YOJIMBO-1961-In
1860 Japan a master-less samurai Sanjuro wonders the land. In a small
town he meets a father and son fighting over the son's wanting to
leave their farm and become a gambler. While getting a drink of water
he hears the farmer's wife talking about how helpless children are.
Then he's insulted by the farmer. In the main part of town people
hide behind shutters and a dog wanders around with a human hand in
it's mouth. An officer says he could be a bodyguard. Then he's
surrounded by some bandits but nothing happens. When he stops for some food the
old proprietor tells him about two warring gamblers, Seibei (who's
backed by a silk merchant) and Ushi-Tora (who's backed by a sake
brewer).The only
successful resident seems to be the undertaker. “I'll think as I
drink”. Sanjuro hatches a plan to get rid of all the bad guys. “Two
coffins...no maybe three”. First he goes to Ushi Tora and kills two
of his toughest men (“I've done everything bad”) and cuts off
the arm of a third.
Then he goes and offers his services to Seibei
but refuses all offers until he gets what he wants. He also learns
that Seibe (Seizaburo Kawazu who had a role in MOTHRA the same
years), who's really a coward and his wife and son plan on killing
him first chance they get. When the two gangs are assembled for a
daylight fight Sanjuro quits Seibei and watches from above. Both
gangs are hesitant and afraid to attack first. They flash their
swords and yell while Sanjuro laughs. The would be skirmish is
interrupted by the news of “an official visit”. Later
Ushi-Tora's weird brother Unosuke (Tatusuya Nakadai; FACE OF ANOTHER)
arrives with a gun and messes up a hostage exchange. After he saves a
kidnapped woman and returns her to her husband and son Sanjuro gets
mad when they thank him using words like “idiot” and “stupid”
and saying “If you cry I'll kill you”. Later he's imprisoned by
Unosuke and beaten up by a giant henchman but he manages to trick his
guards and escape. While Ushi-Tora's men wipe out Seibei's gang,
Sanjuro plots revenge. In a final showdown he kills everyone and
meets someone he met EARLIER.
YOJIMBO despite it's serious and
violent story line is full of funny wry comments by Mifune. For me
this is Kurosawa Akira's greatest film and influenced Sergio Leone (“A
Fistful of Dollars”) and many others. Mifune starred in SANJURO, a
sequel by Kurosawa in 1962.
Thanks for reading!
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