Yojimbo

Another favourite from Akira Kurosawa.

Yes I do like the samurai movies, and nobody quite did them like Akira Kurosawa. Yes, it is in Japanese, so it does mean reading the subtitles, this is worth doing for most of Akira's movies.



Here we have a masterless samurai wandering through the Japanese countryside. During his travels he stops at a farmhouse and overhears that some of the younger men have given up farming and headed off to join the local gangs (clans) in town. The stranger heads into town, there he meets a local pub owner Gonji. Gonji tells him that the two warring clans are led by Ushitora and Seibei. The mayor of town and silk merchant, Tazaemon, is owned by Seibei's. Ushitora however has aligned himself with the sake brewer, Tokuemon. After analysing the situation, the stranger comes to one conclusion, the town is better off without either of the two clans or their leaders.

He convinces Seibei to hire him as a swordsman, Seibei decides that the time is right to fight Ushitora. The stranger now called Sanjuro overhears Seibei's wife ordering his death after the upcoming battle so that they will not have to pay him for his duties. Sanjuro leads the clan in the attack on the other and then quits shortly after.

Sanjuro then goes to work for the other clan. This is the best way to let the two clans destroy each other. Things don't quite go according to plan and he is imprisoned for his "treachery". He does however escape and sees the two clans are destroying each other as planned. Now that the village has peace once again it is time for him to leave of course.

The action scenes are masterfully done, and the plot is interesting enough to keep you entertained. Hollywood, thought it was good enough copy, and made "A man with no name" starring Clint Eastwood. A number of Akira's movies have been copied, as he is very, very good.