Amazon.com essential video: This semi-comic 1961 film by legendary director Akira Kurosawa (Rashomon, Ran) was inspired by the American Western genre. Kurosawa mainstay Toshirô Mifune (The Seven Samurai) plays a drifting samurai for hire who plays both ends against the middle with two warring factions, surviving on his wits and his ability to outrun his own bad luck. Eventually the samurai seeks to eliminate both sides for his own gain and to define his own sense of honor. Yojimbo is striking for its unorthodox treatment of violence and morality, reserving judgment on the actions of its main character and instead presenting an entertaining tale with humor and much visual excitement. One of the inspirations for the "spaghetti Westerns" of director Sergio Leone and later surfacing as a remake as Last Man Standing with Bruce Willis, this film offers insight into a director who influenced American films even as he was influenced by them. --Robert Lane
Japanese Samurai and American Western Send-Up Yojimbo is Kurosawa's most popular movie both at home and in the West & it is easy to see why. First and foremost, it's just fun. Combining cool, dry wit, black humor and rousing action; even those who don't "get" the mocking of Westerns or Samurai movies will find plenty to enjoy. Shorter than Ran and Seven Samurai, more accessible than Rashomon or Throne of Blood and more exciting than Ikiru or Red Beard. Yojimbo isn't a masterpiece, though Toshiro Mifune gives an incredible performance. Yojimbo has such a relaxed, sardonic tone to it, I don't think Kurosawa was trying for masterpiece.
As nearly always with Kurosawa, there is, just beneath the easy to follow story, a clever subtext. Kurosawa was one of the few directors who was able to entertain casual filmgoers and the more demanding art house crowd. As an old man, he claimed he was just trying to entertain by telling simple stories. I don't know if he was being coy or modest but it just ain't true. Too many of his movies are too intelligent for him not to be consciously striving for something a bit deeper, often a lot deeper.
Here, Kurosawa is lighhtly mocking both the conventions of Samurai and Western movies. He was, as far as I know, the first Japanese director to realize the parallels between Westerns and Samurais. Both often feature a tough but compassionate, resolute, lone honorable fighting man with consummate skill with a gun or a sword in a frontier world of violence and cruelty. Also, both samurai and cowboy live by an unwritten code of conduct. They may be killers but they only kill the deserved and they mind their manners with the ladies. I've seen a lot of Westerns and a bunch of Samurai and it's fun to compare them to the cynical, clever Yojimbo.
Kurosawa cheerfully exploits these conventions by making his hero into an antihero. Sanjuro is tough and brave. He's also murderous, devious, greedy and not above stabbing men in the back as they try to run away. Not exactly Shane or Will Kane here. However, he often does the morally right thing even as he is scheming and slaughtering. Kurosawa forces the audience to see him in shades of grey. A professional killer who has a soul.
Unlike traditional Samurai movies where the duels traditionally have a stately dignity about them much like the Western practice of duelling, the swordfights in Yojimbo are chaotic and bloody, with swordsmen screaming in terror and running away. He did the same in Rashomon with the knockdown dragout swordfight juxtaposed to the balletic swordfight. Also, notice how coarse and vulgar the Japanese in Yojimbo are in traditionally superpolite Japanese society. Almost as if Kurosawa is simultaneously mocking Japanese and American manners.
Kurosawa is the most immitated of any director in the history of cinema. I guess, if you're gonna borrow, you might as well borrow from the best. Yojimbo has been made into two perfectly enjoyable and far inferior movies: Fistful of Dollars and Last Man Standing. The original is still the best. It usually is.
Yojimbo - Remastered Edition (Criterion Collection Spine #52) Terrific fild - I just really like this actor and this production and this story. Great fun!!
Great Kurosawa... A masterful performance by Toshiro Mifune, great dialogue, great direction and cinematography; A MUST SEE film which deserves your time.
The Ancestor of the lone cool-hitman stereotype. A masterpiece in samurai films. Toshiro Mifune made the first most important contemporary portrayal of the mercenary assasin stereotype ruling the collective imagery of all genres concerning action and thrilling crime-ganster films today. The dysfunctional sense of honor and selfishness carried by this lightning sword skilled hitman, mixed with the poetic, artistic and always then-controversial style and aesthetics of the samurai genre product of the talent and incredible filmic values-portrayal of the master filmaker Akira Kurosawa, gave birth to a legendary new improved vision of an anti-hero, a good guy that takes no value on human life, but attached to an incredible and respectful sense of honor and devotion of the code of the warrior.
That fundamental contradiction was the foundation of the "cool" incredibly talented cold hearted mercenary, a sense of justice and rightgeous standards according to a sense of being with a new attitude: boredom, disgust for the oponents and mankind, greed, the selfish guarantee of self protection, but never leaving the unavoidable values code proper of the japanese samurai culture. The flea beaten amoral ronin walks the fields looking for oportunities of "work", slashing unknown oponents with fierce rapid talent for an incredible amount of money, setting a standard about the real values of human life and the economic costs of affording such a collosal protection. A bodyguard like this can't possibly be trusted, only if you deserve to die as well. That twist of the honor values shaked the then-preserved rules in story direction, because Mifune's character wanted to clean the filth of the feud-torn village by making the best economic profit throught cold blood deceiving . That plot was smilar to 1952 "High noon", but Kurosawa's brilliant visual style was almost out of known proportions.
Toshiro Mifune's incredible performance and now classic no-expresions capted the attention of Sergio Leone for his own spahetti western remake "A fistful of dollars", presenting for the first time the cowboy stone-cold killer, bullseye shooter portrayed by Clint Eastwood. These two movies are the root and essence for today's standards and the very mythology of the anti-hero mercenary sub-genre. Check Snake Plitsken of "Escape from new york", see anything familiar? Leon the professional, perhaps?
This movie, along with being a monumental masterpiece in world filmaking, is the very bible or code for the lone hitman culture. The most amazing part about the honor and values in the film: We don't care at all, totally overwhelmed by the concept itself. Blinded by "coolness" we cheer for the despicable but heroic Sanjuro, and hope for the bad guys a painful agony, just to receive seconds of sword fight and lightning deadly slices and dismemberment. Not even the revolver, representing progress and cowardice, can't stop the furious raging blade of Sanjuro.
My tribute to this outstanding masterpiece of all times in the most incredible DVD edition available.
My invitation to meet, or enjoy again, this precious action and samurai philosophy work of art. My respects.
Let the Blades Speak! In the early `60s I entered in touch with Japanese filmography when I was attending an introductory course at Buenos Aires' University. Since then I've come to appreciate Japanese delicate and sophisticated film language.
Outstanding director Akira Kurosawa author of "Ran", "Seven Samurai", "Dreams" and "Kagemusha" is also the creator of "Yojimbo" (1961).
The anecdote is situated around 1860 when the long period of the Shogunate was ending giving rise to the Meiji Restoration. Chaos and lack of order is plainly shown in the movie. The story is as follows: Sanjuro a samurai without master (a ronin) enters a small village that is daily devastated by two enemy gangs fighting each other ruthlessly. Sanjuro is a professional bodyguard and the situation is theoretically favorable for him to display his skills and earn good money. Nevertheless the ronin is also the possessor of the old ethical tradition of the true Samurai so instead of mindlessly profiting from the situation he will try to mend the situation all by himself. A typical Kurosawa's epic film ensues.
Each scene is aesthetically perfect yet full of action. The black and white photography due to Kazuo Miyagawa is just perfect. Playing with light and shadow every photogram is a beautiful piece d'art. Musical score is composed by Japanese Academy multi awarded Masaru Sato, underlining subtly each scene. Toshiro Mifune's performance as Sanjuro was recognized with many awards: Volpi Cup from Venice Festival, Best Actor Kinema Junpo Awards and Blue Ribbon Award. This is a great movie for Samurai film lovers and general public too! Reviewed by Max Yofre.
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