Category: Toshiro Mifune
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Criterion: Samurai III: Duel At Ganryu Island (****) settles down
The last installment of the trilogy narrowly avoids greatness by concentrating on the love story. It’s not that any of the storylines are done poorly. On the contrary, they’re about as evocative as was possible at the time.
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Criterion: Samurai II: Duel at Ichijoji Temple – is giant
Musashi’s presence is undeniable as the burgeoning samurai. His is one of the giant characters in episodic history, every bit worth the value of the legend he represents.
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Criterion: Samurai I: Musashi Miyamoto (****) begins a great adventure
This is definitely a star turn for Mifune, if there ever was one. His performance is exceptional and layered.
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Criterion: Vendetta of a Samurai (****) – Correcting a history of violence
Mifune, learning from his mentor (Shimura) a sense of subtlety, is able to further his effectively obvious passion through restraint. Even without words, we understand both perfectly.
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Criterion: Seven Samurai (*****) stands the test of time
Seven Samurai should be Movies 101 for any serious lover of film. If you haven’t seen it, you should.
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Criterion: The Life of Oharu (****1/2)-Miss Misery
Like the best art, we learn something about humanity and the will to persevere.
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Criterion: The Idiot (**) – Pure soul / faithless world / messy film
There is no known full version of this film. If there were, it might take me a year to finish. It would likely be a lot better, though.
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Criterion: Scandal (***1/2) – Shimura steals the show
This is good Kurosawa, brought up by a great Shimura and steadied by Mifune.

