thing, I think it was a mistake to have Musashi meet Otsu (Kaoru Yachigusa) again so early in the story, then to have another dramatic scene where he tells her he's chosen the way of the sword instead of the way of love, since this had already had been done with great effectiveness at the end of the first film. Later he's also tempted by a courtesan in a scene reminiscent of the widow and her daughter trying to seduce him, and naturally, he rebuffs her too. The main story line is Musashi and it consists mostly of him turning down women throwing themselves at his feet or being hunted by his enemies, which I didn't find all that creative.

Meanwhile, there are lots of other subplots, none of which are satisfying. There is one involving the widow's daughter (Mariko Okada), who is in part a sympathetic character because she's prostituted by her own mother, but also in part a villain, lying to Otsu by telling her that Musashi is hers, and trying to steal him as she did with Otsu's fiancé Matahachi (Sachio Sakai) in the first film. The cowardly Matahachi has fallen into ignominy, and along with his venomous mother become threats out of "honor" to the family name. A brother to the leader of the samurai school gets in the act and also wants to challenge Musashi out of honor. While there is a lot of talk about honor from these kinds of characters, what we actually see is a lot of dishonorable behavior from everyone other than Musashi, Otsu, the priest, and Sasaki. I liked the contrast formed between good and evil, but just felt the number of characters involved could have been reduced to allow for more depth on the others. I have to say, I also disliked the ending, and not just because it was predictable. It's great that Musashi knows that "no means no," and it's a contrast to the rape another man commits earlier in the film, but his response was also pretty flawed.

All of that complaining aside, this is certainly a decent samurai film and it had its moments. Even though the film didn't seem to have a terribly large budget and the scenes shot at the studio are obvious, the cinematography is excellent. The swirling scenes leading up to battle and how colors are often contrasted with dark backgrounds are wonderful. The final battle sequence out in the rice paddy was very well filmed, and the taut precision of the samurai form was beautifully brought out by Mifune. From the perspective of craftsmanship it may be better than the first film, but from the perspective of narrative, it was a step down. Still, it's worth seeing.

The follow-up to 1954's excellent Musashi Miyamoto, Duel at Ichijoji Temple picks up the story several years later, as an exiled orphan-turned-swordsman gains notoriety via a bloody tour of fatal duels. His reputation precedes him in returning to his hometown, where old rivals of both a violent and intimate nature await. This is a film about personal growth - specifically that of the samurai himself, who struggles to learn the key concepts of what his new life actually entails and where the rift lies between honor and reverence. We're never quite sure if Musashi takes this lesson to heart, particularly since he's so keen to maintain an impenetrable outer facade in almost every situation. It's a tricky role for period veteran Toshiro Mifune, who struggles with the more nuanced, flatter aspects of the character. In the previous episode, with the fires of young-adulthood to toy with, he excelled. Here, faced with the malaise of mid-life and the accompanying questions of his own being, his performance is far less sublime. The plot, cramped with too many faces and several seemingly-pointless subplots, does him no favors in dancing around the issues and repeating itself on more than one occasion. This could have been an excellent one-act show, and the final half-hour could still stand alone as precisely that. It lacks the gumption of its predecessor, however, and too often cuts away just as the action is getting good.

Being the middle film of a trilogy, Duel at Ichijoji Temple thankfully came with a lot more battle sequences than the first film, and had more finesse in its swordplay since our legendary heroic character Takezo (Toshiro Mifune) is now a skilled swordsman, but yet to put into practice many aspects of Bushido, and often criticized in the manner in which he finishes off his opponents because of his innate brute strength and force.

But I guess when you're top dog, criticism comes part and parcel, and in his warrior pilgrimage in discovery of skill and self, we see how he further develops, though at time I felt that the story utilized a cheat sheet just like the first film, where priest Takuan (Kuroemon Onoe) locked him in a castle with plenty of books. Here, while Takezo is in hiding, he spends plenty of time indoors under the patronage of Lady Yoshino (Michiyo Kogure), a courtesan who would inculcate some compassion into the gruff man's life - while he looks refined on the outside, his ambition and reputation continue to earn him no favours, especially since he had issued a challenge to the Yoshioka School.

As a middle film, it expanded the mythology, and further developed the characters who made teasing appearances in the first one. For instance, the young man who was smitten by Akemi (Mariko Okada) turns out to be none other than the leader of the Yoshioka School, Seijuro Yoshioka (Akihiro Hirata), who in a fit of envy began to violate Akemi, taking his ineptness onto a helpless girl. Such are incidents that make the character a little revolting, and the members of his school showcased to be nothing more than mere bullies to the townsfolk, as well as constantly sucking up to Seijuro by shielding his incompetence from the real world.

The villains in this installment turn out to be more formidable than the thugs and brigands that Takezo had to deal with earlier. In fact, the first duel was a battle with an opponent using a chain-and-sickle, in compensation for the lack of a swordfight as a climax in the first film. Unfortunately I found this to be mildly exciting, as the full screen presentation only allowed for that fatal blow to be delivered off screen. The middle duel with Denshichiro Yoshioka was also somewhat of a let down given the buildup, because it only allowed a brief clashing of the weapons, before director Hiroshi Inagaki decided to cut away to a song! It felt like a little short-change, though the result of the match was made known indirectly later.

And the expansion of the characters here only made the story richer. Familiar faces like Takezo's lover Otsu (Kaoru Tachigusa) returns to pine a lot more for him after 3 years of waiting, while her ex-fiancé Matahachi (Sachio Sakai) degenerates worse in character, into a good for nothing liar and a cheat, married to Akemi's scheming mom Oko (Mitsuko Mito). We also get introduced to sword polisher Hanomi (Ko Mihashi) who's supposed to play an influential role in swaying Takezo's mindset, though the narrative here didn't allow too much of that on screen, deflecting it towards Lady Yoshino, for yet another romantic entanglement, where the female characters are all weak in their knees in Takezo's manly presence.

But the most important character introduced in the film would be Kojiro Sasaki (Koji Tsuruta), the eventual nemesis of Takezo's, but you've got to wait until the next film to see them do battle. Here, Kojiro's like the predator, slowly studying and stalking his prey. We know little of his background, apart from his certification of swordsmanship, and his cool, collected demeanour as opposed to Takezo's brash emotions, so that already sets him up to be mile apart as a strong adversary in time to come. So far he has played things in quite a gentlemanly way, refusing to take cheap shortcuts, patiently and probably egoistically waiting for Takezo to attain more skills, before bringing down a powerful opponent.

Again the technical aspects of this DVD presentation left much to be desired, especially in the night or dawn battle scenes. It's not digitally remastered, so these scenes become really dark and marred the enjoyment of many outdoor fights, especially the titular one where Takezo goes up against 80 opponents, and learns for a start that evading battle may not be so bad an option, especially when one is severely outnumbered due to a sickening, dishonourable scheme to turn tables. I would have wished for a better presentation so that it would not detract your attention to pops and cackles, or unintentional hues to come and stain the picture quality.

Duel at Ichijoji Temple ended just like how it began, with Takezo continuing his journey to seek bushido-enlightenment. It wrapped up some of the life journeys and lessons learnt by the protagonist in this episode, and sets it all up for the climax to be in the last installment of the trilogy.

The great cast that was in Musashi Miyamoto, the first part of this samurai trilogy continues in the second part with a few additions.

By this time Musashi Miyamoto has been on the road for three years and is still learning. The most important lesson as a Samurai will not be learned until the film is almost over. Another important lesson comes quickly after that, and it will interesting to see how it plays out in the final part.

In the opening Musashi Miyamoto is doing battle with a samurai similar to our buddy Hanzo. They are the only two I have ever seen use chains.

After this he heads to Kyoto to do battle with the best in the capital, and also to get himself mixed up with the two women who are in love with him.

Love, fickleness, treachery, rape, revenge, honor, and great sword fighting all have a place in this magnificent film.

The amazing cinematography and scenery also place an important part.

This is truly a samurai classic.

This comment about the "Samurai Trilogy" starts on the page for Miyamoto Musashi (Samurai I). My first viewing of the second episode was memorable because I got to take the train into town all by myself, and view it in a Tokyo theater. The first episode had just been shown on base, in a sort of cultural exchange, and my parents saw it and were pleasantly non-outraged-- I was a 9-year-old samurai-movie addict, and they believed enthusiasm beyond a certain intensity should be curbed. It was the same conflict as comic books some few years earlier. Technicolor was a big deal back then, especially in Japan, and it became the issue on which my viewing of "swordfighting movies" was decided-- the ones in color were historical films worth viewing, and even had something to teach. The black-and-white ones shown in Irumagawa and surrounding villages-- I had to sneak off to see. Ichijoji no Ketto (Duel at Ichijoji Temple) shows Miyamoto-san's achievements, while barring no holds on the issue of what they cost him. The romantic subplot continues, though its development in the western sense (toward union, wedded bliss) is thwarted at every turn. The issue is always a conflict between love and duty, and each deferment of gratification spells out a new step in the redefinition of the national character that is being mapped here. Again, some of the importance of all this is lost, even to modern Japanese audiences for whom the issues are long settled-- at the time, though, they were cliffhangers. A new character is introduced, Kojiro Sasaki who will emerge in part 3 as a rival for Musashi-- his equal except for certain features in their respective character. By the way, the score is excellent and haunting-- it extends like a symphony through all three parts, and has a leitmotif "hook" that will cause your ears to pick up in recognition, perhaps years from now, when you hear it again.