Yojimbo

I remember first watching this when I stayed up til 2am to watch it on BBC2 when I was about 8 years old and being utterly blown away.

So after getting the new Criterion copy in the post I immediately made preparations to re-watch what was my initial taste of Asian cinema. To say the new Criterion is stunning is an understatement, the picture and sound quality are almost as impressive as their previous work on Seven Samurai. At times the picture is just pitch perfect, it looks like it could have been a few years ago not nearly 50.

The film itself is still an utter masterpiece, surely the most lively and energetic of all Kurosawa's films. It has this gleefully sardonic approach which just makes the first half of the film insanely watchable, the gallows humour pulsing throughout is just fantastic. Everything from the dog carrying a severed hand to the gangs timidly advancing towards each other are just perfect examples of macabre humour. Mifune and Nakadai are both utterly magnetic as Sanjuro and Uno respectively, and it's easy to see why Nakadai would go onto become an action star himself and also the star of far more dark and sombre films such as sword of doom. His ability to switch from frenzied glee to sheer intense loathing is simply astounding.

The only problem I really have with the film is that the end battle feels kinda anticlimatic. Particularly after the stunning fight in the house halfway through. It just lacks a distinct touch and most of the action seems kinda anonymous due to the choice to film it from behind. This is probably more due to my experience with later Samurai films which would perfect on-screen duels.

Still an utterly essential film though.

I'd disagree about Kurosawa having good fights in his films, he's an incredible filmmaker but he never managed to choreograph something which could match the fights in Sword of Doom or the end of Harikari. Kurosawa's strength always lied in making large setpieces, the Arrows in Throne of Blood and the panormamic battle of Seven Samurai are fantastic examples of Kurosawa utilising a different kind of choreography to get his point across.

People who can cope with Seven Samurai and Ran seemed to have a real problem with the runtime of this movie. I was showing it so some friends and I found them getting really impatient and its just showing I don't get. Like I said they've sat through long Japanese films before, but they just got fidgety about an hour and a half into Yojimbo. I think it's the tone of the film, Azumi seems to have the same effect, there's a lightness or at least playfulness to the film which perhaps disparages the notion that its epic and as such I think people might be expecting a slighter running time.

It's an hour and fifty minutes long, which is quite short by Japanese standards. Like I said these are people who've quite happily sat down and watched the long cut of Fanny and Alexander with me so I don't know what's up with them.