Film adaptations of Western Literature

I was just watching a great version of Edmond Rostand’s Cyrano de Bergerac directed by Hiroshi Inagaki. The movie is called “Aru kengo no shogai” literally “Life of an expert swordsman”, poorly translated as “Samurai Saga” in the U.S. and hard to find except on IFC periodically.

The film is set in the early days of Tokugawa rule when supporters and opponents of the regime clashed regularly in the Kansai region while awaiting their final showdown.

The story begins during a performance by famed dancer Izumi no Okuni in Kyoto where feelings against the regime are strong. Toshiro Mifune in the title role is a partisan of the opposition and a samurai with a reputation for both poetry and swordsmanship. His altercation at the theater and the follow on brawl are the regular subjects of eagerly awaited recitations the following morning by his comrades at the sake shop.

Mifune’s object of affection is his beautiful friend from childhood who loves another samurai, handsome as Cyrano is homely. Their three sided courtship touches many themes of traditional Japanese culture such as self sacrifice, sensitivity of feeling, the evanescence of deep affection and the nobility of failure.

The cataclysmic Battle of Sekigahara ends this idyllic period with the Christian character dead and Tokugawa forces in complete control of the country. Soldiers from the losing cause are mostly dead or in hiding and Kyoto ten years later is a city in decline, as power is cemented in the East at Edo.

Cyrano’s annual visit to the grieving lady to share news and events is a dangerous exercise in friendship, as partisans of the Osaka cause are unceasingly hunted by the Tokugawa authorities. The character’s steadfast loyalty to both his love and his deceased comrade are contrasted with the fickleness of others in the society who’ve adapted to the changing realities.

For those who’ve seen Inagaki’s “Musashi”, several of the Sekigahara scenes are stolen from the previous movie and inserted here. Also in his final recap of the year’s news, the Cyrano character mentions Musashi’s victory in his duel at Ganryujima, which is amusing for those who identify Mifune with that role in the earlier movie.