Review of Yojimbo (1961) by Leisure M — 17 Jul 2009

In the beginning of this tale, our hero tosses a stick into the air seeing which way it lands, to choose his path. This is just one of the many elements which makes this such an amazing story and one my favorites of Kurosawa?s many masterpieces. There are plots within plots, surprising deception, perfectly paced mounting tension, unpredictable plot twists, distinctive and amusing characters (the big guy with his huge mallet is quite a memorable figure), the seemingly never-ending face offs, backstabbing, character flaws and our hero continually placed in the perfect position to observe, listen, and evaluate.

The nature symbolism is a nice addition to this film including the cleansing rain allowing us to shift gears from Act I to Act II, and the dust storm, which precedes the more unpredictable part of the story serving to unsettle and disorient us. Finally, the shadowy, light dancing, night fires scene is amazing, intensifying the town?s debauchery and our hero finally stepping up to get involved in the action before ultimately getting caught in his own web. This scene is perfect, like an expertly lighted stage drawing us into Act III. I have only described a few of the wonderful features of this film....