YojimboDirector: Akira KurosawaGenre: Foreign Publisher: Criterion Released: 1961 MPAA Rating: Unrated Cast: Toshiro Mifune, Seizaburo Kawazu, Kyu Sazanka, Tatsuya Nakadai |
A Review by Lee Chase IV
06/07/2002
It’s seems that honest work does not exist here anymore; gambling is the new way of business, and two greedy gangs are warring for control of the town. Each one tries to look rugged in appearance, and boasts about having been in jail as if it makes them tough. Sanjuro doesn’t believe words can describe someone’s skills, so he kills three men to display his. Both gangs are in awe and want to hire him as a bodyguard (called a yojimbo).
Sanjuro sees both sides as absurd and wonders if he can make them eliminate each other. He’s not like a typical western hero, because there are no innocents in need of protection. Both sides are equally corrupt, so Sanjuro decides to toy with them and see who makes the best offer. First, he meets with Seibei (Seizaburo Kawazu), who tries to make a pleasing offer, but Sanjuro declines when he overhears Seibei’s wife plotting to kill him when he demands payment.
Members from both sides try to recruit Sanjuro to fight for them, and it’s almost comical the way they quarrel over him like little children. He decides to see if they will fight first, and sure enough, the two gangs face off in the street. It seems neither side is brave enough to start it, because when one group moves forward, the other retreats back, and vice versa. There’s a well-staged shot that has the two leaders almost face to face, with Sanjuro on a tower between them. The hero decides the best plan of attack will be to join each of them, then deceive them both.
The other leader is Ushi-tora (Kyu Sazanka), and he is much more menacing than Seibei. He has brothers who fight with him, the toughest being Unosuke (Tatsuya Nakadai), who carries a gun in addition to his sword. Ushi-tora also has a henchman who looks uncannily like Richard Kiel (Jaws from the Bond pictures) and has a voice like Andre the Giant’s. Sanjuro begins his deception by kidnapping some of Ushi-tora’s men and turning them in to Seibei (he tells Ushi-tora that Seibei kidnapped them). This leads to a kidnapping on the other side, a heated exchange, property damage, etc. Sanjuro joins Ushi-tora’s side, but Unosuke, who didn’t like him from the start, discovers that he’s a rat.
Toshiro Mifune is excellent as the samurai who realizes how stupid both gangs are, and decides to use it for his own amusement. He’s a man of few words, and when he does speak, it’s with hostility. Most of his dialogue consists of calling people “idiots” or “stupid," and a look of anger is enough to make a man back away from him. I loved the way Toshiro’s Sanjuro sits back and smiles with delight as he sees the gangs clash because of his lies.
Kurosawa has used violence effectively in many of his films, so it is surprising how tame the violence was in Yojimbo. There is a scene involving a severed arm, but for the most part, the attacks are quick and bloodless. Sanjuro’s sword is so swift that if your eyes wander to read the subtitles, six men have died in your absence. The movie, photographed by Kazuo Miyagawa, makes firm use of lighting, as displayed in several key scenes, like the one where Sanjuro finds a place to hide from his new enemies. Yojimbo is one of Kurosawa’s lighter works; while most of his films are deep and heavy in content, this one seems made for the sake of clever twists and sly humor. This is best displayed in the end, when we realize that the audience doesn’t get the last laugh; Kurosawa has been laughing the whole time.
© Copyright ToxicUniverse.com 06/07/2002
