Yojimbo (film)

Yojimbo (???) is a 1961 jidaigeki film by Akira Kurosawa, in which a ronin, portrayed by Toshiro Mifune, arrives at a small town with competing crime lords making their money from gambling, and convinces each crime lord to hire him as protection from the other. By careful political manoeuvring and the use of his sword, he brings peace by encouraging both sides to wipe each other out.

Related Topics:
1961 - Jidaigeki - Akira Kurosawa - Ronin - Toshiro Mifune

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The film's look and themes were inspired by several sources, including John Ford's western film conventions including the canonical taciturn loner and the helpless townsfolk needing a protector. Its cinematography mimics conventional shots in western films including that of the lone hero in a wideshot, facing an enemy or enemies from a distance when the wind kicks up dust between the two. Another important influence was the film noir classic The Glass Key from 1942. This film, which starred Alan Ladd and Veronica Lake and is adapted from the novel by Dashiell Hammett is cited by Kurosawa as his inspiration. And, in fact, the scenes of the samurai's brutal beating are copied practically shot-for-shot from that film. The plot of Yojimbo is actually much closer to another Hammett novel, Red Harvest, a fact which has led to many unsubstantiated rumors that Red Harvest was the real inspiration. In the latter novel, a private eye, for undetermined, perhaps quixotic, motives, determines to clean up a gang-ridden mining town by inciting every mobster against every other. The detective manages to ride out the resulting waves of murder, saving his own life but nearly at the cost of his own private code of ethics. In Red Harvest, The Glass Key and Yojimbo, corrupt officials and businessmen are seen to stand behind and profit from the rule of the gangsters.

Related Topics:
John Ford - Western film - Film noir - The Glass Key - 1942 - Alan Ladd - Veronica Lake - Dashiell Hammett - Red Harvest

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Yojimbo was later remade as A Fistful of Dollars, a spaghetti western directed by Sergio Leone and starring Clint Eastwood; Youth of the Beast, a modern Japanese yakuza crime movie directed by Seijun Suzuki and starring Shishido Jo; and remade, yet again, in a 20th century "gangster" genre, as Last Man Standing, starring Bruce Willis.

Related Topics:
Remade - A Fistful of Dollars - Spaghetti western - Sergio Leone - Clint Eastwood - Youth of the Beast - Seijun Suzuki - Shishido Jo - Last Man Standing - Bruce Willis

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