Yojimbo is one of Akira Kurosawa's most celebrated films in his career and was remade by Sergio Leone into A Fistful of Dollars. It is considered an essential film and a classic in the samurai genre. Toshiro Mifune was excellent as the nameless ronin who sets out to protect the town, being a man of few words. Kurosawa is of course excellent at setting up the conflict in the town and how it affects the people whilst also delivering on fine samurai sword fights (a man even has his hand cut off). Kurosawa wonderfully lets his scenes play out with plenty of long shots and small camera movements. Kurosawa and his actors also inject some occasional moments of humours to help lighten the mood when need be. But for the most Yojimbo is a serious drama with some very dark elements. Out of the Kurosawa films I have seen I personally prefer Seven Samurai for its scale and Rashomon for its ambition, but Yojimbo is still a worthy film and true film buffs need to watch it.
Review of Yojimbo
