Bullet Points: Mifune: The Last Samurai

Legendary actor Toshiro Mifune had a quality about him that is difficult to find these days. His gruffness and grit, his unspeakable masculinity, his ability to tell a story with just his facial expressions; he was a giant among men. I’m not certain when it was that I saw Mifune on screen for the first time but as I’ve grown older and learned to appreciate film for more than just its explosion-y Michael Bayness, the collaboration between Mifune and director Akira Kurosawa has felt like a gift from the movie Gods. Mifune: The Last Samurai gives us and opportunity to dig deeper into the man that was Toshiro Mifune, and what made him that charismatic badass that he was.

Synopsis: A feature-length documentary about the life and films of legendary actor Toshiro Mifune, weaving together film clips, archival stills, and interviews with such luminaries as Steven Spielberg and Martin Scorsese. Narrated by Keanu Reeves.

• Japanese Film: Film in the early 20th century on the island nation of Japan was heavily influenced by the feudal period of the 14th-19th century. If you’re not familiar with it already just think of it as similar to romanticized Western ideals of the medieval period. Instead of knights riding around questing and saving damsels in distress they had samurai strolling around the country serving Lords and dying in mass in pitched battles. Even the life of the samurai is a bit strange to the non-Japanese. Everyone loves a killer swordfight but why are these dudes killing themselves? It’s a very unique and specific thing to Japan and it makes it even more exotic to the non-Asian who experiences it on screen.
• Early Life: Toshiro Mifune was raised in China, going to a Japanese school and then later being drafted into the Imperial Army at the age of 20 when Japan invaded China. His time in the military during World War 2 most definitely shaped the man that he would become. He spent much of the war training new recruits and seeing them head off on suicide missions. Even then the rebellious Mifune would tell them not to say “banzai” for the Emperor but instead to say goodbye to their mothers.

• The Dynamic Duo: Toshiro Mifune never wanted to be an actor. He had applied for a job as a camera operator after the war and found himself with a part in a movie. It wasn’t long before his charisma would find him starring in the films and it was his collaborations with the awesome Akira Kurosawa that would launch him into superstardom. They would make 16 films together including Rashomon, Seven Samurai, Throne of Blood, and Yojimbo. Kurosawa didn’t tell Mifune what to do on many of the films. Toshiro would research the hell out of his characters and develop ideas of his own about how the character would react in different situations and Akira Kurosawa trusted Mifune to do what was right. It takes an unbelievable amount of trust for a director to hand over that kind of control to the actor but when the actor was of the caliber of Mifune it was made a much easier decision.
• Cars and Booze: Mifune had two big vices: fast cars and alcohol. Many of the actors and friends interviewed for the documentary talk about how Mifune would often incorporate both vices at the same time. He was a heavy drinker and would drunkenly drive his convertible over to Kurosawa’s house and yell at him out the window. His son said he would also drink a bottle of sake or whiskey for dinner and then pull a sword out and swing it wildly through the air.

• Mifune in America: Mifune would make several films late in his career outside of Japan. He had started his own production company and got into the television business but American studios were very open to the idea of Mifune appearing in movies here in the States. George Lucas offered him the role of Obi-wan Kenobi for Star Wars but his American agent told him to turn it down. He was also in Steven Spielberg’s historical comedy 1941 where he played a Japanese submarine captain. The role many will remember him from is when he teamed up with Charles Bronson in the 1971 film Red Sun.
• Late Life: Mifune likely suffered and later died from Alzheimer’s. He had a very hard time remembering his lines in his later career but would continue working almost up until his death in 1997. His relationship with Akira Kurosawa had fallen off and the their final movie together was Red Beard in 1965. Although they hadn’t had a close connection in their later years, a later from Kurosawa was read at Mifune’s funeral and it’s painful to me as a fan to know that they never reconciled.

The Verdict: Any fan of the Samurai genre or just good acting, in general, will enjoy Mifune: The Last Samurai. His performances and films influenced everything from Star Wars to the entire genre of the American Western. He was a remarkable actor with a gift of storytelling who essentially played himself for the last few decades of his life. Check out the documentary on Hulu now before it’s gone!