Life of an Expert Swordsman

Life of an Expert Swordsman (或る剣豪の生涯) is a 1959 samurai film directed by Hiroshi Inagaki and starring Toshiro Mifune. Its story is an adaptation of the 1897 Edmond Rostand play Cyrano de Bergerac, and its basic plot faithfully follows that of the play. The film was released in the English-speaking world with the title Samurai Saga.

In the film, Mifune plays a samurai named Heihachiro Komaki, who is analogous to the Cyrano character. Yoko Tsukasa plays Komaki's love interest, Princess Chiyo, who is analogous to Cyrano's love interest, Roxane.

At the end of the film, when the mortally wounded Komaki visits Princess Chiyo at her convent to bring her the latest news of the outside world, he mentions the defeat of Kojirō Sasaki in a duel by the famed samurai Musashi Miyamoto. Prior to filming Life of an Expert Swordsman, Mifune had played Miyamoto in Samurai Trilogy, also directed by Inagaki, which chronicled Miyamoto's life, culminating in his legendary duel with Sasaki.

Cast

 * Toshiro Mifune : Komaki Heihachiro
 * Yoko Tsukasa : Lady Chiyo
 * Akira Takarada : Karibe Jurota
 * Keiko Awaji : Nanae
 * Kamatari Fujiwara : Rakuzo
 * Sachio Sakai : Hayashida
 * Akihiko Hirata : Akahishi Sakon
 * Yoshio Inaba : Shiraishi Genpachi