Day 52: Yojimbo (1961)

Akira Kurosawa’s “Yojimbo” is an exciting romp into the life of a Samurai and his interactions with a town at war with itself, but what makes this film different from Kurosawa’s earlier work is its more contemporary feel. With the rise of the 1960′s, Kurosawa starts the decade strong with another period Samurai venture but, from the opening credits, which uses modern film arrangement opposed to the traditional Japanese sound, we can see that the man once called “the most Western of Japanese directors” is truly taking this pronouncement to heart.

In “Yojimbo,” we find a Samurai (the Kurosawa staple actor Toshirô Mifune) roaming the countryside after his position is disbanded in the now newly reformed Japanese government. A wanderer without any care for where his feet may lead, the Samurai moves from place to place until finally coming across a rural town, split apart by two crime lords, Seibei and Ushitora, who have scared away or killed most of the townspeople and have battled each other for so long that only man making a profit is the undertaker. Realizing that the world would be best without either gang, the Samurai uses his wits to ask both crime families if they want to hire him as their “Yojimbo,” or bodyguard.

Like courting the prettiest girl at the ball, the two opposing factions stroke the ego of the Samurai, hoping he will stay with them and certainly end the war for their side, but the Samurai is cunning and plays both for both sides behind their backs, subsequently “winning” the war for wach while, at the same time, slowly killing off their numbers. Everything seems to be going according to the Samurai’s plan for extinguishing both factions until another warrior, brandishing a pistol, his hired to the Ushitora clan and the situation grows more complex than the Samurai ever expected.

For Kurosawa, “Yojimbo” brings a whole new tone to his film style. Somewhat less serious, a bit more graphic, and even satirically funny at times, “Yojimbo” is definitely his most “Western” film at this point in his career and also one of his most entertaining. With this Samurai, we find more of a rogue than a warrior. Heavily influenced by both film noir and the detective stories of Dashiell Hammett, Kurosawa creates, through Mifune’s Samurai, a very distinct devil-may-care persona and this Sam Spade with a sword went on to heavily influence many famous characters in cinema history.

For one, “Yojimbo” is considered by many to be the first film to have its leading protagonist be a “man with no name.” Though the Samurai gives a fake identity at one point, ”Kuwabatake Sanjuro” we never truly find out who he is and where he comes from. He just seems to be a force of nature, traveling about and occasionally bring justice to those who need it. Because of this, it is rather obvious that “Yojimbo” and it’s sequel ”Sanjuro” (which will analyzed tomorrow) made a direct impact on Sergio Leone’s “Dollars Trilogy,” which starred Clint Eastwood as a roaming gun-for-hire with no name. In fact, the first of Leone’s trilogy “A Fistful of Dollars” is actually a remake of “Yojimbo” and, in some areas, recreates scenes from Kurosawa’s original shot for shot.

“Yojimbo” is an excellent piece of cinema that solidified Kurosawa as continuing influence throughout the 1960′s and helped create the weapon toting man of justice persona that continues to blaze across our movie screens to this day.

To learn more about “Yojimbo,” check out Criterion’s page here.

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