This is my all-time favorite Akira Kurosawa film and along with its equally impressive followup film, SANJURO, pack a ton of excitement and fun into them. Perennial Kurosawa player, Toshiro Mifune, is the "Ronin"--a wandering samurai who is looking for work. He comes to a town and is surprised by the condition of the people. There are two rival warring gangs in the town and the people are literally held captive by the mass of depraved men hired by the two leaders. These bored samurai make life all but impossible for decent people.
While Mifune is a samurai with extraordinary powers, he is a lone man and must use both his skills and his brain to free the people of this town. So, he manipulates BOTH sides into thinking he's working for them and gets the bad guys to wipe each other out! This is all done through a very skillfully crafted and funny script.
If you enjoy this film, as I'm sure you will, try watching Sergio Leone's version of Yokimbo--FISTFUL OF DOLLARS featuring Clint Eastwood. And, if you like this, a not-quite sequel entitled FOR A FEW DOLLARS MORE is an even better Kurosawa-inspired film.
While Mifune is a samurai with extraordinary powers, he is a lone man and must use both his skills and his brain to free the people of this town. So, he manipulates BOTH sides into thinking he's working for them and gets the bad guys to wipe each other out! This is all done through a very skillfully crafted and funny script.
If you enjoy this film, as I'm sure you will, try watching Sergio Leone's version of Yokimbo--FISTFUL OF DOLLARS featuring Clint Eastwood. And, if you like this, a not-quite sequel entitled FOR A FEW DOLLARS MORE is an even better Kurosawa-inspired film.