Yojimbo, Sanjuro, Mifune: The Original Man With No Name.

I've been enjoying many of my Kurosawa films this month, and after viewing some of his more serious although enjoyable films such as "Throne of Blood" or "The Bad Sleep Well" both of which were inspired by Shakespearean tragedies, I took a break and decided to view Kurosawa at his most tongue and cheek. Perhaps Kurosawa's most commercial and accessible films are the two that deal with the unknown samurai played by Toshiro Mifune, they are "Yojimbo" and "Sanjuro".

Yojimbo: This story begins when the unknown samurai wonders into a strange town that is overrun by two warring gambling families. It is a strange occurrence that both of these families happen to be equally bad, and the only good left in the town seems to come from a lowly restaurant owner who is sick of all the bloodshed. The people that are left in the town seem to only profit from the death like the undertaker who is in high demand for coffins each time a fight breaks out. After learning of all this from the restaurant owner, the nameless samurai decides it could be profitable for him if he loans himself out as a bodyguard to the family that is the highest bidder. We soon come to find out that the samurai is not your typical honor bound warrior. Very soon after he swears allegiance to one side, he quickly changes his mind and moves on to the other side. We soon get the sense that the samurai is merely playing with these two warring families for his own entertainment.

I can only wonder what the reaction was when the character in "Yojimbo" first appeared on screen. Here was a man who seems to be only looking out for his best interests and didn't care who lived or who died in the battle between these families. This was most uncommon with the usual heroes you saw who were mostly kept unambiguous. But as the film progresses we soon learn that there is a heart in this samurai, even though he could care less if two evil organizations spend the time and energy to kill themselves, but he does step in if an innocent is caught in the crossfire. This remains one of Kurosawa's most popular films and was one of his many samurai stories that was Americanized into a western. Sergio Leone remade it rather famously in "A Fistfull of Dollars" a film that turned Clint Eastwood into a star. Although I admire Leone's film as a very stylized movie, it's clear to even him that it was a complete ripoff of Kurosawa's film. Kurosawa even liked the film, but that didn't stop him from suing Leone for plagiarism.

Kurosawa's idea for the film came because he was curious with the idea of having two evils in a film that were equal in every way, and he wanted to show that as men we are usually weak and must choose between two evils. However Kurosawa wanted to give an alternative and say there is a higher road that we can choose from without compromising our beliefs. This is embodied in the nameless samurai. The idea of this man has become a staple in modern cinema, he's a loner who not only fights the bad guys but also the corruption in his own system. You could say that western characters such as Dirty Harry, or John McClane are a spawn of this man. By the end of the film you might think that Kurosawa had all he wanted to say with this character but that wasn't the case.

Sanjuro: The idea for this film actually came before "Yojimbo" and was written with a more clumsy samurai in mind. After the success of "Yojimbo", producers wanted a film more in that vain. Kurosawa agreed and re-wrote the script with the more skilled Samurai from "Yojimbo" returning as the hero in this outing. "Sanjuro" is a bit of an underrated film, and although I wouldn't consider it a major work by Kurosawa, it seems to show off his sense of humour and sunnier perspective on things than he's usually known for. Even though "Yojimbo" was full of great tongue and cheek humour and crowd pleasing action scenes, that film had a bit more of an edge. In the beginning of that film you weren't sure who the good guys were and who the bad guys were, in "Sanjuro" it's very obvious at the first sight of Mifune and the nine young samurai he must lead into battle who the good guys are. It's not really the fault of this film, Mifune's character was established, and Kurosawa just seems to want us to enjoy the ride.

This time Mifune's character becomes a guardian to a swarm of not so bright young samurai who must infiltrate a group of traitors in their clan in order to rescue their leader. The film is full of many of the familiar set pieces that were established in "Yojimbo" but it seems now we the audience are more in on the fun as we know what Mifune's motives are. Kurosawa builds on many sight gags that include the league of young samurai who follow Mifune around as he says in the film "like a centipede". The carnage and blood is just as great in this as it is in "Yojimbo" but the one thing the film seems to lack is a sort of social commentary.

In the end it doesn't matter, this film should rank along with an Indiana Jones adventure series or "Kill Bill Vol 1" as pure comic book entertainment, and it's nice to see Kurosawa taking a lighter side to things.

I samurai in "Yojimbo" and "Sanjuro" is a unique kind of hero, and one that has become very influential. There is a cynicism to him although there isn't one moment in these two films that I believe he ever compromises his values, it may just seem like it to us. Although credit can be given to Kurosawa, much can also be given to Toshiro Mifune. You might say this was the culmination of the work both he and Kurosawa did together. Mifune had wide range, I like to compare him to the eastern version of Jack Nicholson. He could go all out there and seem to be overacting in films such as "Rashomon" or "Seven Samurai", but he could play it straight, calm and quiet with a wicked sense of humour as he does in these films. He gives the character many subtle nuances such as moving his shoulders as he walks away. This affliction is explained in a special feature of "Yojimbo" where they say the character has fleas that are always bothering him which accounts for the agitated shoulder movements. It becomes sort of the character's calling card.

Most importantly I think "Yojimbo" and "Sanjuro" just put you in a good mood. It was probably films like these that didn't get Kurosawa much respect with Eastern critics but as far as good entertainment goes, you can't get much better than these.