Samurai I, II & III (Toshiro Mifune)

[Sow Choy]

I highly recommend these great classics if you haven't seen them before.

Great story of the life of legendary Samurai Miyamoto Musashi starring the late great Toshiro Mifune. Great stories, great fights, great acting and great overall visually...

Joe

[MasterKiller]

IFC shows at least one of them every Saturday morning. Samurai Saturdays are the best!

[GeneChing]

...read the book. Musashi by Eiji Yoshikawa. It's a huge book, a real wrist-breaker, but a fantastic read.

[Sow Choy]

Thanks Gene, I will check it out...

Who is the author? Was he around in that period?

Joe

[GeneChing]

Yoshikawa is contemporary; he died in the early sixties. He was one of Japan's most popular modern writers and was recognized as a cultural treasure. His book Taiko was also translated into English, but his shining work was Mushashi. It was originally published as a magazine serial. The book came later, as did the Mifune's classic Samurai Trilogy, as well as a TV series. I know that one TV series just came out recently (in fact, I was watching it on Japanese TV here) but I think there was an earlier one too.

I first saw the Samurai Trilogy after going witnessing my first Kedno tournament that morning. I saw all three films in one sitting at a now-defunct revival house, the New Varsity Theater in Palo Alto (now a Borders). That day had a huge impact on me and I often think I should return to Kendo, but then remember that I barely have time to keep my CMA practice up, so my bogu sits and collects dust...

[PangQuan]

I highly recommend these great classics if you haven't seen them before.

I second that, I have owned the series for many years now and watch them every month or two.

[Odin of Wei]

I taped them off of IFC...I couldnt really sit though it.


I remember leaving when that chick was standing on the bridge for miynto.





Read the manga Vagabond, thats really good too.

[Li Kao]

I recommend you read the books too -- I read them in my teens when they came out in paperback. 5 volumes, which is quite a lot to wade through, but I found myself so engrossed that I would finish one volume in a few nights and then have to tough it out a few months until the next one was released! But I have seen a omnibus hardcover edition at Borders. It's one of those books that I like to dust off every few years and re-read. The villian, Sasaki Kojiro, is really intriguing himself, and Musashi's philisophical mentor, the monk Takuan, is a great character you will enjoy too. All in all, a classic saga. And the movies weren't too bad either...

[GeneChing]

There was a movie version of the tale told from Kojiro's perspective, I think it was called Kojiro. And if you like Takuan, you must read his work, Unfettered Mind (http://www.american-buddha.com/unfettered.mind.htm), translated by Wilson who just put out a new biography of Musashi titled Lone Samurai. The Takuan story is a myth - Tokitsu's new work Miyamoto Musashi (http://www.shambhala.com/html/catalog/items/isbn/1-59030-045-9.cfm) presents Musashi's masters more historically. I've just started nibbling at that book; it's very enjoyable so far.

[Li Kao]

I'll have to look for that Kojiro movie -- I have never heard about it, but I did really sympathize with that character in the novels.

I do have The Unfettered Mind and found it somewhat interesting. I was under the impression that Takuan Soho, like Musashi himself or say Pai Mei, was a real figure but just had a lot of mythology and legends built up around him.

Some of the Zen writings are a bit hard for me to wrap myself around and apply though. Poems like this:

To think, "I will not think" -
This, too, is something in one's thoughts
Simply do not think
About not thinking at all.

are a bit abstract for me but there are other 'teachings' that I can grasp.

[GeneChing]

Takuan was a historical figure, most famous for developing a pickle. Those crunchy yellow pickles in Japanese and Korean cuisine, Takuan, are his namesake. But according to Musashi scholars, he was not the teacher of Musashi. The two were contemporaries, but there is no evidence that they ever really crossed paths, must less were master and student.

The Kojiro movie is fairly old. I must have seen it back in the early 80's. It's in color. I can't remember much more about it, except for the alternative perspective was an interesting plot device. If you sympathized with him, you'll probably enjoy this movie.

[Odin of Wei]

Originally posted by Li Kao
I'll have to look for that Kojiro movie -- I have never heard about it, but I did really sympathize with that character in the novels.

I do have The Unfettered Mind and found it somewhat interesting. I was under the impression that Takuan Soho, like Musashi himself or say Pai Mei, was a real figure but just had a lot of mythology and legends built up around him.

Some of the Zen writings are a bit hard for me to wrap myself around and apply though. Poems like this:

To think, "I will not think" -
This, too, is something in one's thoughts
Simply do not think
About not thinking at all.

are a bit abstract for me but there are other 'teachings' that I can grasp.
Do tell more about the teachings!


Romance of the Three Kingdoms had poems too. Only it was like poems made to remember the history.
There pretty wicked poems too. :D

[Li Kao]

I might have to start a new thread on Zen koans. Regarding Romance of the Three Kingdoms -- I didn't mind so much the poetry excerpts, but it was a real challenge keeping all of the characters and their various ties/interrelations all straight ...