(Dir. Akira Kurosawa 1962)
Not Rated; some blood but it's nothing super bad This movie was a lot different than what I expected. Sanjuro features a ronin as its titular main character. After overhearing their plan, Sanjuro decides to aid nine young men who are trying to rid their clan of its corrupt officials. Their efforts are earnest, but bumbling and generally a hinderance their own cause, until Sanjuro steps in of course. Though not a typical or particularly noble samurai, he is clever and proves instrumental to the group. On paper this plot seems fairly simple, but in the film it becomes a little convoluted. Most of the film is the opposing sides attempting to out clever each other and during this process the audience can get left behind if they aren't paying enough attention. Cultural dynamics also play a large role in this film and can leave Western audiences a little confused. As long as you're paying attention though, and maybe do a quick google search or two, it's not terribly difficult to follow this film. Though quite similar to its predecessor, Yojimbo, from what I've seen Sanjuro seems to be much more self-aware. In Yojimbo, from what I've heard at least I have not yet been able to see it, Sanjuro is much more inclined to resort to violence. In this film he seems to avoid it as much as he can. The wife of a man he is trying to save points out that the best swords are kept in their sheath unless absolutely necessary and Sanjuro seems to take this to heart. At one point he even becomes angry at the nine young men after they force him into killing people when it could've been avoidable. Despite this underlying angst, Sanjuro is quite a humorous film. It is not funny in the way that many contemporary audiences have come to think about comedies however. Much of the humor in Sanjuro is either situational or physical. I love the scenes where the nine young men follow Sanjuro around like a group of ducklings. I wish that this movie could've been done in color. Not that it isn't very good without it, I just have a feeling that it would've looked amazing. Probably would've helped a lot with those red and white flowers as well.
1 Comment
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Aubrey KirchhoffI'm just screaming into the void and somehow getting graded on it. Archives
April 2018
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