Yojimbo

"Yojimbo"
Akira Kurosawa, 1961

"Yojimbo" follows an itinerant samurai warrior named Sanjuro, played by the reliably enthralling Toshiro Mifune, who comes across a village where two bosses, Seibei and Ushitora, are in the midst of a war that is tearing the community apart. The coffin-maker's business is booming, at least until there are "too many deaths" for anyone to care about burial, and families are torn apart due to people's loyalties to either side. Sanjuro is in desperate need of money and takes advantage of both sides' desperation, switching alliances and all the while laughing at the futility of the entire situation.

Kurosawa, I suspect, was aiming to depict how silly this feud is - we are never told what event triggered the war in the first place and only witness its brutal aftermath. His film provides some interesting touches of black humor, such as Sanjuro, upon first entering the town, witnessing a dog trotting away with a severed hand in its mouth. But most of the time, the humor doesn't really work. It is strange and treats the characters in a belittling manner - after a time it grows wearisome, and stops providing a fresh perspective on the conflict. This problem with the humor is compounded by a questionable music motif that consists of a bizarre, out-of-place mish-mash of 60s rock and Japanese music.

I suppose the entire film is a mish-mash of various genres and subjects, including westerns, comedy, and social commentary on a society gone mad. Kurosawa's attention to his mise en scene is impeccable, as always - the scenes are intelligently staged and all of his shots, which feature great use of deep focus and composition, are imaginative and effective. Whether or not all of these aspects comfortably mesh with one another is an entirely different matter. As for me, I much prefer Kurosawa's other films, but perhaps "Sanjuro," the second installment in this series, will prove to be a more enjoyable watch.

Rating: 6

First Viewed: 6/22/08
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