• 用心棒 (Yojimbo)

11/25/20 (Wed)

This fantastic 1961 samurai flick is set a century earlier in 1860, a turbulent period in Japan when the shogunate was tottering. An unnamed ronin (Mifune Toshiro, never better) comes to a small town where two gangs are battling for turf. One underling split from his gang when the boss named someone else as his successor and has formed a rival gang. The ronin proves his value by cutting down a few punks, then waits for the best deal as both sides vie for his services. He chooses one side, but keeps his guard up after overhearing their plans to kill him after their side wins. His position is disrupted with the appearance of a samurai bearing a pistol, but he continues to pit the two sides against each other in an intricately plotted story. The problem comes when he comes to feel pity for a kidnapped woman and frees her and her family from one of the gangs through a devious scheme. He is found out when the family, against his warnings, writes a thank you note, and is thoroughly thrashed and kept prisoner. His inevitable escape and eventual showdown with the entire surviving gang is one of the most exciting sequences on film.

The plot was supposedly inspired by a Dashiell Hammett novel, though that has been disputed, and has elements of High Noon and other Westerns. The look of the town and the setup of the duel was like a Japanese OK Corral; I was practically waiting for the tumbleweed to come rolling through. But Kurosawa achieves this with impeccable artistry that feels like a homage but never a rip-off. (In a nice reversal, the film directly inspired several famous Westerns of its own.) Kurosawa takes a jaundiced eye on the entire idea of gangs and rough justice, and the samurai here, to the disgust of their elders, are more than willing to betray one another for money. All familiar themes for the director, but here his approach is bemused rather (as in Drunken Angel) than angry, which is much more subversive. He never lets his themes override the story itself, which has a strong narrative drive from beginning to spectacular ending. The humor is handled much more deftly here than in any of his other films that I’ve seen. I’ve heard this called a comedy, but I’m not sure I’d go that far; it more an ironic take on the samurai genre. That said, the story flows logically and beautifully, and nothing here is superfluous. Everyone betrays everyone else in a society that’s falling apart, including the ronin, who lays a trap that he hopes will allow each side to kill the other, telling his friend offhandedly that all deserve to die. It’s telling that the ronin’s one weakness is his pity for the kidnapped woman, a human flaw that nearly gets him killed.

Mifune was brilliant in the man-with-no-name role. (Asked to identify himself, he spots a mulberry field and calls himself 桑畑三十郎 or literally 30-year-old mulberry patch, saying that this name’s good enough.) His cynical take on the ronin set the tone for the entire picture. He was the perfect samurai: the ultra-cool bearing, the artless swagger, the silent intensity – the perfect cowboy, for that matter. He could be dropped right into any Western. I loved the unsentimental way he dismissed the grateful but dim-witted family that he freed, understanding their gratitude but knowing that they’re putting themselves and him in danger.

Other memorable performances were Nakadai Tatsuya as the arrogant pistol-wielding samurai; Yamada Isuzu as the no-nonsense wife who suggests killing the ronin once they’ve finished with him (she also berates her son for not committing suicide when he loses a fight); Kato Daisuke as the dim-witted samurai; and Tono Eijiro as a bar owner who befriends the ronin. Shimura Takashi was also fine in a lesser role. The understated music by Sato Masaru was absolutely essential to the drama, and the cinematography by Miyagawa Kazuo (who also did Rashomon) was masterful. Kurosawa was in total command of his powers, especially in the tense High Noon-like climax. Tight story, great characters, terrific soundtrack. Loved this film.