Sunday, July 24, 2011

Sanjuro (1962)

Director: Akira Kurosawa. Cast: Toshiro Mifune, Tatsuya Nakadai, Keiju Kobayashi. Rated PG-13. Japan. Action/Drama.


In this sequel to Yojimbo, Mifuno again plays the role of an (almost) no-name warrior, looking for trouble in a village run by feudalist clans, siding with the inexprienced villagers, spreading Samurai wisdom along the way. The dialogue takes a more comedic turn compared to Yojimbo, which may be entertaining at times, but eventually dilutes the depth of the drama. I would have liked to see another movie that would round out a trilogy, which apparently never happened. But boy ... was Kurosawa violent for his time. Now I know where Tarantino got his blood-spurting geysers from.


Mo says:

4 comments:

  1. Indeed ,I enjoyed this sequel as much as original. Agree that some scenes and part of the plot was repetitive but still it's so attractive! it brought up a nice notion like wisdom and peaceful approach of female characters toward traditional Samurai's violence.The free manner, wise advice and democratic attitude of old lady was notable ,in particular when “a man with no name “ tries to listen it.! It shows that filmmaker tries to highlight the contrast of peace and violence., even in a quite Samurai atmosphere and it was beautiful ! .. again some comic scenes were splendid along with a plenty beautiful quotes and another perfect final scene.
    * first film Kurosawa appears in its trailer :
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZHIRcbAMFHo

    ** nice quote :
    "You're too sharp. That's your trouble. You're like a drawn sword. Sharp, naked without a sheath. You cut well. But good swords are kept in their sheaths."

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Three years have passed since I saw this, but I guess the feeling was slight boredom while watching the movie ... the feeling of watching a Friday afternoon movie on TV in Tehran as a kid! Thanks for the link.

      Delete
  2. Sorry Mo! your feedback is almost always needed even-though you've seen the movie a long time ago in a galaxy far far away!:)

    ReplyDelete