Yojimbo (用心棒, Yōjinbō) is a 1961 jidaigeki (period drama) film directed by Akira Kurosawa. It tells the story of a masterless samurai, portrayed by Toshirō Mifune, who arrives in a small town where competing crime lords make their money from gambling. 'Yojimbo' means 'Bodyguard'.
A samurai convinces each of two crime lords, Seibei and Ushitora, to hire him as protection from the other. The samurai, pretending to be on Ushitora's side, convinces U...
More
Yojimbo (用心棒, Yōjinbō) is a 1961 jidaigeki (period drama) film directed by Akira Kurosawa. It tells the story of a masterless samurai, portrayed by Toshirō Mifune, who arrives in a small town where competing crime lords make their money from gambling. 'Yojimbo' means 'Bodyguard'.
A samurai convinces each of two crime lords, Seibei and Ushitora, to hire him as protection from the other. The samurai, pretending to be on Ushitora's side, convinces Ushitora to attack. After a series of battles, in which most of the henchmen on both sides are killed, but Ushitora is ultimately victorious, the survivors are then killed by the samurai.
The film's look and themes were in part inspired by the western film genre, in particular the films of John Ford. The characters—the taciturn loner and the helpless townsfolk needing a protector—are reminiscent of Kurosawa's own Seven Samurai (1954) and have become western archetypes. The cinematography also mimics conventional shots in western films, such as...
Less
