Yojimbo
YOJIMBO (PG)
D: Akira Kurosawa
Toho (Ryuzô Kikushima, Akira Kurosawa & Tomoyuki
Tanaka)
Japan 1961
110 mins
Action/Adventure
W: Ryuzô Kikushima & Akira Kurosawa
DP: Kazuo Miyagawa & Takao Saito
Ed: Akira Kurosawa
Mus: Masara Sato
PD: Yoshiro Muraki
Cos: Yoshiro Muraki
Toshiro Mifune (Sanjuro), Tatsuya Nakadai
(Unosuke), Yoko Tsukasa (Nui), Isuzu Yamada (Orin)
The plot would sound incredibly familiar to those who have
seen A Fistful Of Dollars, especially as Sergio Leone's first film of his Spaghetti Western trilogy was a remake of this film.
Toshiro Mifune plays a samurai who offers his services as a
bodyguard-for-hire to the members of two feuding bandit gangs in a small village, but he manipulates events so both gangs eventually tear themselves apart.
Yojimbo isn't quite up to the same level as Akira Kurosawa's
masterpiece, The Seven Samurai, but it is still masterfully crafted, with an almost balletic choreographic style to the action scenes and a powerfully menacing performance from Toshiro
Mifune.
Certain elements may feel dated, but the legacy of the film
still goes on, inspiring many films in its wake, even in modern times.
A
Fistful Of Dollars was a worthy remake of this material, but this original film is certainly worth your time.
8/10
