Hiroshi Inagaki’s 1954 film Samurai 1: Musashi Miyamoto and Kenji Misumi’s 1972 film Lone Wolf and Cub: Sword of Vengeance are both characterized by fluid panoramic shots that show men that are at once dwarfed by their surroundings yet simultaneously in control, showcased in breathtaking sword-fighting scenes where they seem to defy the laws of gravity. Samurai films, “much like the American Western,” feature “tales of loyalty, revenge, romance, fighting prowess, and the decline of a traditional way of life” (“Samurai Cinema”). Both of these films display all of these themes, but where they depart is that the protagonist of Samurai 1: Musashi Miyamoto begins as a wayward member of society and eventually earns honor and respect, while the protagonist of Lone Wolf and Cub steps completely outside the bounds of social acceptability.
Samurai 1: Musashi Miyamoto continually subverts the viewer’s expectations. The film appears at the outset to be about heroism, as the two protagonists, Takezo and Matahachi, make the decision to enter battle. However, the battle scenes are muddled and chaotic, and the two men encounter one disastrous situation after another. Eventually it becomes apparent that this will not be a stirring film about heroism, but rather it is about the struggle between chaos and order, control and submission. Takezo is wild and reckless, as evidenced by his fighting style, the way he rides his horse, and his callous treatment of others. Throughout the story, he insists that he needs no one in the world, indifferent to both love and sex. However, long shots throughout the movie in which he is a tiny speck against a vast outdoor backdrop reveal him to be powerless against nature, and a scene with him thrashing ar...
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...nder, Ogami makes a sharp departure not only from the law, but also from the very rules that govern existence.
Both Ogami and Takezo are played by skilled actors (Tomisaburô Wakayama and Toshiro Mifune respectably) whose every facial movement pulls you deeper inside of the character. Takezo is a bundle of competing impulses; brusque, brutal and aggressive, yet also a tender soul yearning for affection. Ogami’s countenance is one of utter stoicism; yet in key moments he lets unexpected registers of fear and surprise seep in. Witness, for instance, the expression on his face at the beginning of the film when he realizes he has been framed. Both of these films have a richness and authenticity, driven by impeccably-choreographed fight scenes imbued with the directors’ love for the characters, that one would be hard pressed to find in most contemporary action films.
Knights and samurai have a lot in common. For example, they both follow a code and protect land. Although they are very similar, there are a lot of things that set them apart. Samurai had a different social status, had different weapons, and expectations. While knights and samurai have many similarities, in a one on one battle, the advantage would be to the knights and this can be seen in their honor code, training, and armor.
Samurais or a knight? The question was, who would win the battle? A samurai - a samurai? Or a king of a knight? Of course they both have their advantages and disadvantages, but they also both have things in common that they can't do.
Have you ever thought that the Samurai warriors and the Medieval Knights had something in common? The Samurai and Knights fought in war, and they had to honor their code of conduct. So do samurai warriors and Medieval Knights have anything in common? The similarities between Samurai and Knights were greater than the differences. This can be seen from three important areas; social position, training and armour, and honor and death.
In the ancient Japanese culture, one great aspect was on how they emphasized on the intrinsic themes of loyalty and honor. They had fierce warriors known as samurai’s. A samurai was a traditional warrior who would protect and be loyal to their masters no matter what. They were known to be skilled soldiers, benevolent men, self-sacrifice, sense of shame, along with other major characteristics that embodied them as a samurai. While this class of warrior no longer exist today, the remembrance of a samurai is present in the minds of the characters in the novel, The Samurai’s Garden by Gail Tsukiyama. Tsukiyama does a fascinating piece of work by really elaborating and describing the great attributes that Matsu possess of a true samurai. In the
Do you know someone in the military? A loved one, a friend, do you know what they go through? I may not, but I do know about the harsh training and war that occurred for the Samurais and Knights. In Europe and Japan the empires were falling and Clans were taking over Japan. The government came up with an idea to create feudalism. There was an agreement in both Europe and Japan that exchanged land for protection. The similarities between Samurai and Knights were greater than the differences. This can be shown by looking at the three most similar areas: social position, training and armor, and life, honor, and death. The Samurai and Knights has their differences, but were the similarities greater than those differences.
In the book Samurai, Warfare and the State in Early Medieval Japan, Karl Friday focuses on war in early medieval Japan. A central thesis could be the political primacy of the imperial court. (Lamers 2005) This is the tenth through fourteenth centuries, before the samurai became prominent in Japan and were trying to form themselves into more of what we think of them today. Friday focuses on five aspects of war in his book; they are the meaning of war, the organization of war, the tools of war, the science of war, and the culture of war.
Akira Kurosaw’s Seven Samurai is a film that encompasses various ideologies in order to allow the audience to understand the lives of Japanese people during the 1600’s. The film delves deep in social issues of the roles of the people within the society, the expectations as well as the obligations within the respected castes and elements within groups of ; suffering, working together, protecting family and working for the better good of the community.
Takeshi Miike's “Black Society Trilogy” marked his transition from making direct-to-video films to theatrical releases and made him one of the most well-known directors of exploitation cinema. The first of these three films, “Shinjuku Triad Society” (1995), offers a visceral look at the Japanese underworld, and establishes Miike's trademark style of black humor and extreme violence.
2. Dike (p.77 to 79) Robert Ross shows his perseverance, when he tries to save himself from drowning in the dikes. He fights against Mother Nature, and thinks strategically by pushing himself and not giving up. He was fearful of drowning, mentally motivated himself to get out and avoid dying, and soon eventually breaks free. This shows how strong Robert is when motivated by the will to survive. Although he was fearful, he overcame it and saved himself, since some would just give up. Before entering the war, it was seen that he would run away from his problems (Rowena’s death), but now as he realizes that there is no point of return, he finds a new sense of drive. He shows his willpower, by maintaining an independent, and strong, logical mind when faced with fear, and learns to fight so that was doesn’t get the best of him. “I don’t want to drown, he thought. Please don’t drown. He pushed himself up with his head hanging down,” (Findley 79).
In life, there could be multiple ideas on what heroism really mean. Many people would be curious about what it would take for them to become a hero. In the short story “The Mystery of Heroism” by Stephen Crane, a young union soldier’s name Fred Collins, who is engaging in a devastated war, decided to take a risk of running across a raging battlefield in order to retrieve water from a well for his fellow soldiers. Collins reveal the essence of bravery and courage by endangering his life to retrieve water for his fellow soldiers but at the same time he also did it to assist himself. Collins wants to prove to all of his company that he is brave enough to take risks. As a result, Collins demonstrates that his heroic actions is based on whether
Heroism. Heroism is “heroic conduct” or “courageous action”(“Heroism”). People throughout America’s history, and the world’s history, for more than hundreds of years, have satisfied the standards of heroism, rising above and doing what is right. Heroism doesn’t have to mean saving somebody’s life. To be a hero, one does not need a cape or a villain to fight. Exhibiting acts of heroism can be as small helping retrieve a cat from a tree or as large as helping put out the fire of a burning building. Whether one’s acts of heroism are miniscule or major, they occur every day by ordinary people, proving their extraordinary abilities. After World War II ended, many acts of heroism were displayed that are still remembered today, specifically involving Operation Little Vittles. Over two million citizens living in West Berlin were doomed, cut off from the outside world by the Russians, praying for a miracle. Their wish came true when a handful of pilots agreed to drop thousands of tons of food and fuel from the air in Berlin. One of these esteemed pilots goes by the name of Gail Halvorsen, who changed the situation of the Russian blockade for the better. Halvorsen made the daring decision to drop thousands of individual packages of candy to all of the sweet deprived citizens of West Berlin. Pilot Gail Halvorsen contributed a daring effort by flying day in and day out dropping candy all with the hopes of trying to improve the awful conditions for those involved in the blockade, putting smiles on people’s faces and living up to the standards of heroism.
One can easily be caught up in high action movies, such as Batman, Avatar, or Iron Man. Many children want to be like the heroes in these movies. They dress up to look like them on Halloween. Some even sleep in their favorite hero’s outfit. Unfortunately, today's society has lost the actual meaning of heroism. In an essay titled Hollywood’s Hero Deficit, by James Bowman, the author laments over the loss of genuine heroism. Bowman states that: “Heroism can continue to exist only on a plane far removed from the daily lives of the audience.” True heroes are not violent warriors. They try to do what is right. Heroes, like Odysseus, have a noble quest: to get home. Heroes are clever, not contentious. Today’s view of ‘Heroism’ can only exist in fairy tales, for todays heroes only show bravery through violence. Even worse, these acts of bravery bring happiness to the hero. The pure heroism that comes from moral victories has been missing in today's society for several decades, and has impoverished our society..
Heroism can show itself in many shapes and forms from ordinary people to heroic and courageous people something to think about is that anyone can show heroism. A lot of people have shown heroism just by doing the right thing such as just helping someone or not acting mean towards others. heroism can show itself in many different forms but sadly some ordinary people don’t get recognized for the heroic acts that they do. Many different people just don’t recognize heroism from ordinary people as they just think of superheroes and supervillains. In reality anyone can achieve heroism as long as they strive for it. While ordinary people can sometimes not be recognized for acts of heroism, these heroes are courageous and can defeat all of the challenges
When you think about a hero do you think of a superhero or a real life person? There are
In the word heroism, you clearly can see the word hero, but what does heroism really mean? Heroism is defined in the Merriam-Webster dictionary as a noun and is either 1. heroic conduct as exhibited in fulfilling a high purpose or attaining a noble end or 2. The qualities of a hero. Even though the message is clear of what heroism is in the definition, do we know what it is really? In the eyes of some, a hero is one who doesn't accept failure, but one that tries with enthusiasm repeatedly every time one falls in order to achieve or hope to reach sight of their dreams. The wise pacifist, Mahatma Gandhi, once quoted,”Heroes are made in the hours of defeat. Success is, therefore, well described as a series of glorious defeats.”. This quotation