A nameless ronin, or samurai with no master, enters a small village in feudal Japan where two rival businessmen are struggling for control of the local gambling trade. Taking the name Sanjuro Kuwabatake, the ronin convinces both silk merchant Tazaemon and sake merchant Tokuemon to hire him as a personal bodyguard, then artfully sets in motion a full-scale gang war between the two ambitious and unscrupulous men.
"Kill one or a hundred... you only hang once"
Great movie!
Akira Kurosawa is just a master movie maker....
Akira Kurosawa's 1961 film YOJIMBO is a Japanese period drama where wily strategy is worth just as much as prowess with a sword. In the late Edo era (some decades before its end in 1868) a community is plagued by two opposing gangs who have built up a criminal empire of prostitution and gambling. Even the local officials are on the take. Into this town steps a nameless samurai (Toshiro Mifune). Once they get a taste of his swordsmanship, both sides want to hire him, but he decides to play them off against each other and free the innocent citizens from this evil.
In past films Kurosawa had t...
I was surprised when I saw this, how late it was set - 19th Century - as I'd always imagined it to be of a more historical nature. That doesn't remotely detract from the story though - as again Kurosawa casts Yoshirô Mifune ("Sanjûrô") in the leading role. Here he is a wandering samurai who arrives in a village torn by strife. His skills are sought by the two opposing headmen and he quite successfully manages to play them off against each other - and keep the peace - until one the their sons arrives, armed with a pistol, and completely alters the balance of power. Mifune is superb as the ma...