Review of Yojimbo (1961) by G S — 29 Nov 2011
Kurosawa borrowed from other films, including the atmosphere from Westerns to create this entertaining, action packed film. Honestly, I find it very hard to appreciate just how unique and original this film is considering how many times it has been copied and adapted.
Not as good as his more thought provoking and less violent films, but worth the watch as it is a straight forward movie featuring a renegade samurai who tears things up with his katana and his wit. A character that has become cliched because it has been used over and over so much since this film.
This movies legacy is grounded in the impact it's made on cinema and on actors. Toshiro Mifune's role as Sanjuro has influenced Clint Eastwood and Bruce Willis. On a sadder note though, I hate seeing Takashi Shimura's roles in Kurosawa films diminish in importance and screen time since Seven Samurai.
In this film he plays a small part as a sake brewer, who sides with one ganglord, and his rival (a silk maker) sides with the other ganglord. The unknown Samurai who says he is Sanjuro comes along and decides to lay the smackdown on both sides.
Simple as that, fun to watch, not a lot more to it.
This review of Yojimbo (1961) was written by G S on 29 Nov 2011.
Yojimbo has generally received very positive reviews.
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