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 Also Known as: The Bodyguard
Director: Akira Kurosawa
Runtime: 110 Minutes
Year: 1961
Country: Japan
Language: Japanese
Colour: Black & White
Speciality: The smartest onscreen samurai . 'The inspiration for spaghetti Westerns and the introduction of a new kind of film hero. Akira Kurosawa has created a gripping and highly entertaining film that makes brilliant use of the wide cinema screen." - Brian Webster in ‘Apollo Movie Guide’
Palador DVD Code: PFE0023b1
Available As: Part of Kurosawa Box Set
| | YOJIMBO - SYNOPSIS | | | | | | | | Yojimbo is a 1961 jidaigeki (period drama) film by Akira Kurosawa. It tells the story of a ronin (masterless samurai), portrayed by Toshiro Mifune, who arrives in a small town where competing crime lords make their money from gambling. The ronin, who calls himself Sanjuro (meaning 'thirtysomething') convinces each crime lord to hire him as protection from the other. By careful political maneuvering and the use of his sword, he brings peace, but only by encouraging both sides to wipe each other out in bloody battles. The title of the film translates as 'bodyguard |
| | YOJIMBO - CREDITS | | | | | | | | Directed by
Written by
Produced by
Cinematography by
Film Editing by
Original Music | Akira Kurosawa
Akira Kurosawa (story)
Akira Kurosawa & Ryuzo Kikushima (screenplay)
Akira Kurosawa (producer)
Ryuzo Kikushima & Tomoyuki Tanaka (executive producer)
Kazuo Miyagawa
Akira Kurosawa
Masaru Satô |
| | | | | | | | | | | | 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 Tono 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
Kô Nishimura Kuma
Takeshi Katô Ronin Kobuhachi |
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| YOJIMBO - INFLUENCES & REFERENCES | | | | | | The film's look and themes were in part inspired by the western film, in particular the films of John Ford. The characters - the taciturn loner and the helpless townsfolk needing a protector - are reminiscent of western archetypes, and the cinematography mimics conventional shots in western films such as that of the lone hero in a wide shot, facing an enemy or enemies from a distance while the wind kicks up dust between the two.
Kurosawa stated that a major source for the plot was the film noir classic The Glass Key (1942), an adaption of Dashiell Hammett's 1931 novel
It has been noted that the plot of Yojimbo is actually much closer to another Hammett novel, Red Harvest (1932); Kurosawa scholar David Desser and critic Manny Farber, among others, state categorically that Red Harvest was the inspiration for the film; however, other scholars, such as Donald Richie, believe the similarities are coincidental.
In 1964, Yojimbo was remade as A Fistful of Dollars, a spaghetti western directed by Sergio Leone and starring Clint Eastwood in his first appearance as the Man with No Name.
Last Man Standing (1996), a prohibition era gangster thriller, directed by Walter Hill and starring Bruce Willis, is an officially authorized remake of Yojimbo.
The 1970 film Zatoichi Meets Yojimbo also features Mifune as a similar character. It is one of a series of movies featuring the blind swordsman Zatoichi. Although it is never explicitly stated that this is the same character as in the original film, the title and a number of nods to the original very strongly imply this.
Other films which borrow from the plot of Yojimbo include:
1. Youth of the Beast (1963), a modern Japanese yakuza crime film directed by Seijun Suzuki and starring Jo Shishido
2. The Warrior and the Sorceress (1984), a sword and sorcery movie directed by John C. Broderick and starring David Carradine.
3. Omega Doom (1997), a low-budget post-apocalyptic action film involving cybernetic robots, starring Rutger Hauer.
4. Desert Heat (1999; aka Inferno or Coyote Moon), an action movie directed by John G. Avildsen and starring Jean Claude Van Damme
5. Lucky Number Slevin (2006) a contemporary take on the film, also featuring Willis.
The anime series Kaze no Yojimbo (2001; literally Bodyguard of the Wind), produced by Kurosawa Productions retells the story of the original film in the modern era. Many of the characters and events in the series are analogous to characters and events in Yojimbo, but additional subplots and characters are added to expand it into a 25-episode TV series and to distinguish it from Kurosawa's film.
The Playstation 2 game Way of the Samurai has many elements heavily inspired by Yojimbo. In that game, the player takes on the role of a wandering samurai who drifts into a small town caught between warring factions. In the game, the player can align himself with any of the factions, can remain neutral, or can be completely immoral, and fight against anyone and everyone he encounters.
Remade as:
A Fistful of Dollars (1964)
Django (1966)
Karate Warriors (1976)
The Warrior and the Sorceress (1984)
Mariachi, El (1992)
Xian ren zhang (1994)
Last Man Standing (1996/I)
Inferno (1999/II)
Kaze no yôjinbô (2001 TV series)
Spin off:
Zatoichi Meets Yojimbo (1970)
Referenced in:
Star Wars: Episode IV - A New Hope (1977)
Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981)
Mad Max 2: The Road Warrior (1981)
Vampire Hunter D (1985 video)
The Princess Bride (1987)
The Killer (1989)
David Lynch's Wild at Heart (1990)
Miller's Crossing (1990)
Jubei Ninpocho: The Wind Ninja Chronicles (1993)
Rising Sun (1993)
Brainscan (1994)
Steel Frontier (1995)
Rudora no hihou (1996 video game)
Eastwood on Eastwood (1997 TV documentary)
Inferno (1999/II)
American Beauty (1999)
Millennium Actress (2001)
Legend of the Phantom Rider (2002)
Kill Bill: Vol. 1 (2003)
Exhumed (2003 video)
Oldboy (2003)
EuroTrip (2004)
Spoofs:
Sugata Sanshiro (1943) | |
| | YOJIMBO - AWARDS & NOMINATIONS | | | | | | | | Academy Awards, USA - 1962. The film was Nominated for an Oscar for Best Costume Design, Black-and-White for Yoshirô Muraki
1962 It Won the Blue Ribbon and Kinema Junpo Awards for Best Actor for Toshirô Mifune
1961 It Won the Volpi Cup Best Actor for Toshirô Mifune and was Nominated for the Golden Lion at the Venice Film Festival |
| | YOJIMBO - QUOTES | | | | | | | | About the Film
Even Eastwood's Man With No Name is inspired, perhaps, by the samurai in Yojimbo. -- Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times
Japan's definitive leading man, Toshiro Mifune, wields wits that are even deadlier than his Katana. Funny, clever, and never a dull moment. -- Brian Mckay, eFilmCritic.com
Rousing, good story, told with vigor and visual excitement -- Variety
It is fair to say that, without Yojimbo, certain key aspects of Western cinema would not be the same today. -- James Berardinelli, ReelViews |
| | YOJIMBO - TRIVIA | | | | | | | At one point the hero, beaten, disarmed and left for dead, recovers in a small hut where he practices with his throwing knife by pinning a fluttering leaf. This effect was created by reversing the film: in reality, the leaf was pinned, the knife yanked away by a wire, and the leaf blown away.
Tatsuya Nakadai, who plays the flamboyant, pistol-waving Unosuke here, also plays the main villain role in the Yojimbo sequel, Sanjuro.
Based on the novel "Red Harvest". George Lucas, a known Kurosawa fan, filmed Star Wars: Episode VI - Return of the Jedi under the false name "Blue Harvest" to maintain secrecy and to make an inside reference to his favorite director, Akira Kurosawa.
Many of the actors in Yojimbo had worked with Kurosawa before and after, especially Toshiro Mifune, Takashi Shimura (who appeared in Seven Samurai and Ikiru) and Tatsuya Nakadai.
Not caring to be categorized as the superannuated director of samurai satires, such as Yojimbo (1961) and Sanjuro (1962), all of his films from 1965 to 1985 were potential career-ending gambles, and the Japanese film industry, which was undergoing the first of several transitional periods, was particularly unforgiving toward them. |
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