Akira Kurosawa has never denied the fact that he was
heavily influenced by the western genre, citing John Ford, amongst others, as
something of an idol. It’s fitting then that at least two of the Japanese
director’s most prominent works, this and Seven Samurai, would go on to be
remade, unofficially yet almost shot-for-shot in Yojimbo’s case, as two of the
definitive classics of the western genre. Though I’ve seen Seven Samurai once
before, and The Magnificent Seven and Sergio Leone’s Dollars trilogy a fistful
of times each, this was my first viewing of Kurosawa’s classic. Yojimbo sees a
lone, nameless samurai wander into a town divided by two warring gangs. Seeing
an opportunity to rectify the situation, and possibly pocket a little something
along the way, the ronin stays in town and pits the two rival factions against
one another.
Showing posts with label Akira Kurosawa. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Akira Kurosawa. Show all posts
Saturday, 15 September 2012
Yojimbo
Another film I reviewed for the recent So You Think You Can Review tournament over at the Lamb that's also on the List.
Akira Kurosawa has never denied the fact that he was
heavily influenced by the western genre, citing John Ford, amongst others, as
something of an idol. It’s fitting then that at least two of the Japanese
director’s most prominent works, this and Seven Samurai, would go on to be
remade, unofficially yet almost shot-for-shot in Yojimbo’s case, as two of the
definitive classics of the western genre. Though I’ve seen Seven Samurai once
before, and The Magnificent Seven and Sergio Leone’s Dollars trilogy a fistful
of times each, this was my first viewing of Kurosawa’s classic. Yojimbo sees a
lone, nameless samurai wander into a town divided by two warring gangs. Seeing
an opportunity to rectify the situation, and possibly pocket a little something
along the way, the ronin stays in town and pits the two rival factions against
one another.
Akira Kurosawa has never denied the fact that he was
heavily influenced by the western genre, citing John Ford, amongst others, as
something of an idol. It’s fitting then that at least two of the Japanese
director’s most prominent works, this and Seven Samurai, would go on to be
remade, unofficially yet almost shot-for-shot in Yojimbo’s case, as two of the
definitive classics of the western genre. Though I’ve seen Seven Samurai once
before, and The Magnificent Seven and Sergio Leone’s Dollars trilogy a fistful
of times each, this was my first viewing of Kurosawa’s classic. Yojimbo sees a
lone, nameless samurai wander into a town divided by two warring gangs. Seeing
an opportunity to rectify the situation, and possibly pocket a little something
along the way, the ronin stays in town and pits the two rival factions against
one another.
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