Dir. Akira Kurosawa (1961)
Not Rated Yojimbo is about a masterless samurai, or ronin named Sanjuro (Toshiro Mifune) who comes to aid a town that is divided by dueling gambling lords. There is no peace, and fighting seems to happen everyday, so it is up to Sanjuro to put an end to all of it. A lot of fighting ensues. The entire movie is SO busy. And hectic. There really isn't even that much of a plot, because it is really just centered around the two battling lords and how they're both trying to get Sanjuro to be their bodyguards and help them beat the other side. It's almost purely action based, but some parts are comedy. The thing is, I'm not sure if it's supposed to be comedic or not. Kurosawa didn't seem like he would have much of a sense of humor, since most of his films are really focused on humanity and emotionally charged situations. Still, there are some lines from the sake brewer and other characters that are just comical. I also laughed every single time someone would go out in the town and bang drums to announce the hour. The soundtrack killed me too, because it was just like intense fluting and just the kind of music you wouldn't expect to hear when there's such a violent situation unraveling in the film. Toshiro Mifune is a great actor from what I can tell in seeing him in Yojimbo and Rashomon, because his two characters are polar opposites. In this, Mifune plays Sanjuro, who is a very stoic samurai who really gives off the I'm A Tough Righteous Guy vibes. He's so relaxed all the time too, which is a funny juxtaposition between the gambling lords who have zero chill at all. In Rashomon, he plays this crazed bandit with a really scary laugh that sounds like it comes out of one of those witch figurines that they sell during Halloween. (maybe that's not a thing. I have one.) He's also an embarrassingly bad swordsman and fighter, whereas in this movie he kills three men in like, less than ten seconds. This movie was okay, but it was just too busy for me. It didn't really have a plot, so I was really confused the entire time trying to look for one. I've heard Sanjuro is a lot better and has plot and character development, so if I get around to it, I'd like to watch it to compare. I feel like compared to other Kurosawa movies, this one might not have as much emotional depth. I've only seen two of his, so that's only based off descriptions. I didn't hate it, but I generally prefer to have an idea of what's going on most of the time when I'm watching a movie. No hate to Kurosawa, though, because he's great. That's all.
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AuthorCasey Land Archives
January 2018
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