In the following introduction recorded in 2021, critic Grady Hendrix explores Hiroshi Inagaki’s swooningly romantic, boisterously comic, and rapturously colorful SAMURAI SAGA, an adaptation of “Cyrano de Bergerac” that gave Toshiro Mifune one of his finest roles.

Directed by Hiroshi Inagaki • 1959 • Japan
Starring Toshiro Mifune, Yoko Tsukasa

Following the triumphs of THE SAMURAI TRILOGY and RICKSHAW MAN, celebrated jidai-geki master Hiroshi Inagaki and legendary star Toshiro Mifune reteamed for this superlative adaptation of Edmond Rostand’s evergreen p...