DLN
Posted October 1, 2010
After reinventing and invigorating the samurai film with his 1954 masterpiece, THE SEVEN SAMURAI, the great Japanese director, Akira Kurosawa, did it again in 1961 with YOJIMBO (The Bodyguard). Bringing classic American movie western themes and stylistic flourishes to the tale of a wandering ronin named Sanjuro (Toshiro Mifune), who comes to a village beset by two warring clans, Kurosawa gives us a hero who does anything but act heroically. He presents this samurai tale as a rich, action-packed human comedy, as Sanjuro plays the two sides against each other, exploiting their greed and foolishness with mercenary zeal.
But YOJIMBO was not just inspired by westerns, its impact on the future of the genre is huge. In 1964, after directing a couple of schlocky sword and sandal flicks (THE COLOSSUS OF RHODES), Italian director Sergio Leone hired a little-known American TV actor named Clint Eastwood to star in what became the first of his wildly successful "spaghetti westerns." A FISTFUL OF DOLLARS was pretty much a scene for scene remake of YOJIMBO. The cynical tone, dark humor and stylized violence that Kurosawa infused into his samurai movie are clearly reflected in Leone's western. In turn, Leone's films went on to have a powerful effect on the look and feel of late 60's American western classics like Sam Peckinpah's highly influential THE WILD BUNCH. Almost fifty years later, the cinematic innovation Kurosawa inaugurated with YOJIMBO resonates in the work of Tarantino and his contemporary brethren.
With the enormous Japanese success of YOJIMBO, Kurosawa hurried into production with its follow-up, SANJURO. Presented together in a 2-disc box set (or available individually) by the gold-standard Criterion Collection, the two films present variations on similar themes. In SANJURO, Mifune again stars as a (different) travelling samurai named Sanjuro. This time, he rescues a group of well-meaning but naïve samurai who don't realize which of their leaders is actually the bad guy. With a more Zen, less violent approach than his counterpart in YOJIMBO, Sanjuro shows them how to see what's right in front of them. The hero bluffs and maneuvers his way (sometimes with swordplay) through the treacherous clan politics, as Kurosawa brings his story to a shockingly blood-soaked conclusion.
The dark comedy of YOJIMBO is also on delightful display in SANJURO, and both of these black-and-white gems make for essential viewing. If I had to pick just one, though, I'd say YOJIMBO is a little more essential.
Anonymous
Posted August 3, 2009
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Posted July 14, 2009
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Posted March 22, 2009
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Posted June 22, 2009
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Posted November 22, 2009
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Posted July 14, 2009
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Posted July 26, 2009
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Posted August 1, 2009
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