Samurai and Japanese Movies DVD Store : GANRYU-JIMA: KOJIRO AND MUSASHI (2003)

Ganryu-jima - Famed Japanese swordsman Miyamoto Musashi of the 17th century is not the violent yet philosophical Ronin that has been the typical version played out in the typical "Musashi" movie.

Here we see a Musashi who is brutish, cruel and clearly a madman.

At this point in his life he has pretty much lost his humanity. He has defeated Baiken and wiped out the entire Yoshioka school and most importantly, he has butchered the Yoshioka figurehead who was a mere child. At Ganryu-jima he is not traveling to the famous island to fight a duel with Kojiro. He is taking a boat ride to meet his death.

The movie makes a game of having him "forget" his swords, but by the end of the movie, when his real personality emerges it is obvious this was not a matter of forgetting anything.

In the final battle against a mass of Samurai who have come to exact revenge upon him, his attitude provides the answers for the movie's puzzle. He reluctantly enters the fight, at first beating his enemies down without cutting them. However after a few moments he realizes that he will have to kill them all - that he must unleash himself as it were. He then proceeds to go through his enemies like a lawn mower.

Director: Chiba Seiji

Stars: Masahiro Motoki, Nishimura Masahiko, and Tamura Atsush

2003 - JAPANESE with OPTIONAL ENGLISH SUBTITLES - COLOR - 16:9 ANAMORPHIC WIDESCREEN - 77 MINUTES

Destination: United States