"Yojimbo" - Film Review

Yojimbo is almost pulpy in its execution. From the 60’s blaring pop to the over-the-top (sometimes shoddy) fight sequences to its central plot about a lone warrior dead-set on stirring up trouble, it’s one part sensational to every part topnotch craftsmanship.

Of course in the hands of the always competent and ingenious writer-director Akira Kurosawa, this material is elevated to the point where it rises above some of its more lurid and junk qualities.

Though the plots thin, the story is too fun and energetic not to win you over. Stylistically the film heavily borrows from noir, gangster, and Westerns genres to become its own unique vision.  At times it feels more American than Japanese, like a good old American gangster showdown than a kung fu good versus evil matchup. Indeed, the former samurai (Toshiro Mifune) plays two evil rival factions vying for supremacy off eachother to rid the town of their ill designs. In the process he deceives, kills, and generally does bad things in the name of the greater good.  

The film is notable for its massive influence on the Western. Sergio Leone re-made the movie in A Fistful of Dollars, and Clint Eastwood’s Man with No Name was heavily influenced by Mifune’s character. 

Kurosawa turned time and again to tails of samurai; he took the period trappings of Tokugawa and Post-Tokugawa Japan and plumbed the simple tales of samurai warriors to tell whatever story that pleased him. Here Kurosawa mines the simple narrative for all its worth and molds it into an immensely, purely fun film that’s highly cinematic and incredibly exciting.   

Grade: A-