Rent Yojimbo (1961)

Masterpiece of Action Cinema - Yojimbo review by GI

Immensely influential and setting new standards in screen violence director Akira Kurosawa was influenced by the films of John Ford and Howard Hawks and in turn he became a major influence on other directors. His epic film Seven Samurai (1954) was remade as The Magnificent Seven (1960) and Sergio Leone took Yojimbo and remade it as A Fistful Of Dollars (1964). Yojimbo is an exciting action film set in feudal Japan. A 'Ronin' (or masterless samurai) (Toshirô Mifune) arrives in a dirty town and discovers it's run by two rival gangs. He manipulates both sides in a plan to rid the town of all of them. Shot in widescreen , which was not liked by Hollywood directors at the time, Kurosawa created a rundown world of corruption and effectively demystified the samurai code which had been so damaging to his country in the Second World War. This is a violent and exciting film although the Japanese theatrical style of screen acting may seem unusual today it is a masterpiece of cinema and much praised in studies of cinema. There's plenty of swordplay, and a clever use of imagery to represent the collapse of the society and morals (images of dogs appear regularly). Much of Kurosawa's style and images heavily influenced cinematic action to this day and consequently this is a I urge every film fan to see. Great stuff.