Yojimbo (1961)

A Samurai (Toshiro Mifune) wanders into a village with a problem. Two warlords are in conflict for control of the village and the only person profiting is the casket maker. He decides to stay and play both sides off each other for profit. Yojimbo means bodyguard.

Director Akira Kurosawa wanted to reinvent the western for Japanese audiences. Taking inspiration from John Ford, he crafted a new kind of western in the form of a Samurai film. He even included a gunfighter, the very western looking Tatsuya Nakadai.

Kurosawa just seen his Seven Samurai remade into a Hollywood western and Yohimbo would follow suit. The story would be taken in whole cloth by Sergio Leone for A Fistful of Dollars, sparking a lawsuit.

Set in a humble village and filmed in black and white, Yojimbo looks fantastic. Even in rain the visual popped. The gang’s henchmen move like a comedic dance troupe, acting brave but clearly craven. It’s a serious film that uses levity to its advantage. It is visually stunning in many ways.

Maybe I didn’t enjoy the film as much because I already knew the story because I saw Fistful … holy crap, eleven years ago! Still, I remembered it well. People may find Fistful more accessible because it was filmed in “English” but Yojimbo is clearly the better film. AMRU 4.

Rashomon (1950)

A travelling Samurai is murdered, his wife is raped, and the man responsible is captured. At the trial, several different versions of how the events unfolded come to light. Exactly, what did happen?

Akira Kurosawa's Rashomon is an enigma. Not quite understood in Japan or America, but loved nonetheless. The Academy Award for best foreign language film, maybe, was created specifically for this film. This is what made Kurosawa an international filmmaker. It is marvelous storytelling, wonderfully shot, and edited to perfection. All hallmarks of the director.

Frequently described as telling the same story from different "perspectives", but make no mistake: all but one version (at best) are lies. The viewer must tease out the agenda of each version to maybe piece together some semblance of truth. Once each story is told, and the character's true nature further revealed, then you must reevaluate what you think you know.

It's not quite accurate to say Rashomon would stand up to a second viewing. It absolutely demands one. The story and characters, despite being alien in time and culture, read true to American audiences. I can't say how I would feel off the film after a second time, but for now AMRU 4.

"It's human to lie. Most of the time we can't even be honest with ourselves."

The Hidden Fortress (1958)

I picked up this movie for two reasons. One was because it was made by Akira Kurosawa, the second because it was recommended by my good buddy Leo. His recommendation alone wasn't the key. He's been hit or miss so far. It was because he claimed this was a primary influence for Star Wars. Being a Star Wars geek from way back, I had to take a look.

Two inept peasants are trying desperately to profit on an ongoing war. They narrowly escape death, but are still broke. Then they discover two things. Gold hidden inside sticks, and a Samurai whom they don't trust. The three come to a tenuous alliance to help get the gold out of the war zone and to split it. What the two peasants don't know, is that the Samurai is also smuggling out the Princess of the conquered nation.

What follows is a comic adventure. Toshiro Mifume plays the domineering Samurai. Perhaps you remember him as the drunk from Seven Samurai. The peasants constantly bicker and never truly understand what's going on around them. Samurai Makabe doesn't trust them beyond trusting their greed.

Fun, interesting, and watchable for my sons, but not the Tour de Force that Seven Samurai was. My Star Wars crazy boys couldn't see Star Wars in the story (one guessed the Samurai was supposed to be Han Solo), but the truth is that the only influence was that the story was told through the eyes of the two lowest characters. All other similarities are purely coincidental. AMRU 3.5.

Seven Samurai (1954) - part 2

The new copy came in an I watched the last of disk one and about half an hour of disk 2. Daily life disallowed me to watch the last hour and change until last night.

So, we take up the story of a village under oppression. Their crops were robbed by bandits, and when they return, they realize the village has nothing. So they decide to return when the barley ripens. A villager hears this and know that if this crop is taken, they are doomed. Give up the crop without a fight and beg the bandits to leave them something?

No, says grandpa. Hire Samurai to defend the village. It is a tall order to find Samurai to fight for nothing more than rice. In all seven agree. One is young and untested. One's Samurai credentials are in question. Others are not great warriors but posses other skills. They fortify the village and train the farmers.

There are a few side stories. The villagers fear the Samurai. One forces his daughter to dress as a boy. Another villager has a secret. Some of the houses are outside the protection perimeter and that causes concern. Add to it the idea of Ronin staying loyal not to a lord, but to a noble cause, and the Samurai who isn't a Samurai. All of this works together.

Partly the way I watched the film, I could readily identify with only four of the seven. The leader was distinct, being older and having cut his hair early in the film. The young Katsushiro was timid and unsure. Kikochiyo moved unlike the others. You did not have to see his face to know who which one he was. Unlikable at first, he becomes very endearing. The others kinda blended in. A second, uninterrupted viewing would be in order.

A few things to mention. For a movie with such a high body count, there was no gore. The Samurai slices his sword near an opponent and the cut is implied. I didn't feel it was missing. A three and (almost) a half hour movie is quite daunting, but it didn't drag. The pacing was perfect.

There are many elements in this movie. Action fight scenes, a love story, a noble cause, youth proving one's self, and it's all done expertly. Maybe technically perfect. Far be it for me to make such a declaration, but put this much stuff into a 207 minute, subtitled, black and white film, and if you get an eight year old video game junkie glued to the screen, and you have something special. I returned the disks two days late at $2 a day. It was worth it.

AMRU 4.5. Now maybe I can get the boys to watch Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon.

Seven Samurai (1954) - part 1

Seven Samurai (Shinchinin no samurai) is the story of a farming village in 16th century Japan. Roaming bandits rule the landscape. When one farmer overhears bandits say they will plunder the village when their barley crop ripens, the community is thrown into despair.

After a long discussion, the decision is made to try and hire Samurai to defend the village. The problem is that all they have to pay them with is rice. They must find hungry Samurai. A motley band of seven arrive to a village of people who both desperately need and fear them.

Seven Samurai is a movie of great reputation. IMDb voters have ranked this foreign language film as the 15th greatest all time. Entertainment Weekly placed it twelfth. It is called the first modern action movie, with many of the cinematic elements either invented or refined here. The Magnificent Seven (1960) was based on it.

At first I was apprehensive to start this movie. It's over three hours long and I didn't know if I had the stamina. Imagine my surprise that not only did I totally get into the movie, but so did my 8 and 13 year old sons. This, a black and white movie with subtitles and surprisingly little action.

Now, imagine my frustration when the DVD flaked out on me at the end of chapter 10 (of 12) on disk one! On close inspection I found that the disk had been cleaned with what looks like find grit sandpaper. Disk two looked slightly better, but I wasn't going to play it without seeing the rest of disk one. I've tried it in the Playstation to see if I got better results, but no dice.

I've requested another copy from the library. I'll hold off giving it a rating, but as of now it's a 4, at least. Woonsocket Harris library, you're getting yours back!