Great great movie. Toshiro Mifune defined modern masculinity in that film, strutting, cunning, empathetic, multi layered

4:13 Do you really think a director as precise and controlling as Akira Kurosawa is going to _wait_ for the weather to change to what he wants? No. The wind blows because Kurosawa wants it to blow, and it rained when Kurosawa wanted it to rain. It's all controlled and made exactly how Akira Kurosawa wanted it.

Me and my dad used to have movie thursdays where he would play various movies, mostly historical. At less than 10 years old, I saw that dog with a cut off hand, and felt genuinely shook. My dad may not have been a good father at the end of the day, but I gotta thank him for showing me some damn good movies.

Yojimbo is one of those films i can watch whenever.

I like when someone truly appreciates true art and great cinema.

I believe the inspiration for _Yojimbo_ was Dashiell Hammett's novel, _Red Harvest._ I had the great pleasure of meeting Toshiro Mifune once, when he gave a talk at Stanford.

Weebs won't appreciate this kind of art

Toshiro Mifune What a legend One of the greatest actors of all time & One of my all time favorite Japanese actors

The amount of complexity given to a very simple character like Sanjuro is honestly insane. To see where his morality goes throughout the film was the easy highlight of the film for me. As well as seeing the great Toshiro Mifune wield a sword. It’s ultimately one of those glimpses at morality that’s so simple yet so complex in its execution. A very simple yet complex film.

Great Video!

3:25 - Carries a gun, showing cowardice-- Unosuke is one of the few characters in Yojimbo that I think wasn't a coward at all. During the final confrontation, despite being just about the first to be cut down, he's shown to be the only one who doesn't flinch or run from the samurai's sword. In terms of weapon choices (aside from the coolness of "what if we give our main antagonist a cool exotic weapon that the protagonist has to face") I think Yojimbo's sword symbolizes raw strength and honest power. In that setting just about everyone has a sword, duels and fights are common place..but Yojimbo is clearly just better at fighting on an even playing field. His techniques are tried and true, and he's put effort into doing something well with a traditional weapon. Unosuke, to me, is almost like the next generation of the Yojimbo character: he's not afraid to kill, he's barely afraid of being killed himself, he's cold and calculating and rarely lets emotions get the better of him, and because of that he's the one who nearly gets Yojimbo killed. His main pitfall isn't that he's a coward, but more that he picked up a cool weapon that he's not fully trained with while he was away in foreign lands..and when put up against someone who's confident and competent like Yojimbo having a "cool exotic weapon" just isn't enough to win. It's clear that as soon as Unosuke shows up in the movie the balance of power immediately shifts. Despite Yojimbo's attempts to keep chaos thriving, a clear-headed straight shooter like Unosuke ends the entire war in a matter of days and immediately seizes the opportunity to get rid of the rival gang's entire family.

I love Toshiro Mifune!

Ironically, all the “badass characters” shown in this vid were all just trying to imitate Toshiro Mifune :) Great vid man!

Very enjoyable essay, I can't say I agree with every single thing you said but I like the way you say it. I'm a recent subscriber to your Channel, please keep up the great work! Cheers

Toshiro mifune..legend actor

I'm starting to REALLY love this channel more and more! I just discovered it a couple of days ago, and haven't seen but a couple of videos from it, but I think I'm about to binge watch the hell out of this channel! 😂👍

There's one line you said that really stood out to me at about the 3 minute mark about the energetic or reckless youth vs a mature male. It reminds me of the song Subdivisions by Rush. Theres a lyric in it that's similar to what you said here. "But the suburbs have no charms to soothe the restless dreams of youth." I might be paraphrasing there as for whatever reason I'm blanking a bit on the lyric and dont have the lyrics handy as I write this. But theres a Tension, an Internal Conflict at hand in that song that just popped into my head hearing that line...and the music started in my imagination. Well here's a Dumb idea I'd thought I'd share here as you might find it fun and give you a smile. A tribute video to your favorite characters set to Subdivisions. So Just for Poops and Giggles, grab your headphones, key up the song in one window and a in another a video with random clips of your fav films and scenes, and just watch that while listening to the song. Each clip tonally matches the beat and pace of the song which slowly builds up to a crescendo, earning those Solos and the amazing drums and lyrics....then Just for fun imagine your own tribute video set to that song. Action for the choruses, character vingenettes and shots borrowed to go along with the music. Of Course the Lyrics as a whole don't apply at all to the genre...but they Apply in the same Functional way as Yojimbo here deals with his own internal conflicts. After that it's the Music that kinda helps shape how you'd structure the clips, leaving the biggest best fight for the final chorus after the breakdown and Solos. An Excellent example of what I'm getting at here, which is one you may have seen, but just in case you haven't, it's the Teaser Trailer for the first season of the Netflix PUNISHER series. That trailer was set to ONE by METALLICA. It's not the full song of course because One is a long song, like 5.5 to 6 minutes long, too long for a trailer. But take the same guy with access to all those episodes and I'm certain he could easily make an Amazing video to run the full length of it. Subdivisions wouldn't work in the same fashion for a trailer...but it Totally Does for a full length tribute video. It does because the Music itself cant be clipped out with Losing something as it Needs the Start Middle and Finish for the Full experience of it. The Sound Tells the Visual Clip Story you'd be telling, which is a Showcase of your favorite Rolemodels of the genre, each chorus upping the ante and skill demonstrated, saving the combat skills for the choruses and the skills and Character inspection for the rest of the building lyrics. You already do this quite well in the handful of your videos I've just recently come across. Using the appropriate clips to show exactly what you're talking about, really this would be a bit of a no brainer for you as you're already quite good at it. I'd do it myself but I know Nothing about editing. Well yet anyways and having no experience I'd defeat myself taking on that job. But you are experienced and skilled at it....so if anything the Idea might be worth consider as suggested, cue up the song, headphones and give it a closed eyes trip down imagination lane and see what pops into your head with this in mind. I guarantee you that you will Grin and enjoy the song at the very least. Cheers bub. Now back to your video!

Your voice is so good, calming, manly, woohoo

Thanks, the artist..

This is my favorite film. It also was one of the inspirations for my favorite comic, Usagi Yojimbo. I really wish the Seven Samurai had also been filmed in widesceen, this film has aged so well. Excellent video essay!

Dude why the fuck is your production quality so great this early in your channel??? holy shit nice job. remember me when your at 50k-100k subs.

I love the way Sanjuro always looks unkept. His hair is flying everywhere and he needs a shave. Signifying that he’s uncontrollable.

I've been binge watching your videos. These are a great find. I'm glad I did. I've never watched a movie this way before, how do you do it?

Kurosawa is just amazing. This movie was stunning with so many incredible shots. I'm always a sucker for those Ozu style tatami shots. The shot with the old guy hanging is also great. Another thing that reminds me of Ozu, is the shot around 32:00 in the movie, where Kurosawa creates so much space by playing with the focus.

Mifune was in reality a sensitive guy. His confrontation with Kurosawa at the Moscow Film Festival years later (after they were no longer talking) says volumes. Mifune, trying to break the ice, made a comment about the snow that was falling outside; but Kurosawa - still angry - said "of course it's snowing". Mifune, to his credit, didn't react. He seemed to be the more emotionally intelligent of the two. Mifune understood as an actor, and as a human being, what was required for each situation. His portrayals of male characters in Kurosawa movies was the perfect expression of the male ID, as well as the ideal of that expression. He was a great actor, regardless of the criticisms of him being a one-note actor. He was always honest. With that said, when you watch Mifune swing a sword in Yojimbo - as at 04:37 - it's hard not to be freaked out by that level of physicality. In Sanjuro, he flips a spearman who is attacking him and then cuts him before he hits the ground. Mifune played the ultimate alpha predator in these films.

My mum was eight months pregnant and my dad took her to see this at the movies . My father did kendo . I love this movie ,this man is the ultimate emperor I would have 😉

If only we have a Third Sequel, it would be Great if it's Title "Kojin-teki" That spells Personal. So the Final film is a Personal Story for Sanjuro.

toshiro mifuni rip🙏

I consider the turning point in the movie to be when Sanjuro witnesses a child being taken as a hostage by one of the gangs. We see him react with disgust and say "makes me sick". At that point, he turns from a cynical swordsman to a knight who's been given a holy quest. Such a great movie, such great chemistry between actor and director. Red Beard is another Mifune+Kurosawa gem.

I can't imagine that Sanjuro doesn't think much about ethical at least in the Yojimbo because as a Ronin, he's gotta make his living how he can and he might be a bit disillusioned with the system. pitting two gangs against each other was just money for him but you could tell he was also enjoying it

Love this film. Kurosawa is a fantastic director, but this film is great in particular, because of Mifune. He's so magnetic in this. You can't take your eyes off him. His gait, attitude, & confidence are so cool. It reminds me of 'Goodfellas' "Paulie didn't move fast. That's because Paulie didn't have to move for anybody." As far as 'A Fistful of Dollars' it's decent, but I never really cared for spaghetti westerns. Now, 'Last Man Standing' on the other hand... Is it a bad film? Yes, it is. However, is it incredibly entertaining? Also yes. Many films owe a lot to Kurosawa. Thanks for the video.

Great take, can see where Tarantino gets a lot of inspiration from

I have re-watched your assessment of Yojimbo and the remakes, and I agree with you essentially in everything except one. The last man standing is decent remake and it follows closely in the path of Yojimbo and it is not bad at all. It even has some of the humour. I agree that Bruce Willies is occasionanly not playing of his strength in films, but he is doing fine here, and the rest of the cast too. So, would you tell me why you felt it was so bad? I am glad that you go deeper than skip deep. People usually go and scratch the surface when watching a film, but you recognised all the improtant elements of Yojimbo except one. Yojimbo is not a winner he is a loser. People seem to notice his sword work, his prowess and his bravery, cunning and humour. But they simply slip by the fact the he is actually a tramp. He has nothing. He is at the brink of the society because the Shogun stopped the daimyos figthing, so most samurai became homeless and jobless. This is why, being masterless, they roam the country as ronin, that is, masterless samurai. They are vagabonds, fellas nobody needs. The peasant derides and mocks him and sends him away instead of inviting him for meal in, and showing hospitality and kindness to man like that. He judges him without knowing him, and denies common humanity, some food. He even perhaps regrets giving him some water to drink!Think of that! And he knows. He quietly walks away knowing he is considered a nobody. A masterless samurai had no honour. Of course, western people may not know this, and they are so easily misled by appearances. He fights well, he has a good heart he saves that family and he administers justice by the edge of his sword and he is even funny and cool, and disciplined, in doing so. So, he is a badass, but he is also a loser. A sad man. A man wihtout family, without home without a place to lay his head. The shrug of his shoulders emphasize his lonely carelessness. Noody cares for him. Whether he lives or dies, he is on his own. He knows he can earn his bread selling his matchless skills as long as he is strong enough to do so, but once he is old, he will die at the side of the road as a dog thrown out of a house. This is something people dare not or care not look into. In fact, no one does. Kurosawa told us that as well. And he wanted to. It was another criticism of his country's policies making peole homeless wanderers. He wanted to and portrayed their loneliness as well. That was that shrug representing. Well, here you go, my taking your observations a tiny bit further. But I thank you for this video, because you may make some people think. They may start watching this film and get the sense of it, and start to appreciate what it is all about. What you said was quite a lot and food for thought for all. I knew these things but most people do not think nowadays.

Man since I was a little kid, I have always been fascinated by Japanese culture and Samurai in particular. I ve always wanted to be Samurai, in the end I was not able to achieve my dreams and I know I will never be a Samurai and this will be my curse for the rest of my life.

You did not appreciated the part that compassion plays in the drama. He did not have to compromise his stand by helping others less fortunated... But he does... That is not been badass, is being human, with simple human feelings... empathy... This is a buddhist movie, one of the best!

Yojimbo reminds me of the noir classic Red Harvest by Dashiell Hammett. I wonder if Kurosawa read it.

Lone wolf protagonist existed long before Yojimbo, so he definitely isn't the blueprint.

Better future for everyone? But in town no one last, only 3 men. Yojimbo is not a typical hero - his cynical but good and because of his good deed the agression in the town os bigger and bigger. He is angry about it, thats why he does not want to read letter with thanks. He knows that because he helped that family more people will die in the town. This movie is great because it shows that even with his skills he can't make it better for everyone.

Agreed

Anyone ever wonder what this guy ended up doing after the sequel? I like to think he found a job

"May I have your name, sir?" "My name? My name... uhh... Pea... Tear... Griffin. Peter Griffin! Dammit."

I like the sequel even more, the opening scene alone makes it a classic.

i saw this movie last night !!! and i was shocked and mad about 99% shit movies released nowadays

The blueprint for the Ultimate Singular Male Badass is imprinted within every man.

Toshiro Mifune is one of the greatest actors of all time.

My gf recently asked me "who's this Toshrio Mifune you Google all the time" 😂 this relationship is about to get very interesting 😅

I wouldn’t really call him a badass, I’d say he is a trickster. He can do badass things, but I don’t think badass fits him as a character

I like last man standing much more than the weak ideological Django.

I totally disagree with your premise bro i'm sorry. Comparing him with all the modern action heroes specifically. What I love about this character is He doesn't always come out on top. He has plans and schemes of his own but sometimes they backfire And he has to come back from a deficit of his own making. That being said. I appreciate your video. I appreciate your hard work and your views

SAN...Jur...Ro... NOT Sanjuro