Hiroshi Inagaki's acclaimed Samurai Trilogy is based on the novel has been called Japan's Gone with the Wind. This sweeping saga of the legendary seventeenth-century samurai Musashi Miyamoto (powerfully portrayed by Toshiro Mifune) plays out against the turmoil of a devastating civil war. The Trilogy follows Mushashi's odyssey from unruly youth to enlightened warrior. In the first part, Musashi Miyamoto, the hero's dreams of military glory end in betrayal, defeat, and a fugitive lifestyle. But he is saved by a woman who loves him and a cunning priest who guides him to the samurai path.