Yojimbo (1961): Akira Kurosawa’s Samurai Film, Starring Toshiro Mifune

Masterfully directed by Akira Kurosawa, Yojimbo stars his favorite actor Toshiro Mifune as a samurai, who arrives in a village torn by two rival factions which are fighting for supremacy, wreaking havoc. The two bosses each try to hire the newcomer as a bodyguard.

Grade: B+

Yojimbo

Theatrical release poster

Based on the success of Yojimbo, Kurosawa’s next film, Sanjuro (1962), was altered to incorporate this film’s lead character. In both films, the character wears a dark kimono bearing the same family mon.

This actioner, with strong comedic tones, inspired Italian maestro Sergio Leone to make his Spaghetti Westerns, starring Clint Eastwood (“A Fistful of Dollars,” “For a Few Dollars More”). In fact, Leone was sued by the Toho company for plagiarism.

Setting:

In 1860, during the final years of the Edo period, a rōnin wanders through desolate countryside. Stopping at a farmhouse for water, he overhears elderly couple lamenting that their only son has run off to join the “gamblers” in a nearby town, which is overrun with criminals and contested by two rival yakuza gangs.

Inspired by Dashiell Hammett

Kurosawa stated that his plot was inspired by 1942 film noir The Glass Key (which made Alan Ladd a star), an adaptation of Dashiell Hammett’s 1931 novel of the same name. Other critics compare the plot to that of another Hammett novel, Red Harvest (1929).

When asked his name, the samurai calls himself “Kuwabatake Sanjuro,” which he makes up while looking at a mulberry field by the town. The character can be viewed as an early version of the “Man with No Name” (which Eastwood would play in several films).

My Oscar Book: