Review of Yojimbo (1961) by Stuart K — 30 Apr 2014

Directed by Akira Kurosawa, whose star had been well on the rise since Seven Samurai (1954) and Throne of Blood (1957). Kurosawa had always been inspired by the works of Dashiell Hammett, and two Hammett works, Red Harvest (1929) and The Glass Key (1931) would inspire this tale of samurai heroics in 19th Century Japan.

This film in particular would inspire The Man With No Name spaghetti westerns to come. In 1860, a masterless ronin (Toshiro Mifune) arrives in a small Japanese town ravaged by a gang war between two local gangsters Seibei (Seizaburo Kawazu) and Ushitora (Kyu Sazanka).

This ronin gives himself the name of Kuwabatake Sanjuro (Mulberry Field Thirty), and is able to talk his way into joining Seibei's gang, and proves his worth by killing a number of Ushitora's henchmen.

It's not long before the ronin joins Ushitora's side, and he uses this to his advantage, and the ronin is able to play both sides for fools, and using cunning and guile, is able to have them take down each other.

But Seibei's brother Unosuke (Tatsuya Nakadai) learns of the ronin's plan. It's a good period drama with some very well choreographed action set pieces for it's day, and it's a much tighter and leaner film than Seven Samurai, and it's more focused and to the point.

It influenced countless action films and westerns, from A Fistful of Dollars (1964) to Walter Hill's Last Man Standing (1996) to Samurai Jack.