Movie 142: Yojimbo

Aka The Bodyguard

Yes this was remade, but thankfully it’s not that Witney Huston thing. I’ll get to that in a minute.

A ronin (Toshiro Mifune) randomly wanders in to a town that is being dominated by two gambling houses. He decides to pit the two gang lords against each other in hopes they will wipe each other out and free the town.

And it was remade as “A Fist Full of Dollars”. I didn’t give Mifune’s character a name in the description as he doesn’t really have one. Of all the Kurosawa movies I’ve seen so far this is the most Eastern, that being the name given to his films that are like Westerns, and its also probably the most dull. It’s still good though, just a little draggy.

There are a lot of mind games in this, which leads to not much happening a lot of the time. The film has two saving graces. Mifune, as always, and the fact that there is a fair bit of comedy in it. Genuinely funny comedy.

Mifune here is very much a Japanese Clint Eastwood, fitting considering the remake and there’s a fair chance that that’s why Eastwood was cast in the first place. He’s very much the tough guy as usual, but more vulnerable at times than he normally is too.

There’s also a guy in this who’s like the Japanese answer to Jaws, the Bond villain not the shark. Eerily so.

The main comedy probably comes from Inokichi, a fat guy with a mono brow who’s comical to look at in the first place. Which I feel a little bad for saying as its not that guys fault that he looks goofy, but there’s a history of that kind of thing in movies.

The main rival, Unosuke (Tatsuya Nakadai) is one of the films weaknesses in my opinion. He struts about like a big man, but he’s only big because he has a pistol. It’s the only gun in the film. I think its mainly down to me being prejudiced about the fact that guns are brought to sword fights sometimes that makes me feel this way though. The character fits for what he is, but he’s also treated with a bit too much respect in the movie over all.

It’s good, a little slow sometimes but not overly long so its not too bad. Worth a look, but I’d recommend the other Kurosawa movies I’ve seen this year first. Maybe not “I Live In Fear”.

Next up: Rambo II