Yojimbo, review

Yojimbo

Director: Akira Kurosawa

Writers: Akira Kurosawa

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

Kyû Sazanka - Ushitora

Divine_Malevolence:  The story begins following a wandering samurai of name and origin unknown. He seems to have very little overall purpose, leaving his trailblazing up to fate by choosing his path with a stick. A small ways down the road, he stumbles upon a family, where the son is foolishly leaving to go join a gang.

Interested, the samurai ventures into the town. He is greeted by a corrupt officer, who tells him that good work is available in the form of being a bodyguard for either of the two warring gang like factions. Hardly interested in such a line of work, he instead enters a small establishment where he meets what would be one of very few allies.

This man tells him of the town, and the situation that they were in. Of how the former boss had died, leaving his son and his left hand man to fight over the position of power. The fact that they had been doing so left the town in a very poor state, where he worried about its continued survival. Finally interested, the samurai decided he would stay and put an end to the insanity.

He first went to the son, and hired himself out for fifty Ryo, attaining such a high price by killing three of the other faction’s members. Took twenty five before, and was promised twenty five after a job well done. The son later decided that even though he had agreed to such terms, it was a truly foolish thing to do, and he would later kill the samurai to keep his money. Unfortunately, he was overheard.

Later, when the son decided to instigate a battle with the new strength on his side. Once they took to the field, the samurai exclaimed he would not fight for a man who would later kill him, and took to merely watching it unfold. There was no actual fighting, as both sides were extremely cowardly, and it was broken up by news that an inspector was to inspect them.

The inspector’s arrival sparked a period of inactivity between the two factions. During this time, the samurai went about observing the life in the town, and the inspector. And during this time, his plot formed. Both sides decided they wished to purchase his aid, and both thus came simultaneously. He refused them both, and merely waited for the next piece of news.

News came in the form of a dead official a ways away, which was sure to draw the inspector away. On top of that, both sides were coming to some sort of forged peace, where they would reign together. The samurai, knowing that it was far too convenient for both sides, set out to investigate the drunken subordinates. One of those who worked under the previous boss’s left hand confessed to doing it for little over a Ryo, and was then captured and sold to the son’s faction.

Not at all satisfied at that, the samurai also went to the left hand and told him of the plight his subordinates were suffering. This caused the fragile truce to shatter, and the second faction took their own hostage to barter with. It came to a trade, where both sides took shots at each other in any way they could. In the end, the son’s own son was traded back for the second faction’s two assassins, and a woman known to be the wife of a villager.

Having seen the condition of this woman, the samurai hired himself to the second faction for sixty Ryo. He was accepted into their order, and used the opportunity to free the woman while further aggravating things between the two factions. They struck out continuously at each other, until the second faction heard news that the woman that was rescued had, indeed, been rescued. With only a small bit of excess evidence, they found it was the samurai and thusly imprisoned him.

But what type of warrior stays imprisoned? He broke out with a great deal of effort, and planted the story that he had fled into the protection of the son’s faction. The second faction took this as an opportunity to wipe out the first, and in the end didn’t find the samurai. His ally, the shop keeper, took him to a temple to get back to fighting strength so that he could later flee.

Of course, the shop keeper was then found and captured himself. This provoked the samurai to come back, while not fully recovered, to save his friend. A bloody and one sided battle ensued, the samurai standing victor over the remnants of the two factions who had plagued the town.

Sam Glass: awesome! u catch what yojimbo means?

Divine_Malevolence: I think it means bodyguard.

Sam Glass: ahh.. well he wasn't much of a body guard.. but the town was quiet when he was finished!

Divine_Malevolence: But I can't find anything, so I think it was made up for the movie.

Sam Glass: I think I read bodyguard somewhere

Divine_Malevolence: In the movie.

Sam Glass: yea.. so the samurai was ronin?

Divine_Malevolence: Yup. He had no master. And no real aim early on either.

Sam Glass: yea.. i liked the beginning where he threw up the stick to see which way he would wander

Divine_Malevolence: Yup yup. If it had pointed a different direction, none o' that would've happened.

Sam Glass: Yea. But what a town! Would it happen here? Two bosses divide the town? Or is it purely Japanese?

Divine_Malevolence: ?

Sam Glass: The feud was between the two sides... the restaurant owner said early on the problem was they both wanted to control the town.. kind of like the mafia I guess

Divine_Malevolence: Yup. Evil factions.

Sam Glass: Hired guns. I liked the time keeper... wonder if that was in all towns.. what was the wood about, u know?

Divine_Malevolence: The wood was to make a loud slapping noise. Like when the people play the bugle in the military.

Sam Glass: Yea.. but it was nice and crisp. What did u think about the shooter. He had an evil grin?

Divine_Malevolence: Cocky guy. Felt naked without his gun. I wonder what he was doing when he wasn't in town.

Sam Glass: Lol.. hired to someone else?.... I thought it was a lucky knife shot to bring him down..

Divine_Malevolence: At the beginning. He showed up halfway through.

Sam Glass: Yes.. but the scene where he fought the samurai.. at the end where they were walking towards each other down the street... and the wind was blowing... they were close and he was about to fire.... and then the samurai whips out the knife and gets the shooter in the forearm!

Divine_Malevolence: He practiced for that. And it was a nice throw.

Sam Glass: Yea, I'll say nice!

Divine_Malevolence: Who needs a gun when you have a dirty knife and a decent throw?

Sam Glass: Yea!! What about the rest of the samurai's fighting? Everyone else seemed unskilled.

Divine_Malevolence: Only when compared to the main character. He was a beast. All else pale in comparison.

Sam Glass: Fathead?

Divine_Malevolence: The slow younger brother?

Sam Glass: the giant with the hammer

Divine_Malevolence: Oh. He was brute force, not skill. Probably there to beat up prisoners.

Sam Glass: kind of dumb not to look in the trunk

Divine_Malevolence: Truly. But what more can one expect from gangsters?

Sam Glass: exactly...and the money? he gave 30 to the family of the rescued woman.. did he take any for himself?

Divine_Malevolence: Not a greedy ronin. He was a man of simple taste. Divine_Malevolence: Saving towns for food.

Sam Glass: yea.. and sake

Divine_Malevolence: Mighty fine life.

Sam Glass: yea.. but how can he face his struggles so calmly?

Divine_Malevolence: General apathy?

Sam Glass: facing death? it takes something to put your life on the line over and over.. after-all it only takes one cut and it would be over for him

Divine_Malevolence: He seems like he's lived a full life and wouldn't otherwise mind.

Sam Glass: The Bushido book I'm reading says every samurai should start and end each day visualizing all the various ways they could die...  burning, cut, drowned... exploded... would that make u calm?

Divine_Malevolence: If I had a way to prevent it.

Sam Glass: but they expect it.. i think that is the difference.. they were special.. and that is what made them calm.. their acceptance...

Divine_Malevolence: Yup yup.

Sam Glass: well.. what else did u like?

Divine_Malevolence: Cool shop keeper. "It's free, just get out."

Sam Glass: yea.. once he figured out the samurai was a good guy

Divine_Malevolence: At the beginning as well. Though once he saw a good idea he didn't think twice again.

Sam Glass: yea.. i see that. The coffin? Interesting design...

Divine_Malevolence: And they were going to take him out to bury him. Very interesting.

Sam Glass: power cycling here.. internet down again

Divine_Malevolence: Hello.  Say "Ninja"?

Sam Glass: Next week Rashoman?