La sfida del samurai

Only a handful of directors know atmosphere the way Akira Kurosawa does, only a handful. Yojinbo opens with a tracking shot of a ronin samurai walking down a dusty road. The camera wisely stays behind the samurai, played by Toshiro Mifune, so we cannot see his face or expressions. This samurai is desperate. Mifune has no master and no money. Kurosawa doesn't let you see his desperation, instead focusing on the back of his head and his profile to set up one of the most memorable characters in cinema history. The film has been copied many times, its practically the most influential film of the modern action genre. Yojinbo isn't action packed however, Kurosawa takes his time setting up characters and plot. The fact that this masterless samurai has deep compassion for strangers is different than most modern action movies alone. Toshiro Mifune is magical in the lead role. His presence is felt all throughout the film even when he isn't on camera. All film buffs should watch this film, it is a perfect example of a director and actor with confidence in their craft.

Classic samurai action pic; often imitated but never equalled. Mifune creates a memorable character (who appeared in a sequel) in the Ronin who decides the course of his life on the toss of a stick, and ends up risking his life to save a village full of peasants he finds revolting. It's possible to see "Yojimbo's" actions as either heroic or as the game of a bored warrior in need of amusement -- as often in Kurosawa's films, the fact that the characters' motives remain open to interpretation adds depth to the film.

Wonderful images, and skillful direction that keeps the pace of the storytelling tight and tells most of the story through images -- this is the kind of film that is so good it can be watched a silent film without losing too much of its impact or meaning.

I think that if Kurosawa had spent more of his time in litigation and less making movies, he might have made a living for the rest of his life off all the movies that have ripped off this movie. Certainly Eastwood's "Man with No Name" character owes a lot to Mifune's contribution; not only in Leone's films (the first of which borrows its entire plot from Kurosawa; a court settlement ensued which made sure Kurosawa made most of the profits from "Fistful of Dollars" in Asia his own) but also in Eastwood's best film as a director -- "High Plains Drifter", which borrows scenes such as Eastwood's rebuke of the villagers from "Yojimbo".

The really funny thing about all this, and what not too many American critics or audiences have noted, is that "Yojimbo" is itself a western. All the ingredients for a western are here, and the film's plot and style obviously owe a debt to Zinnemann's "High Noon". "Yojimbo" even borrows the device of time, setting up a confrontation at 3:00 a.m. as shouted by the town crier. I like "Yojimbo" better than "High Noon", so I don't want to go too far into this line of thought....

Yojimbo is one of Akira Kurosawa's most celebrated films in his career and was remade by Sergio Leone into A Fistful of Dollars. It is considered an essential film and a classic in the samurai genre. Toshiro Mifune was excellent as the nameless ronin who sets out to protect the town, being a man of few words. Kurosawa is of course excellent at setting up the conflict in the town and how it affects the people whilst also delivering on fine samurai sword fights (a man even has his hand cut off). Kurosawa wonderfully lets his scenes play out with plenty of long shots and small camera movements. Kurosawa and his actors also inject some occasional moments of humours to help lighten the mood when need be. But for the most Yojimbo is a serious drama with some very dark elements. Out of the Kurosawa films I have seen I personally prefer Seven Samurai for its scale and Rashomon for its ambition, but Yojimbo is still a worthy film and true film buffs need to watch it.

After a string of classic masterpieces, Kurosawa confronted his influences head-on. Throwing John Ford's Western aesthetics into a blender and painting them pitch black. The results are Yojimbo and its legacy.

Yojimbo ("the bodyguard") is the tale of a flea-ridden wandering swordsman, Sanjuro (Toshiro Mifune, in his finest performance). He arrives at a gang-war ravaged town and starts hiring himself out to both sides, playing them off against another, in order to wipe all the scum out. Sound familiar?

Even though Yojimbo the film is a thrilling ride and very funny dark comedy, it is hard to imagine what a bombshell this was for audiences at the time of its release. It is as far removed as can be from the then squeaky-clean aesthetic of samurai films: you can almost smell the sweat and the grime of the sordid town and characters. The action is fast and furious, enhanced by Kurosawa's deft use of telephoto lenses and Masaru Sato's avant-garde score. With all that, Yojimbo was a massive kick in the pants of a fossilized genre.

It exploded beyond the confines of its own country and genre, forever influencing the very Westerns that had inspired it, particularly a new wave out of Spain and Italy at the time. One Sergio Leone copy/pasted the whole plot into his own revisionist Western and gave us the Dollars trilogy. The slightest of Spaghetti Western enthusiasts owes Kurosawa a debt of gratitude.

As with all truly great work, its greatness exists even devoid of context, and for all the historical precedents it set, all Kurosawa wanted to make was an entertaining film. That he bloody well succeeded is the least you can say about Yojimbo.

YOJIMBO is an action drama about a rōnin who finds himself at the center of a conflict between the two crime lords.

A hungry and tired rōnin wanders through a desolate Japanese countryside. Soon, he arrives in a small town. A local caterer advises him to leave because, two local clans fight every day on the streets. However, a stranger decides to stay. The situation in a town is very good for one rōnin. This is a good chance that he earns some money. However, he does not need a bloody money. He wants to destroy local crime lords...

This tense story is full of lies, doubt, turning, pranks, blackmails and excellent fights. A careless and seemingly insensitive samurai is actually a peaceful and good man. Mr. Kurosawa has, under the influence of a western and noir, made a very exciting and visually impressive film. Of course, he has not neglected the significant situations that are related to the Japanese culture and tradition.

Close-ups, almost perfectly, reflect an evil, arrogance, fear, invincibility and contempt on faces of some of the protagonists. There is a large number of villains, which are quite different in character.

Toshiro Mifune (Kuwabatake Sanjuro) is a resourceful, interesting and determined as a wandering rōnin and master swordsman. He, apparently, enjoys in his machinations, however, his goal is extremely benevolent. He's kind of a lone hero, regardless of a tactical evil and theatrical swagger in his character.

His support are Tatsuya Nakadai as Unosuke a wild and insolent gunslinger and the biggest threat to a samurai. He is interesting because he is a completely different character from Sanjuro. Kyū Sazanka (Ushitora) and Seizaburo Kawazu (Seibei) are fairly inconclusive as crime lords. However their primary relationship "of a teacher and his student", could be interesting. Isuzu Yamada as Orin is the the wife of Seibei. She is perhaps an initiator of conflicts. Daisuke Katō as Inokichi is a visually the most memorable character. A character, who is capable to commit a vicious murder, but also make the greatest stupidity.

Simply, Mr. Kurosawa has managed to combine several styles in a small masterpiece.