Yojimbo (1961)

User Rating:

8.3/10   

Director:

Akira Kurosawa

Writers:

Akira Kurosawa (story)
Akira Kurosawa (screenplay) ...

Release Date:

13 September 1961 (USA)

Genre:

Action | Comedy | Crime | Drama | Thriller

Plot:

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

Plot Keywords:

Samurai | Bodyguard | Escape | Ronin | Dark Humor

Awards:

Nominated for Oscar. Another 3 wins & 1 nomination

Cast

Toshirô Mifune	...	Sanjuro Kuwabatake / The Samurai
Tatsuya Nakadai	...	Unosuke, gunfighter
Yôko Tsukasa	...	Nui
Isuzu Yamada	...	Orin
Daisuke Katô	...	Inokichi, Ushitora's rotund brother
Seizaburô Kawazu	...	Seibei, brothel operator
Takashi Shimura	...	Tokuemon, sake brewer
Hiroshi Tachikawa	...	Yoichiro
Yosuke Natsuki	...	Kohei's Son
Eijirô Tôno	...	Gonji, tavern keeper
Kamatari Fujiwara	...	Tazaemon
Ikio Sawamura	...	Hansuke
Atsushi Watanabe	...	The Cooper (Coffin-Maker)
Susumu Fujita	...	Homma, instructor who skips town
Kyu Sazanka	...	Ushitora

Also Known As:

The Bodyguard (International: English title) (literal title)
Yojimbo the Bodyguard (USA)
Yojinbo (Japan) (modified Hepburn romanization)
Le garde du corps (Canada: French title) (France) [fr]
Yojimbo (Argentina) (Spain) [es]
Die Leibwache (West Germany) [de]
La sfida del samurai (Italy) [it]
Livvagten (Denmark) [da]
Mercenario (Spain) [es]
Straz przyboczna (Poland) [pl]
Yojimbo (Greece) [el]
Yojimbo - Der Leibwächter (West Germany) [de]
Yojimbo - Livvakten (Sweden) [sv]
Yojimbo - O Guarda-Costas (Brazil) [pt]
Yojimbo - onnensoturi (Finland) [fi]

Runtime:

110 min | USA:75 min

Country:

Japan

Language:

Japanese

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Perspecta Stereo (Westrex Recording System)

Certification:

Germany:12 | Netherlands:12 | New Zealand:M | USA:TV-MA (cable rating) | Argentina:16 | Australia:PG | Finland:K-16 | Norway:16 | Spain:13 | Sweden:15 | USA:Unrated | UK:PG (video rating) (1993) | UK:A (original rating)

Filming Locations:

Toho Studios, Tokyo, Japan

Company:

Kurosawa Production Co.

Trivia:

In one scene, the samurai shows incredible skill at knife-throwing by impaling a blowing leaf against a wooden floor. This was accomplished by running the shot backwards. In the frame "before" the knife hits the leaf, you can see a slit in the leaf the same size and at the exact point where the knife penetrates it a frame "later".

Goofs:

Revealing mistakes: When Sanjuro practices throwing the knife at a leaf, the wire on the knife is clearly visible (the scene was filmed backwards; the knife was actually pulled off the leaf by the wire).

Quotes:

[after Unosuke dies]
Sanjuro: He died as he lived.

Movie Connections:

Remade as "Kaze no yôjinbô" (2001)

Japan's Lone Ranger

Kurosowa, many believe, only shot samurai pictures. Wrong. Obviously: Dersu Uzala, Dodesukaden, Dreams, Ikiru... they have nothing to do with samurai! Others say he told stories of characters trying to redeem themselves or rediscovering themselves. The exception is the Sanjuro duology (Yojimbo & Sanjuro), a world of violence and dark humor. Sanjuro (Mifune, way cooler than Eastwood in Leone's conform copy western), a wandering ronin, arrives in a town where everyone seems to have some criminal history or other and where two warring factions fight for control. He then slowly proceeds to play both ends against one another... for money? for power? no. Simply because they are all scum and deserve to die! And this is where Kurosowa and Mifune's stellar talents really gear in: Sanjuro doesn't try to be cool or dark, he just acts as a casual tourist, and his enigmatic detatchement from the violence around him makes him far more menacing than any of the abjectly evil (and ugly) townsfolk around him... and cool, let's not forget. Yojimbo is Kurosowa's most darkly amusing film and one of Mifune's most brilliant turns. It also spanned a great (though inferior) sequel. I urge you to check this out, just to see what happens when real justice kicks in...