MovieChat Forums > Miyamoto Musashi kanketsuhen: kettô Ganryûjima Discussion > Endinq question...

Endinq question...

posted 18 years ago by TheHypnotron
21 replies | jump to latest

spoiler

In the very last scene we see our main character starting to weep. Why do you think that is? Is it because he felt remorse for killing such a well matched opponent? Maybe he saw in him, a younger version of himself... striving for fame and that now he has cut his life short and he shall never evolve on his own to be an even greater samurai.

Or maybe he's relieved to have survived fearing that this time he had met his superior?

Or i suppose a little bit of everything. After all he's been through, surviving this victory and all the rest before it along with his changed philosophy, his regrets, the emotional weight of everything finally manages to crack through his tough facade.

[–] joebagtas1987 18 years ago

wow didnt think of it that way. but yeah the first one is definitely right.

it can be a combo of both but i think more of the first

[–] dacoataca 17 years ago

i agree with your assements personally when i saw it for the first time after watching the previous two my conclusion was that the tears he shed was because after his years of finally understanding the true meaning of life he discovered how fragile life is and that it is something that should not be trifled with. it is something precious and you can only experince it once. and this duel nearly caused him to lose his life all in the name of sport/competition. which is the worst possible reason to risk your life. however i do feel there was do right that he was slightly afraid seeing that this was the greatest battle he would ever encounter.

"life is a invincible, fragile infinitly intrinsic, simplistic, basic intriguing existence"

[–] mac_alain 17 years ago

In the very last scene we see our main character starting to weep. Why do you think that is?

Maybe it was because he ralised that it was a stupid thing in the first place place to accept a groundless challenge. I am afraid this melodrama did not work for me.

6/10 at the most

[–] Suzume-san 17 years ago

Mac alain, have you seen the first two? The last episode of any trilogy is unlikely to work on its own. All the characters we meet here have been introduced in the first two films and we know all about them, which makes it more of a human story and less a melodrama.

If you have seen them, and it still didn't work for you, fair enough; but if you haven't I do recommend that you watch them, then try Ganryu Island again.

Kambei of the Descending Gormful Bedafter Gumi.

[–] mac_alain 17 years ago

Mac alain, have you seen the first two?

Yes, I did see all three parts.

Thanks for the pointer, heatherowen, but it just did not work for me. Way it goes, I guess

[–] Suzume-san 17 years ago

Oh well, never mind, it'd be dull if we all liked everything equally. What are your favourites in this field? Kurosawa? Kobayashi? Yamada, even? Let's compare notes.

Kambei of the Descending Gormful Bedafter Gumi.

[–] mac_alain 17 years ago

Kurosawa, of course.

Kobayashi: (Seppuku and Samurai Rebellion come to mind.)

Mizoguchi: (The 47 Ronin, one of my all time favourites.)

Yamada: I found his "The Twilight Samurai", dare I say it, a bit pedestrian (sorry, kerpan ; but I do like his non-Samurai films.) Preferred this http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0359692/

Re-watched Heaven and Earth last night and liked it better than on first viewing. Kurosawa it ain't but even so. Beautiful scenery plus lots of horses and one beautiful actress (Atsuko Asano).

Am, in a perverted sort of a way, looking forward to Hanzo The Razor: http://www.bensonsworld.co.uk/dvd/7000000125518.asp

[–] Suzume-san 17 years ago

Yes to most of that! Mibu gishi den I like a lot but I think the sentimental back-story could do with pruning. More Shinsengumi and less sobbing would have been good.

The Kobayashi pair - wonderful, but almost too agonising to watch.

The Yamada trilogy I love. I agree, not much happens, but I like the feeling of watching people leading real, ordinary lives in an extraordinary time.

Hanzo - er, not for me, I don't think.

Kambei of the Descending Gormful Bedafter Gumi.

[–] mac_alain 17 years ago

The Yamada trilogy I love.

Have you seen the third part? I only saw the first one as my informed friends told me that the second one is not really offering anything different from the first part.

As to "Hanzo The Razor", please accept my apologies

[–] Suzume-san 17 years ago

Yes, I've seen Yamada #3, Bushi no Ichibun/Love and Honour. Like the others, it's a human story, not an action movie. The plot is rather different from that of the first two, which are, I agree, variations on a theme, but none the worse for that. I won't go into any detail about Bushi as it seems that hardly anyone in the West has seen it yet. I buy films from YesAsia, and I got myself region-free, PAL/NTSC-happy equipment for this very reason. Call me obsessive if you like...

Kambei of the Descending Gormful Bedafter Gumi.

[–] mac_alain 17 years ago

The plot is rather different from that of the first two...

Thanks. I might give it a try when the price comes down a bit at YesAsia.

Region-free player, it's the only way to go.

[–] iamtheman0928 16 years ago

I found the wisdom he acquires as he grows from an arrogant young warrior to a hard working middle-aged farmer was astounding. He was at the pinnacle of everything a warrior wanted to be, and yet he yearned to have a simple life without war and fighting.

I always thought he was crying because he realized how unnecessary that final duel was. Did someone really need to die to determine who the greatest was?

Great movie, great great movie!!!!

I'm a man...
but I can change...
if I have to...
I guess.

[–] floydsr 16 years ago

I think you said it best when you said it's a combination of all those (and many) things. That being said, your description of his feelings of remorse are spot-on. Very well said

[–] 16 years ago

[deleted]

[–] polsixe 13 years ago

I think it was stress relief and to show that finally Musashi can really relax, the stoic outer demeanour is cracked, and historically Miyamoto does become a noted painter and writer in his later years. Also, he does kill Sasaki with the wooden sword, he only draws the short steel blade when he goes to check the fallen body. Mind you the fight doesn't really show how he killed him - a shot to the heart or other vital organ??

[–] pogo_sport 15 years ago

I also agree with the original poster, that Miyamoto did shed a tear for having killed Kojiro. Remember much like the fictional portrayal Mifune played of him, the real Musashi Miyamoto did in fact remain undefeated in every duel he had been in. He would up dying not by an enemy's sword or spear, but of old age. But anyway, to be a bushi of such tremendous strength and be the superior swordsman practically everywhere he went, this was also something Sasaki Kojiro could relate to. They were destined to cross swords and one of them was destined to die. The two men were very much alike, so for one of them to have to kill the other might be somewhat unpleasant. Thus the tear.

[–] whitelion43 12 years ago

This sene shows how great this movie is. A good movie would have just shown hom going back to Otsum A great film allows the viewer to inject something into the film like you would for a clean slate and your responses prove it

Oh GOOD!,my dog found the chainsaw

[–] 12 years ago

[deleted]

[–] Kawada_Kira 11 years ago

I agree with your last paragraph. There's really nothing I can add to it; you put it beautifully.

Sig under construction

[–] jlird808 10 years ago

I thought it was cuz of the flies he killed back at the inn...finally catching up to him.

[–] mevmijaumau 10 years ago

Yes, I thought this was the case as well. Makes the most sense to me.