Samurai III: Duel at Ganryu Island (1956)

 Hiroshi Inagaki's "Samurai III: Duel at Ganryu Island"


Completing the Musashi Miyamoto samurai trilogy with 1955's "Samurai III: Duel at Ganryu Island," Hiroshi Inagaki completed a project he had been attempting to realize for decades. Starring Toshiro Mafune as the iconic samurai, the third and final film in the trilogy completes the arcs established in the previous two, ending on a final duel between Musashi and Sasaki Kojiro. 

This film does a fantastic job of tying together all the storylines from the trilogy. The thematic ruminations on honor, duty, and the warrior spirit all reach a natural completion. Above all, the final film offers excitement and interest in the human relationships at play. The characters all have a want/need/desire that they must fulfil and risk everything to acquire it. Reaching their attained aspirations becomes the main drama at the heart of the story. 

The most memorable part of the film for me was the utterly cinematic climax of the film: the final duel. The moment is the moment the audience has been waiting for and the anticipation is palpable. Inagaki films Musashi with the rising sun in his backdrop. It is a gorgeous image that iterates not only Musashi's ascension to his samurai zenith, but also demonstrates his intelligence at gaining the advantage over his opponent - by using the sun as a means to disorient his opponent. 

I don't feel as though there is too much to say about this film or even the trilogy as a whole. I don't subscribe to the notion that this set of films is thematically revelatory. The immense satisfaction I feel from watching them is purely as an entertainment value. They are very entertaining films and I already feel as though they have become iconic in my mind already.



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