Samurai Films (7 page)

The 1960s also gave birth to Daiei studio’s famous Zatoichi series. Featuring a highly skilled blind swordsman, these films benefited from a novel concept, a variety of good directors and writers, and leading man Shintaro Katsu’s very likeable portrayal of Zatoichi. The original Zatoichi series would last into the 1980s (Katsu starring in every film), and was highly influential, spawning many imitators.

Sanjuro, a ronin, arrives at a small town, and begins to provoke conflict between two criminal gangs, hoping they’ll wipe each other out, cleaning up the town. One of the gangs is led by Seibei and his cruel wife, Orin. The other is led by Ushi-Tora and his two brothers, Inokichi, a fool, and Unosuke, a sadistic man who uses a modern revolver instead of a sword. Sanjuro pretends to work as a bodyguard for both gangs, making them compete for his services. When Sanjuro frees a captive woman, Nui, who’s important to Ushi-Tora’s gang, his machinations are undone. Unosuke discovers Sanjuro’s treachery, and has him badly beaten by his thugs. Meanwhile, Ushi-Tora and his brothers eliminate Seibei and his gang in a surprise attack. Using his cunning to escape his captors, Sanjuro is taken to a temple to recover by Gonji, a grizzled old tavern owner who despises the gangs and what they’ve done to his town. When Gonji is taken captive and tortured by Ushi-Tora, Sanjuro returns to the town, and challenges Ushi-Tora and his gang. In the bloody battle that ensues, Sanjuro defeats the entire gang. Satisfied his work is done, the ronin moves on.

1961 audiences must have known they were in for something different when they settled down to the opening scenes of
Yojimbo
. The film has a feel and tone which are almost the complete opposite of the far gentler samurai films of the 1950s. In the first reel of
Yojimbo
we see a stray dog running through a dirty street, a decaying human hand in its mouth, and Sanjuro severing the arm of a thug, which we see fall to the ground. Used to the gentle, gore-free choreography of the 1950s films, Japanese audiences would have been unaccustomed to such images.

Also, the potent tone director Akira Kurosawa brings to
Yojimbo
would have been largely new and fresh to Japanese audiences. The town Sanjuro wanders into is desolate and barren, free from any life except the aforementioned dog and the nasty thugs of two rival criminal gangs. The only person enjoying himself is the coffin-maker, whose business has never been better. Kurosawa matches the desolate appearance of the town with swift and graphic violence throughout
Yojimbo
; aside from the severed arm, we see gang members murder their enemies as they flee a burning house, and the film’s climactic ending is far bloodier than any samurai film before it.

Despite
Yojimbo
’s reputation for violence, scenes of brutality are actually used quite sparingly in the film, with relatively few such moments appearing in comparison to other 1960s samurai films, or even Kurosawa’s earlier work,
Seven Samurai
. The graphic scenes, spread throughout, are used to punctuate key moments, often sudden and unexpected, so the audience doesn’t become desensitised to their effect.

Sanjuro (Toshiro Mifune) in action.
Yojimbo
directed by Akira Kurosawa and produced by Ryuzo Kikushima, Tomoyuki Tanaka and Akira Kurosawa for Toho Studios.

 

Amazingly, Kurosawa is able to blend this sombre, violent tone with humour to create a very effective black comedy. Sanjuro himself has an unusual wit, and his callousness makes much of the film darkly funny; after killing three thugs he casually remarks to the coffin-maker that he should make three more coffins. Worthy of mention is Inokichi (Daisuke Kato), brother of Ushi-Tora, the leader of one of the rival gangs. Inokichi is very stupid, and the scene in which he is tricked into helping carry a badly beaten Sanjuro (who is hidden in a coffin) to safety is made hilarious by the exuberance Daisuke Kato brings to the role. Perhaps the moment which best epitomises the thread of humour running through
Yojimbo
is when Sanjuro, badly beaten and scarred around his face, attempts to reassure Gonji that he is alright by smiling. The image of Toshiro Mifune’s face, made up with open wounds and dark bruises, with a huge smile, is disturbing yet funny, particularly when Gonji, horrified, remarks: ‘You make it worse when you smile!’

The tonal shifts in
Yojimbo
are facilitated and accentuated by changes in Masaru Sato’s excellent score. The theme accompanying Sanjuro’s march into town is skilfully written, and perfectly conveys the energy and menace of his character.

‘You make it worse when you smile!’ Sanjuro (Toshiro Mifune) tries his best to look healthy.
Yojimbo
directed by Akira Kurosawa and produced by Ryuzo Kikushima, Tomoyuki Tanaka and Akira Kurosawa for Toho Studios.

 

The entire cast of
Yojimbo
performs admirably but, as usual, special mention must go to Toshiro Mifune. Here he plays a character very different to his usual role of the loud, unkempt individual (for example, see his performances in
Seven Samurai
,
Red Lion and Daredevil in the
Castle
), instead playing a stern ronin with a streak of dark humour. Also worthy of mention is Tatsuya Nakadai, who performs admirably as the sadistic Unosuke, foreshadowing his classic portrayal of Ryunosuke in
Sword of Doom
.

Japanese audiences appreciated the innovations in Kurosawa’s film, and both
Yojimbo
and its sequel,
Sanjuro
, were hugely successful. This success was so widespread that many other samurai film directors adopted their sombre tone and graphic portrayal of violence, which led to huge changes in the genre.

Yojimbo
also had a considerable effect on how the anti-hero was represented, both in samurai films and genres outside of Japanese cinema. Sanjuro is clearly an individual of high morals. He cleans up the town because he finds corruption there; he doesn’t profit from this course of action, and, in fact, nearly dies. Coupled with Sanjuro’s morality, however, is a callous disregard for the lives of those he judges to be evil, which clearly places him in the category of anti-hero. While Kurosawa is not the first to use the anti-hero in a genre film, in
Yojimbo
he creates his own unique brand of anti-heroism.

Yojimbo
was remade by an Italian, Sergio Leone, as
A Fistful of Dollars,
a hugely successful film which was the first of the spaghetti western genre. Leone’s adaptation of
Yojimbo
was completely unauthorised, something which understandably frustrated Kurosawa. He took legal action against Leone, in which he was successful, and was awarded a percentage of the takings of
A Fistful of Dollars
.

Leone’s central character, played by Clint Eastwood, also displayed a black comedy in his callousness, and was even more of an anti-hero than Sanjuro; Leone’s gunslinger takes on the gangs for no reason other than profit, and at the end of the film walks away with hundreds of dollars, unlike Sanjuro, who leaves only with his life and his sword. This cool form of anti-heroism would persist through the entire spaghetti western genre, which in turn would have a large effect on genre films worldwide.

Every aspect of
Yojimbo
shines; Kurosawa creates a highly evocative tone, at times both deliciously sombre and hilariously funny. This combined with vigorous performances from Toshiro Mifune and Tatsuya Nakadai creates what is not only one of the greatest samurai films of all time, but also one of the most entertaining films of any genre. This is the perfect place to start if you haven’t seen any samurai films.

Overhearing a group of young samurai plotting to find and remove corrupt officials in their clan, Sanjuro, the ronin we met in
Yojimbo
, reluctantly offers them his advice and help. Sanjuro deduces that Chamberlain Mutsuta, the man the youths suspect, is, in fact, a good man, and that Superintendent Kikui, the man the youths thought was their ally, is actually the leader of the conspiracy. Sanjuro saves the youths from the conspirator’s men, then sets about helping them free the Chamberlain, who has been captured by Kikui and his men, who are attempting to make him sign a false confession. Sanjuro gains the trust of Hanbei, one of the leading samurai amongst the conspirators, and infiltrates their group. Although exposed as a traitor by Hanbei, Sanjuro is able to send his troops on a false errand, creating an opportunity for the youths to capture the ringleaders and rescue the Chamberlain, which they do. Sanjuro turns down a place in the clan, a reward offered for his efforts, and finds Hanbei waiting for him. In a final duel Sanjuro is victorious, but counsels the youths against becoming killers.

Sanjuro
is Kurosawa’s sequel to
Yojimbo
, and was just as much a commercial success. Toshiro Mifune reprises his role as Sanjuro, thewandering ronin, and brings the same cynicism and harsh sense of humour to the character as he did in
Yojimbo
. This time Sanjuro becomes embroiled in an internal dispute taking place in a large samurai clan.

Like
Yojimbo
,
Sanjuro
manages to be both brutal and humorous. Much of the humour comes from Sanjuro’s interaction with the young samurai, who for all their righteous zeal are woefully ineffective in the cunning game of wits Sanjuro must undertake against the corrupt officials. The youths’ constant blundering, and Sanjuro’s reaction, creates the opportunity for several comic set pieces, all of which work extremely well thanks to a clever script and perfect comic timing from the well-picked cast. In one scene, Sanjuro is finally able to convince the young samurai that the best course of action is to wait and see what move their enemy makes. The youths rush around excitedly (and ineffectually), while the poor, exhausted ronin tries to get some sleep. This soon becomes impossible, as the youths constantly slam the door, waking Sanjuro each time he nods off.

The battle scenes in
Sanjuro
actually manage to exceed the violence of
Yojimbo
, quite an achievement in early 1960s Japan. Sanjuro’s altercation with a large group of armed warriors at the film’s beginning is greatly enhanced by the added sound effect of his sword cutting through fabric and flesh. The duel at
Sanjuro
’s conclusion is a true milestone for the samurai film, being the first to use the spraying-blood special effect which has become a staple of the genre. To achieve the effect fake blood is held under pressure and then released at the appropriate moment, creating a vibrant spray of blood as a character is cut down. It is surely here that it is used to its greatest effect. As in
Yojimbo
, the violence in
Sanjuro
is often surprising, and used with great economy to punctuate key moments of the film.