Yojimbo (1961)

Director: Akira Kurosawa
Stars: Toshirô Mifune, Eijirô Tôno, Tatsuya Nakadai
Runtime: 110 minutes

Synopsis: A crafty ronin comes to a town divided by two criminal gangs and decides to play them against each other to free the town.

Performances: 9/10
Screenplay: 8/10
Editing: 9/10
Cinematography: 9/10
Score/Soundtrack: 6/10
Entertainment Factor: 8/10

Verdict: A skilled Ronan walks into a town and the first thing he sees is a dog walking towards him while holding a human hand. This can only signify one thing: trouble awaits him there. Soon, he learns that the town is controlled by two gangs whose ongoing war is keeping its residents hostage. Instead of fleeing, he sees a perfect opportunity to take advantage of the situation by pretending to be one of the gang's bodyguard, or Yojimbo in Japanese, in exchange for a reasonable sum of money.

I watched this movie right after Sergio Leone's "A Fistful of Dollars" which I learned was a blatant rip-off of Kurosawa's classic, leading to lawsuits and a bit of tension between the legendary filmmakers. It's impossible not to see the similarities between the two films and, to me at least, there's a clearly superior movie between the two. "Yojimbo" is not only the first to tell the story of an unnamed anti-hero whose morality is tested when he visits a town ruled by bandits, but it's also the better one. Despite being 10 minutes longer than its follower, it felt a lot shorter thanks to the depth it brought to both the narrative and the characters. Despite knowing the entirety of the plot, I still managed to find the experience unique and revolutionary. The camerawork was, as you'd expect from a Kurosawa picture, exquisite, resulting in a few shots and scenes that will stay engraved in my brain for a long time. The music didn't entirely work for me, but it still managed to inject some much-needed life into the story.

I heard someone say that "Yojimbo" serves as a great introduction to not only Kurosawa's filmography but also the post WW2 samurai subgenre and even westerns that came out during that same era, and I couldn't agree more with that statement. It's exceptionally made, entertaining, simple to follow, and is led by a great protagonist. I cannot recommend it enough.

FINAL GRADE: 8/10