Yojimbo

Yojimbo (1961) is the third Akira Kurosawa film I've watched to date, after The Seven Samurai and Ran, and I'm still rather nonplussed. All three are undeniably good films, but none of them are really mind-blowing masterpieces. Still, I suppose I shouldn't complain too much for movies that are merely solid instead of incredible.

Feudal Japan is coming to an end, and swarms of samurais are now out of work, without a master or cause to serve. One such ronin is Sanjuro (Toshiro Mifune), who drifts into a small Japanese village perpetually at war - own faction led by Seibei (Seizaburo Kawazu), a brothel owner, and sake merchant Tokuemon (Takashi Shimura). Sanjuro's frightening speed and cunning wit impress both factions, but Sanjuro seems content to play both sides against each other, earning piles of money in the process. Ultimately, the two sides destroy each other, but Sanjuro is left to face off against Unosuke (Tatsua Nadaki), a hotshot would-be samurai whose pistol gives him an advantage over his foes.

Yojimbo was the direct inspiration for Sergio Leone's debut Spaghetti Western A Fistful of Dollars (1964), and Walter Hill's gangster flick Last Man Standing (1966) - though Kurosawa himself cribbed the story from Dashiel Hammet's Red Harvest. Neither of the aforementioned films is particularly good, while Kurosawa's samurai adaptation is a solid, entertaining piece of work.

As in his other films, Kurosawa examines the cost of loyalty and betrayal. With the Shogunate usurped by the modern Japanese government, Sanjuro has no loyalty to give; he is (in theory anyway) a completely amoral man. At first, he's simply having fun butchering the town full of scum, profit seemingly his only motive; how can he take sides in a fight between two gangs of cowardly crooks who lack the guts even to kill each other? And yet, he takes time out of his scheming to save a local family caught in the crossfire; ultimately, destroying his two opponents makes him a crusader for honor and justice, even if an inadvertent one. The modern world may have destroyed justice and honor, but the older still retains their chivalry - a very Fordian sentiment that does not seem remotely out of place in 19th Century Japan. Without a cause to direct it towards, however, the honor becomes a private one.

Kurosawa's direction is brisk and affective, stylish without being overbearing, permeating the film with a keen visual sense; images like the burning brewery, the dog carrying an amputated hand in its mouth, the street littered with dismembered corpses at the end, are incredibly striking. The action scenes are briskly staged, with quick-cutting and graphic violence years ahead of its time. Toshiro Mifune gives a strong performance, thoughtful, conflicted, both a badass and a man of conscience - miles better than his obnoxious clowning in Seven Samurai, at any rate. The supporting cast is adequate without any real standouts.

Yojimbo is a solid, entertaining piece of work that still holds up. Certainly it's miles better than its reworkings (sorry Sergio and Clint, your flick ain't that good), and I suppose it can be forgiven for not being the greatest film of all time. Still, I hope I can soon find a Kurosawa that is unquestionably a masterpiece.