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Yojimbo (1961)
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Overview
User Rating:
Release Date:
13 September 1961 (USA) morePlot:
A crafty ronin comes to a town divided by two criminal gangs and decides to play them against each other to free the town. full summary | full synopsisAwards:
Nominated for Oscar. Another 3 wins & 1 nomination moreNewsDesk:
(18 articles)
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User Comments:
Kurosawa's most entertaining film more (101 total)Cast
(Cast overview, first billed only)| 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 Tôno | ... | Gonji, tavern keeper | |
| Kamatari Fujiwara | ... | Tazaemon | |
| Ikio Sawamura | ... | Hansuke | |
| Atsushi Watanabe | ... | The Cooper (Coffin-Maker) | |
| Susumu Fujita | ... | Homma, instructor who skips town | |
| Kyû Sazanka | ... | Ushitora |
Additional Details
Also Known As:
Yojimbo (UK) (USA)The Bodyguard (International: English title) (literal title)
Yôjinbô (International) (modified Hepburn romanization)
Yojimbo the Bodyguard (USA)
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Parents Guide:
View content advisory for parentsRuntime:
110 min | USA:75 minCountry:
JapanLanguage:
JapaneseColor:
Black and WhiteAspect Ratio:
2.35 : 1 moreSound Mix:
Perspecta Stereo (Westrex Recording System)Certification:
Germany:12 | Netherlands:12 | New Zealand:M | USA:TV-MA (cable rating) | Argentina:16 | Australia:PG | Finland:K-16 | Norway:16 | Spain:13 | Sweden:15 | USA:Unrated | UK:PG (video rating) (1993) | UK:A (original rating)Filming Locations:
Toho Studios, Tokyo, JapanFun Stuff
Trivia:
"Yojimbo" is an uncredited film version of Dashiell Hammett's novel "Red Harvest". "Red Harvest" is about a detective who comes to a small city and sets two sides of a gang war against one another until both are almost completely wiped out. moreGoofs:
Continuity: In the initial fight scene The Samurai cuts the first two adversaries in the mid-section, then slices the last man's arm off. That last man is first seen from behind holding the sword in his right arm above his head, but the arm holding the sword shown moments later is a left arm. moreFAQ
Is this movie based on a book?How much sex, violence, and profanity are in this movie?
Who did the man with the prayer drums kill?
more
more (101 total)
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Yojimbo, based on noir writer Dashiel Hammett's Red Harvest is a magnificently entertaining film. Toshiro Mifune stars as the nobody who calls himself Sanjuro (thirty but closer to forty). He enters a town destroyed by warring factions and plays a double-game to pit one faction against the other thus destroying the criminal element.
Yojimbo (aka The Bodyguard) is one of the coolest and most stylish films ever made. Starring Toshiro Mifune, Kurosawa's favorite actor, as the scruffy looking Samurai, Yojimbo has all of Kurosawa's qualities and none of the flaws. The music score is an essential element of the plot and strikingly good, but admittedly bettered by the Ennio Morricone version in the Spaghetti Western remake Fistful of Dollars. The visuals are great, from the samurai swordplay, to the desolate streets, the town crier announcing its 3 a.m. to the brutal torture scene.
One of the unique things about Yojimbo is the central character. He is an anti-hero. We see him initially as a killer and a man greedy for money. But then, he saves a family by re-uniting mother and child and giving them all the money he was advanced. Mifune has never been cooler than in this film and Eastwood could only aspire to equal such a performance.
Of the two remakes, I liked Fistful of Dollars for starting the Spaghetti Western genre, although Yojimbo is a far more superior and stylish film. The gangster version, Last Man Standing, was not very good and Bruce Willis made for a poor substitute to Yojimbo. This film looks fresh and undated even today - watch it!