Samurai 1: Musashi Miyamoto

Dir: Hiroshi Inagaki, Japan, 1954 (8.4*)

Best Foreign Film (AA)

This samurai epic has some breathtaking cinematography, that alone elevating it a class above the average Japanese film, deservedly got an Oscar for Foreign Film... the director Hiroshi Inagaki is the star here, the actors, including the famous Tishiro Mifune, are truly just pieces of his vision which includes the poetic, yet overwhelming landscape. The only drawback, other than slowish pacing, is that the film (from Criterion) is in fullscreen, not wide. The first part of a trilogy by Inagaki, it comes as a set also.