Mifune: The Last Samurai

“Icon” is a word tossed around all too easily in popular culture. But it is the only meaningful word that fits the outsize impact that legendary Japanese actor Toshiro Mifune (1920-1997) had both on world cinema and the imaginations of cinephiles and budding directors everywhere. Despite starring in 170 movies (including The Seven Samurai and Yojimbo), Mifune said little in public about his work and legacy. Filmmaker Steven Okazaki's tribute combines generous film clips from Mifune classics with interviews of the leading man's surviving collaborators, among them a stuntman and fight choreographer whom Mifune “killed” on camera over 100 times. Several of Mifune's frequent costars—including Yoko Tsukasa and Kyoko Kagawa, actresses famous in their own right—provide the most personal details here, testifying to Mifune's iconoclastic mix of tightlipped gruffness and broadly generous character. Steven Spielberg and Martin Scorsese also offer insightful appraisals of what made Mifune both a galvanic presence and transcendent, inimitable star. But the soul of The Last Samurai lies in its depiction of Mifune's place in Japan's homegrown cinematic culture, where the nation's earliest experiences with silent movies proved a breeding ground for samurai tales. Following World War II, a defeated Japan was in search of new cultural directions, and Mifune's rebellious streak and onscreen intensity turned out to be a perfect complement to filmmaker Akira Kurosawa's disruptive style in over a dozen films. Their pairing over two decades made for one of the most rewarding director-actor partnerships in history, which is examined here in depth by Okazaki, who is helped immeasurably by recollections from both Mifune's and Kurosawa's middle-aged sons. Highly recommended. (T. Keogh)