Toshiro Mifune portrays a Samurai who finds himself in the middle of a feud-torn Japanese village. Neither side is particularly honorable, but Mifune is hungry and impoverished, so he agrees to work as bodyguard (or Yojimbo) for a silk merchant (Kamatari Fujiwara) against a sake merchant (Takashi Shimura). He then pretends to go to work for the other, the better to let the enemies tear each other apart. Imprisoned for his "treachery," he escapes just in time to watch the two warring sides wipe
each other out. This was his plan all along, and now that peace has been restored, he leaves the village for further exploits. Yes, Yojimbo was the prototype for the Clint Eastwood "Man with No Name" picture A Fistful of Dollars (1964). The difference is that Fistful relies on Eastwood for its success, whereas Yojimbo scores on every creative level, from director Akira Kurosawa to cinematographer Kazuo Miyagawa to Mifune's classic lead performance. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
Rousing, good story, told with vigor and visual excitement by Akira Kurosawa, and splendidly acted by Toshiro Mifune, this has ideal remake material for a Yank company.
The biggest impression left by Yojimbo is the characterization of Sanjuro, whose iconography of stoic cool (that inspired Clint Eastwood's antiheroic "Man with No Name") is consistently undercut with dashes of comical realism...[Blu-ray]
The explosive outbursts of violence in Yojimbo are superbly choreographed, with Kurosawa's customary use of a telephoto lens creating a hallucinatory feeling.
A superbly shot black comedy that truly showcases the strengths of Kurosawa and his lead Mifune. It is also a scathing indictment on capitalism that Leone's remake "A Fistful of Dollars" doesn't touch on as well. In this town, lawlessness seems to be the only law of the land as rival factions seek to control the local
market and human relations have evolved into a series of business exchanges. Also, in this world, Mifune's character Sanjuro is a ronin who lacks a real reason for taking part in battle. Rather, Sanjuro at first seems to exploit each faction for his own gain and pits them against each other out of boredom. Later, it seems that Sanjuro becomes a sort of surrogate for Kurosawa who has created world in he has wiped out the greedy merchants and reversed the course of history.It is an interesting outlook on the world of the early 1960's which is made all the more powerful by Kurosawa's brilliant camera work. There are some exquisite shots that really make use of the wide screen format. He also employs some very tight close ups that must have been very influential on Leone.All in all, another example of why Kurosawa was indeed way ahead of his time.
July 14, 2011
Reid Volk
Super Reviewer
"Kill one or a hundred. You only hang once." Yojimbo is a really cool movie directed by Akira Kurosawa. It went on to inspire Leones A Fistful of Dollars and Last Man Standing with Bruce Willis. The story from Yojimbo will probably be used again. It's a simple, but very cool story that can be told in many different
settings. The story is about a lone samurai who comes into a village that is in a battle. He decides to stay despite warnings from a restaurant owner. Yojimbo is a very good movie and I can understand people's love for the movie. The film is a complete classic. Toshiro Mifune is a great actor and does an incredible job as Sanjuro.
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