Samurai Saga

"Heihachiro of the nose is standing guard for lovers!"

Based on French playwright Edmond Rostand’s Cyrano de Bergerac, Samurai Saga may be the definitive film version of the story about a poetic swordsman who believes no woman could love him because of his large nose. Mifune Toshiro gave an emotionally compelling performance as the humorous and heartbreaking samurai who was willing to set aside his own feelings for the happiness of the woman he loved.

Komaki Heihachiro is a gifted swordsman and poet, able to do both at the same time. He’s in love with his childhood friend, Lady Ochii, never letting on how he feels. She falls in love with the handsome Jurota believing him to have a noble mind. She begs Komaki to protect him which her friend reluctantly does. Turns out Jurota doesn’t have many creative thoughts which puts a damper on the romance. Komaki writes poetry for him to claim as his own which lures the lady back in. On a night before the two are called to battle, hidden under the moonlight, Komaki declares his love and yearnings through Jurota to Lady Ochii.

Samurai Saga was a full-blown romantic triangle featuring true love, poetry, humor, sword fights, bloody battles, and tragic revelations. Mifune Toshiro played Cyrano/Komaki. He managed the humor while dialing back the full manic he displayed in Seven Samurai and Rashomon. His scene under the moonlight and his final scene with the Lady Ochii were among some of his best work I’ve seen. Heartachingly vulnerable and brave at the same time. With Mifune it took little imagination to believe he could take on 25 attacking samurai and live to tell the boisterous tale, his romantic side was the revelation. Takarada Akira (Godzilla 1954) was the handsome and forthright samurai lacking the deep thoughts his lady so desperately craved. I was more familiar with Tsukasa Yoko’s work in Ozu films, but here she was convincing as the lady in love with the poetry and letters not written by the fair face she thought owned her heart.

Samurai Saga was a funny and sorrowful tale of poetic misunderstandings. Though theirs was a world of turmoil and shifting political powers, the three people ensconced in their romantic triumvirate saw only the face of their beloved. The mask of the undaunted and beautiful spirit would ultimately be revealed under the gentle fall of cherry blossoms in one of Mifune’s finer performances. If you enjoy older Japanese films or adaptations of Cyrano de Bergerac this would be one to try.

"Empty handed I journey to the moon, only taking my undaunted spirit."

16 March 2026

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