[KFCC] Yojimbo Review

Story: Sanjuro Kuwabatake, the original wandering cinematic Ronin, comes across a little town where the silk merchant and his gang constantly clash with the sake merchant and his gang for control of the town. Sanjuro plays both sides to ensure the destruction of them by hiring himself out as a bodyguard or yojimbo.

Review: Well it's a Kurosawa classic which is arguably his most famous (people always seem to remember this and Seven Samurai but what about Stray Dog or Sanshiro Sugata but bah on with the review) and often copied like with Leone's a Fistful of Dollars or Hill's Last Man Standing.

It's Mifune's role and his film. Kurosawa wrote an excellent multi-layered protagonist just as well as Mifune created his presence with his attitude, body language and a deadpan manner that creates a character that sure as hell isn't a noble defender of justice but is willing to play the part for the right amount of money and has no quarrels with staining his sword with blood. It's hard to reflect on the entire cast since there isn't more that a gajin like myself would know about them due to their lack of exposure in the west. This is entirely true except for Tatsya Nakadai, whom I remember best as the sadistic yet skillful Ryosunke from Sword of Doom, who plays the rather vicious brother of the sake merchant and packs a very early pistol. This element provides his character with certain cheapness since everyone else uses swords.

Yojimbo has so many characteristics that make it so damn enjoyable: the scenes and characters are laced with a dark-witt, an interesting character or metaphor here and there, and brutal yet brief swordplay (nothing flashy yet it becomes attention grabbing as it becomes an extension to give a visual interpretation of the characters' rage). When watching this film you'll probably see how it retains a Western appeal (film genre) when compared to say The 47 Ronin. Kurosawa did this intentionally, for example by using wide shots of a standoff between the two gangs as dust blows in the wind, and can be quoted for saying "Good Westerns are liked by everyone".