1961 ‘用心棒’ Directed by Akira Kurosawa
A nameless ronin, or samurai with no master, enters a small village in feudal Japan where two rival businessmen are struggling for control of the local gambling trade. Taking the name Sanjuro Kuwabatake, the ronin convinces both silk merchant Tazaemon and sake merchant Tokuemon to hire him as a personal bodyguard, then artfully sets in motion a full-scale gang war between the two ambitious and unscrupulous men.
Toshirō Mifune Tatsuya Nakadai Yōko Tsukasa Isuzu Yamada Daisuke Katō Seizaburō Kawazu Takashi Shimura Hiroshi Tachikawa Yōsuke Natsuki Eijirō Tōno Kamatari Fujiwara Ikio Sawamura Atsushi Watanabe Susumu Fujita Kyū Sazanka Kō Nishimura Takeshi Katō Ichirô Nakatani Sachio Sakai Akira Tani Namigoro Rashomon Yoshio Tsuchiya Gen Shimizu Jerry Fujio Yutaka Sada Shin Ôtomo Shôichi Hirose Hideyo Amamoto Shōji Ôki Show All…
The Bodyguard, Le Garde du Corps, Yojimbo – O Guarda-Costas, Ochránce, El mercenario, Yôjinbô, 요짐보, Jodžimbo, Yojimbo, O Invencível, Телесна стража, Yojimbo - Der Leibwaechter, Телохранител, Tělesná stráž, Livvagten, Yojimbo - Der Leibwächter, Γιοζίμπο, Yojimbo (El mercenario), یوجیمبو, Yojimbo – Onnensoturi, Le Garde du corps, יוג'ימבו, A testőr, La sfida del samurai, მცველი, Asmens sargybinis, Straż przyboczna, Yojimbo, o Guarda-Costas, Yojimbo, o Invencível, Телохранитель, Yojimbo - Livvakten, Охоронець, 大鏢客
Was not expecting this to be as goofy as it was. The guy counting the coffins sold for "the other side" vs. "his side" is such a solid gag, as is the David Tennant-looking man who has a gun constantly just peeking out of his shirt. Is it supposed to be a gag? I don't know. I would love to ask Kurosawa, but unfortunately he is dead. Gone to the big Yojimbo in the sky!
watching a kurosawa movie after playing ghost of tsushima really only underlines how insane it was that they thought they could slap a black and white filter on the game and call it “kurosawa mode” without anyone objecting to it
In I went with five stars in my mind, and here I stand with the entire milky way in my heart, dumbfounded and in awe.
Toshiro Mifune, who stuck his tongue out when he overheard a gang leader's plot to kill him, is way too charming. Tatsuya Nakadai who smiled in the most devilish way possible, highlighted by flames soaring in the background, is way too evil. Akira Kurosawa, who was simply the master of cinema, who filled his frames with such breathtaking spectacle, who knew exactly what to show his audience and what not to show, when to show it, how to show it, whom camera was an extension of his eyes, who never failed to bring the most…
While it's far from being my favorite Kurosawa, it was still a pretty great time. Excellent use of blending tones, it's able to be funny, sad, and thrilling all at the same time and it makes it look so easy. I guess I just wanted more out of Sanjuro. This could just be personal opinion but he was one of the more uninteresting protagonists I've seen in a Kurosawa film. Still, a very smart film that, like most of this man's work, probably won't leave my head for a little while.
Toshiro Mifune is your quarantine hero, making the streets safe for the villagers to emerge from hiding. I'd somehow forgotten how much the score rules, but I can be forgiven because everything else about it does, too.
always thought i was a freak because one of my first childhood crushes was gross samurai toshiro mifune, but rewatching this for the first time since, i realize it was all my stupid peers dreaming about the brothers on home improvement or whoever that were the actual freaks
It's always fun to finally see where everyone else has been ripping things off, right down to the coffin humor.
#madlad Mifune
Old man: 'Why so glum? Your business should be booming.'
Casket master: 'No. When the fighting gets this bad, they don't even bother with coffins...'
It's saucy samurai western time, baby!
Don't even try convincing me that Yojimbo is NOT a comedy. The small-town setting, the quirky characters, the kickass dialogues, the extravagant but darn intelligent plot devices, the playfully campy soundtrack, the wide shots of the empty main street – perfect for the petty face-offs between two rabble-rouser gangs – are but small delights in the entire Kurosawa camp. A little ruffle of wind, a cloud of white smoke, and a beyond sassy Toshiro Mifune trotting down the dusty road towards the resident gunslinger (who is also…
