Yojimbo

 

Moviedrome Introduction

Film Details 

Release Date: 1961

Director: Akira Kurosawa

Stars: Toshirō Mifune

Plot Summary

A wandering ronin arrives in a small town divided between two criminal gangs, each vying for control. He offers his services as a bodyguard to both sides at different times, deliberately provoking conflict between them. His goal is to weaken and ultimately destroy both factions. The balance shifts when Unosuke, a gang member armed with a pistol, returns to town, increasing the danger and complicating the ronin’s plan

Personal History

I was aware that it was the inspiration for "A Fistful of Dollars" and countless other spaghetti westerns. Possibly a blueprint for all action movies.

Current Review

Lots to admire in this bloodthirsty and hilarious revenge thriller. There's definitely meant to be humour here, but I have the feeling I might have been laughing in all the wrong places. Or at least too frequently.

Bloodthirsty? I wasn't expecting severed limbs in an early 1960s film, even if the actual sword fights are strangely bloodless.

Hilarious? Some killer lines that you can see Clint Eastwood repeating. Shrieking women. Cowardly men, who aren't a patch on the ronin. The massive fella with a mallet. Even the ronin has a laugh when he is perched on high, looking at the two gangs do that backwards and forwards dance that all wannabe combatants complete, when too scared to engage.

Gang 1 have an unfair advantage

Crappy cowardly fighters entertain the ronin

The story is as black as the chambers of a dead nun's heart. The ronin is devious, playing one group off against the other. The two gang leaders are cowardly, rubbish at negotiating and often hen-pecked by nagging wives who deliver lives to their children like "Why didn't you die and spare us the embarrassment".

A new gang member turns up with a pistol which throws perception on when this film is set. It could have been any time from the Medieval era. A touch of googling suggesting that it was 1860 - making it a contemporary of the westerns that imitated it.

Ultimately, a bit too much shouting and comedy running around by hapless village idiots to fully engage but much, much better than I was expecting.

And the music is excellent.

Quirky Facts

Sergio Leone was inspired by this film and made the famous "spaghetti western" A Fistful of Dollars (1964) with a similar plot. However, because Leone did not officially get permission to remake this film, which was copyrighted, Akira Kurosawa sued him and delayed the release for three years. Leone paid him a sum plus 15% of the profits.

The film was so successful that Akira Kurosawa's next project - already in pre-production, and ultimately called Sanjuro (1962) - had to be revised to accommodate Toshirô Mifune's title character.

Akira Kurosawa was heavily influenced by the American Western for this film, particularly High Noon (1952) and Shane (1953). He also admitted to being heavily influenced by the film noir The Glass Key (1942).

Quotes

I'll get paid for killing, and this town is full of people who deserve to die.

Cooper. Two coffins... No, maybe three.

Sake. I think better while I drink.

Future Inspiration

Going to get some Samuri action with "Shogun Assassin" - watched about a dozen times as a teenager. It's also about time that I re-watched the Kill Bills.

There is a second series of Shogun to watch on Disney.

Should I go for the sequel?  Sanjuro.

A Fistful of Dollars? I've still got a Fistful of Dynamite as inspiration here to watch!

Books - I'll add Red Harvest to Maltese Falcon TBR pile by Dashiell Hammet