Samurai III: Duel at Ganryu Island (1956)

Musashi Miyamoto no longer feels the need to publicly validate his skills or privately stroke his ego. He knows when to fight and when to back down, even when facing a lesser opponent. Sasaki Kojirō, on the other hand, is consumed by the need to defeat Musashi, thus proving his mastery once and for all. It's a fight that only one man wants but both know is inevitable.
Inagaki uses silhouettes from time to time for dramatic effect - not the flat kind but the layered kind, complementing the tiers of the plot. It helps give the samurai the quality of legend, a role that he would fill some years later. But before that he must face the fight of his life at Ganryu Island.

5 long-cherished dreams out of 5