Yojimbo (1961)

User Rating:

8.3/10   

Director:

Akira Kurosawa

Writers:

Akira Kurosawa (story)
Akira Kurosawa (screenplay) ...
(more)

Release Date:

13 September 1961 (USA)

Genre:

Action | Comedy | Crime | Drama | Thriller

Plot:

A crafty ronin comes to a town divided by two criminal gangs and decides to play them against each other to free the town.

Plot Keywords:

Samurai | Bodyguard | Escape | Ronin | Dark Humor

Awards:

Nominated for Oscar. Another 3 wins & 1 nomination

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 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
Kô Nishimura	...	Kuma
Takeshi Katô	...	Ronin Kobuhachi
Ichirô Nakaya	...	First Samurai
Sachio Sakai	...	First Foot Soldier
Akira Tani	...	Kame
Namigoro Rashomon	...	Kannuki the giant
Yoshio Tsuchiya	...	Kohei
Gen Shimizu	...	Magotaro
Yutaka Sada	...	Matsukichi
Shin Otomo	...	Kumosuke
Shoichi Hirose	...	Ushitora Follower
Eisei Amamoto	...	Yahachi
Shôji Oki	...	Sukeju
Fuminori Ohashi	...	Second Samurai
Hiroshi Yoseyama	...	Farmer
Senkichi Ômura	...	Traveler
Fumiko Honma	...	Farmer's ex-wife
Ryusuke Nishio	...	Seibei Follower
Naoya Kusakawa	...	Seibei Follower
Nadao Kirino	...	Seibei Follower
Jun Ôtomo	...	Seibei Follower
Shinpei Takagi	...	Ushitora Follower
Akio Kusama	...	Ushitora Follower
Yasuzo Ogawa	...	Ushitora Follower
Hiroshi Takagi	...	Ushitora Follower
Junichirô Mukai	...	Seibei Follower
Fumiyoshi Kamagaya	...	Seibei Follower
Ichirô Chiba	...	Second Foot Soldier
Haruya Sakamoto	...	Ushitora Follower
Rinsaku Ogata	...	Seibei Follower
Fumio Kogushi	...	Ushitora Follower
Yoko Terui	...	Woman at Seibei's house
Hiromi Mineoka	...	Woman at Seibei's house
Michiko Kawa	...	Woman at Seibei's house
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Takuzo Kumagaya		(as Jirô Kumagai)
Jerry Fujio	...	Roku, samurai whose arm is cut (uncredited)

Directed by
Akira Kurosawa

Writing credits
Akira Kurosawa		(story)
Akira Kurosawa		(screenplay) &
Ryûzô Kikushima		(screenplay)

Produced by
Ryûzô Kikushima	....	executive producer
Akira Kurosawa	....	producer
Tomoyuki Tanaka	....	executive producer

Original Music by
Masaru Satô

Cinematography by
Kazuo Miyagawa

Film Editing by
Akira Kurosawa

Production Design by
Yoshirô Muraki

Costume Design by
Yoshirô Muraki

Makeup Department
Yoshiko Matsumoto	....	hair stylist
Junjiro Yamada	....	hair stylist

Production Management
Hiroshi Nezu	....	production supervisor

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Masanobu Deme	....	assistant director
Shirô Moritani	....	chief assistant director

Art Department
Koichi Hamamura	....	property master
Yoshifumi Honda	....	assistant art director

Sound Department
Choshichiro Mikami	....	sound recordist
Ichirô Minawa	....	sound effects editor
Masanobu Miyazaki	....	sound mixer
Zen Shida	....	assistant sound
Hisashi Shimonaga	....	sound recordist

Camera and Electrical Department
Masao Fukuda	....	still photographer
Choshiro Ishii	....	lighting technician
Shôji Kaneko	....	assistant lighting technician
Takao Saitô	....	assistant camera

Costume and Wardrobe Department
Masahiro Katô	....	costumer

Editorial Department
Reiko Kaneko	....	assistant editor

Transportation Department
Ginzo Osumi	....	transportation coordinator

Other crew
Hiroshi Kanesu	....	choreographer
Ryu Kuze	....	swordplay technique
Teruyo Nogami	....	script supervisor
Yoshio Sugino	....	swordplay instructor

Production Companies

• Kurosawa Production Co.
• Toho Company

Distributors

• Seneca International (1961) (USA) (theatrical) (subtitled)
• Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) (1972) (USA) (TV) (network premiere)
• Action Film (1964) (Sweden) (theatrical)
• Cowboy Pictures (2002) (USA) (theatrical) (re-release)
• Continental Home Vídeo (2002) (Brazil) (DVD)
• Criterion Collection, The (2004) (USA) (DVD)
• Criterion Collection, The (2009) (USA) (DVD)
• Madman Entertainment (2004) (Australia) (DVD)
• Palace Video (1983) (UK) (VHS)
• Palace Video (1983) (UK) (video) (Betamax)
• Sandrews (2003) (Sweden) (DVD)
• Tocantins (19??) (Brazil) (VHS)
• Toho Company

Other Companies

• Toho Studios  sound stages

Also Known As:

Yojimbo (UK) (USA)
The Bodyguard (International: English title) (literal title)
Yôjinbô (International) (modified Hepburn romanization)
Yojimbo the Bodyguard (USA)

Runtime:

110 min | USA:75 min

Country:

Japan

Language:

Japanese

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound 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, Japan

Company:

Kurosawa Production Co.

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.

Goofs:

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.

Quotes:

Orin: Kill one or a hundred. You only hang once.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Sennen joyû (2001)

First class samurai action tale with philosophy to boot

Classic samurai action pic; often imitated but never equalled. Mifune creates a memorable character (who appeared in a sequel) in the Ronin who decides the course of his life on the toss of a stick, and ends up risking his life to save a village full of peasants he finds revolting. It's possible to see "Yojimbo's" actions as either heroic or as the game of a bored warrior in need of amusement -- as often in Kurosawa's films, the fact that the characters' motives remain open to interpretation adds depth to the film.

Wonderful images, and skillful direction that keeps the pace of the storytelling tight and tells most of the story through images -- this is the kind of film that is so good it can be watched a silent film without losing too much of its impact or meaning.

I think that if Kurosawa had spent more of his time in litigation and less making movies, he might have made a living for the rest of his life off all the movies that have ripped off this movie. Certainly Eastwood's "Man with No Name" character owes a lot to Mifune's contribution; not only in Leone's films (the first of which borrows its entire plot from Kurosawa; a court settlement ensued which made sure Kurosawa made most of the profits from "Fistful of Dollars" in Asia his own) but also in Eastwood's best film as a director -- "High Plains Drifter", which borrows scenes such as Eastwood's rebuke of the villagers from "Yojimbo".

The really funny thing about all this, and what not too many American critics or audiences have noted, is that "Yojimbo" is itself a western. All the ingredients for a western are here, and the film's plot and style obviously owe a debt to Zinnemann's "High Noon". "Yojimbo" even borrows the device of time, setting up a confrontation at 3:00 a.m. as shouted by the town crier. I like "Yojimbo" better than "High Noon", so I don't want to go too far into this line of thought....