This movie is the second movie directed by Akira Kurosawa that I've watched since watching "Rashomon" a few years back and while watching this movie I was not disappointed and it's another masterpiece that makes me even more eager to see his other highly acclaimed films like "Seven Samurai" (1954), "Ikiru" (1952), "Throne of Blood" (1957), "Ran" (1985), "The Hidden Fortress" (1958), "Red Beard" (1965), "The Bad Sleep Well" (1960), "Kagemusha" (1980)," High and Low" (1963), as well as the sequel to this film "Sanjuro" (1962). Toshiro Mifune stars in one of his strongest performances as Sanjuro a lone wolf samurai who comes into a small town in Japan in the mid 19th century to rid the town of two rival gangs by pitting them against each other and fighting them on his own, and thus inspired several westerns to follow mainly Sergio Leone's "A Fistful of Dollars" (1964). Akira Kurosawa was to Japanese samurai films what John Ford was to American westerns, and each of them were masters whose movies are still talked about among film lovers everywhere and for good reason and this movie is another masterpiece in the Kurosawa-Mifune collaboration which is one of the all time great actor-director partnerships in all of movie history. The swordfight scenes are excellently choreographed, and what really helps with the movie is how Kurosawa places the music to build the suspense leading up to the final fight in the end which reminds me of the final shootout in "High Noon" when Gary Cooper's Marshall Will Kane had to face off against a gang of outlaws on his own. Mifune was one of those actors in Japan who had as big of a screen presence as John Wayne did in America. Everything about this movie just strikes the right notes especially with the intelligent writing, great performances, Kurosawa's masterful direction, excellent cinematography, and an amazing score. This is a must see for all people who love film , action movie lovers, as well as people who are interested in Japanese culture, I promise you will not be disappointed.
Review of Yojimbo
