Synopsis
A nameless ronin, or samurai with no master, enters a small village in feudal Japan where two rival businessmen are struggling for control of the local gambling trade. Taking the name Sanjuro Kuwabatake, the ronin convinces both silk merchant Tazaemon and sake merchant Tokuemon to hire him as a personal bodyguard, then artfully sets in motion a full-scale gang war between the two ambitious and unscrupulous men.
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Cast
- Toshirō MifuneSanjuro Kuwabatake / The Samurai
- Tatsuya NakadaiUnosuke, gunfighter
- Yōko TsukasaNui
- Isuzu YamadaOrin
- Daisuke KatōInokichi
- Seizaburō KawazuSeibê - brothel operator
- Takashi ShimuraTokuemon, sake brewer
- Hiroshi TachikawaYoichiro
- Yōsuke NatsukiKohei's Son
- Eijirō TōnoGonji, Tavern Keeper
Recommendations
- 100
Chicago Sun-Times
[Kurosawa] was deliberately combining the samurai story with the Western, so that the wind-swept main street could be in any frontier town, the samurai (Toshiro Mifune) could be a gunslinger, and the local characters could have been lifted from John Ford's gallery of supporting actors. - 100
Empire
Less visceral than the battle scene in Seven Samurai, this is more of a free-for-all, with brute force leaving no room for skill. - 100
ReelViews
Yojimbo does not cause viewers to ponder deep issues in the way Rashomon does, nor does it possess the epic grandness of The Seven Samurai, yet it must still be considered in the top tier of Kurosawa's films. Stylish, compelling, and involving, it became as much a blueprint for future productions as it is an homage to past ones. - 100
Slant Magazine
Something of a textbook example of the perfect crowd-pleaser, Kurosawa’s tale is sociopolitical wish fulfillment via archetypal samurai drama, albeit with a twist or three. - 100
Chicago Tribune
One of the great samurai pictures, its darkly brilliant premise--the cynical mercenary/master swordsman or yojimbo (bodyguard) who walks into a town feud and plays both evil sides against each other--has been copied frequently, most notably in the Sergio Leone-Clint Eastwood A Fistful of Dollars. But Kurosawa's treatment remains the most savage, thrilling, smart and hideously funny. [26 Jan 2007, p.C2] - 90
Variety
Though this lacks the epic stature of Seven Samurai, Kurosawa here again shows his mastery of the medium. - 90
Total Film
You won't find a more bone-jarring set of fight scenes than the ones on display here, while Mifune's blood-letting drifter offers a masterclass in justice-dispensing cool. - 88
TV Guide Magazine
With Mifune's tongue-in-cheek performance and the wildly stylized battle scenes featuring mallet and pistol-wielding samurai, YOJIMBO may just be the first post-modern samurai film.
