Review of Yojimbo (1961) by Mitch T — 13 Jul 2011

A superbly shot black comedy that truly showcases the strengths of Kurosawa and his lead Mifune. It is also a scathing indictment on capitalism that Leone's remake "A Fistful of Dollars" doesn't touch on as well. In this town, lawlessness seems to be the only law of the land as rival factions seek to control the local market and human relations have evolved into a series of business exchanges.

Also, in this world, Mifune's character Sanjuro is a ronin who lacks a real reason for taking part in battle. Rather, Sanjuro at first seems to exploit each faction for his own gain and pits them against each other out of boredom. Later, it seems that Sanjuro becomes a sort of surrogate for Kurosawa who has created world in he has wiped out the greedy merchants and reversed the course of history.

It is an interesting outlook on the world of the early 1960's which is made all the more powerful by Kurosawa's brilliant camera work. There are some exquisite shots that really make use of the wide screen format. He also employs some very tight close ups that must have been very influential on Leone.

All in all, another example of why Kurosawa was indeed way ahead of his time.