Filmmaker reacts to Yojimbo (1961) for the FIRST TIME!
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 30 ก.ย. 2024
- Hope you enjoy my filmmaker reaction to Yojimbo. :D
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Original Movie: Yojimbo (1961)
Ending Song: / charleycoin
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Now look into the life of Miyamoto Musashi, one of the most well-respected samurai of all time. At least 61 duels won, and quoted as saying "Use your head, or someone else will".
Mifune played an excellent Musashi in his trilogy
Thanks for the pin, James! Hope you enjoyed the deep dive
You definitely need to watch the sequel, Sanjuro. It's just as good as Yojimbo, but deals with a lot of different themes. Also Mifune is just as funny in that one too.
To be honest I kinda prefer Sanjuro, it's a bit more polished and I really enjoy his dynamic with the larger group of characters, though I do miss Gonji a lot. And of course there's that ending...
@@Drforrester31 I love both films for different reasons, but I will always appreciate a direct sequel to a film that can be seen as equal to or better than the first. Those are rare.
Sanjuro I think is even better and one of Kurosawas best films imo, amazing action movie
Yojimbo is possibly my favourite film of all. First, it's just a masterpiece. Second, Mifune is incredible.
Where does Sanjurō stand with you?
@@LoneWolf_Cub_Ogami_IttoAnother masterpiece
It's quite interesting how the Japanese Cinema had been inspired by the very old western movies. IIRC Kurosawa's brother was a Narrator for silent movies, and so he got to see all those westerns with the dusty plains, the stoic heroes and the gangs of bandits. He used those elements and his own understanding of Samurai culture, to create something spectacular. And then it went back to the west, and inspired a generation of filmmakers (like G. Lucas and S. Leone). Truly some cultural cross-pollination at work.
the echo is also spread from american comics>manga>anime>western movie adaptations. another clear example is the work of hideo kojima, taking US influence and mirroring it with his particular lens
Don't forget influence of American crime novels. Yojimbo is essentially inspired by Dashiell Hammett novels as far as plot goes.
Yes!!!! More Kurosawa!!! Hope you’re well James, I do recommend the Samurai Trilogy by Hiroshi Inagaki. Here is the Google description “starring Toshiro Mifune as Musashi Miyamoto and Kōji Tsuruta as Kojirō Sasaki. The films are based on Musashi, a novel by Eiji Yoshikawa about the famous duelist and author of The Book of Five Rings.”
I was coming here to recommend the Samurai trilogy as well! 👍
It's where I first saw Mifune and he blew me away.
@@LordVolkovhe was such a phenomenal actor, high and low is another favorite
Absolutely recommend. Samurai trilogy is one of my favorite trilogies of all time. Great performances in those films. So well done.
BTW it's pronounced yo-jim-bo (jim like the name Jim, no English diphthongs on the o:s) with no Spanish jota sound. ;)
Before seeing this I saw the Great Sergio Leoni's Fistful of Dollars. Great story am sure many of you have heard. Kurosawa saw the film and sued as it was an unattributed remake of this (Yojimbo). Leone received a letter from Kurosawa that said: I saw your film. It is a very good film. but it is my story. Leone said he was so delighted to read "it was a good film" from Kurosawa that he framed the letter and claimed he was happier losing all rights just for that letter
There was even another remake: "Last Man Standing" 1996 by Walter Hill with Bruce Willis as the leading character, probably the weakest of the 3 versions.
Nothing like getting jumped by people wielding swords and pistols.
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Have a great day!
Truu :p
Could you add the Series Vikings to your watchlist plez?
if you haven't seen it.. i think you'd love the ascetics and insane acting.
Always a pleasure to watch someone appreciate the film-making and art of Kurosawa😊
Sanjuro is almost a slang meaning a guy in his 30's. He'll pair it with the first thing he sees, Sanjuro Cherryblossoms for example. Essentially he has no name. The sequel is sometimes overlooked but I think it is a great sequel with a much more deeper meaning about life.
The fact his name is "Midlife Crisis Cherryblossoms" is hilarious.
7:57 We all know Lucas based Star Wars on the Hidden Fortress, I can't help thinking the Cantina scene was based on this.
All of Kurosawa's movies have inspired multiple movies. Yojimbo led to A Fistful of Dollars, Django, The Warrior and the Sorceress, and Last Man Standing.
Last Man Standing is pretty much a direct translation of Yojimbo to Prohibition America, and it is just as glorious as the original.
lead to - no Fist Full of Dollars is a known straight rip-off of Yojimbo.
Is The Warrior and the sorceress worth seeing? I'll definitely check out Last Man Standing.
It's interesting that you say its the closest thing to Vagabond we'll ever get. There's a trilogy called "Samurai" from 1954 starring this very actor, Toshiro Mifune, who plays Musashi Miyamoto, the main protagonist of Vagabond.
I also love Kurosawa and Mifune's follow-up... SANJURO. Not quite as amazing as YOJIMBO, but a lot of fun!
It's amazing but has a completely different tone. It's more of a comedy, but with very dark moments. My unpopular opinion is I prefer it to Yojimbo.
@@GrainneMhaol I also prefer it.
I also prefer Sanjuro. But Yojimbo is necessary viewing to fully appreciate it.
Harakiri (Jp title Seppuku) from 1962 is another great film.
Sanjuro also pioneered (by complete accident) the samurai film trope of ludicrous amounts of blood spurting out of sword wounds, usually after a short delay to show how sharp the blades are; the final duel scene had a squib malfunction and release its pressurized contents all at once, instead of slowly leaking down the front of Nakadai's kimono like it was supposed to, resulting in the iconic blood fountain that defined later Japanese action films.
I recommend Sanjuro, the sequel to Yojimbo. Really good film as well. Though Yojimbo is undoubtetly better as a film and is more ambitious of the two, I personally kind of prefer Sanjuro as it's a little more concise for my tastes.
YES! Kurosawa's other films are, in terms of film history, more iconic in many ways as great films, but this one is just my personal favorite and most enjoyable to watch, where Mifune's just a straight wily lone wolf antihero. And you should absolutely watch Sanjuro later.
One of my favorites from Kurosawa! Toshiro Mifune plays such a cool character 😊
Toshiro Mifune is the ultimate leading actor
There are also 2 sequels to this movie: Sanjuro, and Zatoichi meets Yojimbo. Zatoichi is a characher with his own long list of movies, a tv show and a reboot where Beat Takeshi, who played the bad guy teacher in Battle Royale, plays Zatoichi.
Loved Seven Samurai, but Yojimbo will ALWAYS be my favorite Kurosawa film, and one of my favorite films of all time.
It is such a joy to see you discover and appreciate these iconic movies and I am looking forward to your next Kurosawa reaction.
It is so interesting that that quality you commented the most on, his (graphical) compositions, also kind of led him to having to recalibrate himself to the use of color. With spectacular result as you have seen in Ran.
Absolutely. I feel it’s so baked into his existence as an artist that that transition was such an upgrade!
One of my all-time favourite movies together with Seven Samurai and Sanjuro. Happy you finally got around to seeing it. And now you know where Sergio Leone got his A Fistful of Dollars from, lawsuit and all. :)
Yes! James, you literally just made my day. And here just last week I was wondering if you'd get back to Kurosawa. I love that you're doing these. Can't wait until you get to the Seven Samurai. Kurosawa is, oddly, a master of character storytelling, but through the visuals... i still struggle with understanding it, and how it moves me, to this day. Cheers.
Happy hearing this Steve! This film was incredibly inspiring.
Hey man, so glad you're reacting to such a legendary movie like this. Toshiro Mifune is such a badass in this!😎
There's also "the Samurai Trilogy"! Frelling amazing!
Samurai Fiction !!!! More Kurosawa ! More Wong Kar Wai ! More Park Chan-wook ! More asian cinema !!!
This film is so good. If you want a contrast comparison try watching Bruce Willis' Last Man Standing, which is hollywoods version of this.
Any Kurasawa is worth a watch. I hope you will get to his Shakespeare adaptations eventually.
He's done "King Lear" a year ago.
th-cam.com/video/_Q0Agk4GMe4/w-d-xo.html
Awesome, now you should watch the spiritual successor, Sanjuro. Sanjuro also has the scene that changed action film and anime forever, see if you can spot it. Another great film, god, and you can't pass up Red Beard. Kurosawa was the master. I would also suggest you read the Hagakure so you get a deeper understanding of the symbolism in Kurosawa Samurai films. There's so much you're missing if you aren't familiar with Bushido.
Also, Sergio Leones Fistful of Dollars is a remake of this film.
もしまだ「天国と地獄」を見てないのであれば是非
「キングの身代金」からインスピレーションを受けてたはず
There are 26 (original) Zatoichi movies. Zatoichi vs Yojimbo is one of the *BEST* ...with Mifune, btw. But ..theres 26 of the damn things. And 100+ hours of a tv show. And ..and ..and .. 😳 😴
Its mostly all great, but its also TOO MUCH!
Ford -> Kurosawa -> Leone -> Tarantino...
Yojimbo: "Two coffins, no - maybe three."
Fistful of Dollars: "Get three coffins ready"..."My mistake, four coffins."
Yojimbo: "Children shouldn't play with swords. Go home to your mother..."
Kill Bill vol 1: "That's what you get for f**king around with Yakuza! Go home to your mother!"
Please rewatch Fistful of Dollars while this is fresh in your mind. Not just to see the parallel story, but to see how Leone picked up Kurosawa's baton and applied it back to westerns (Kurosawa had been influenced by John Ford's westerns).
If you like these kinds of compositions & techniques, you would love the films of Yasujiro Ozu. Tokyo story & Late Spring are a couple good entry films. Similar to here he puts a lot of detail in the frame & almost never moves the camera. But he also withholds info intentionally, drawing you in & forcing you to fill in the blanks.
I'm _really_ looking forward to you watching "The Hidden Fortress"
I highly highly recommend Masaki Kobayashi’s film Harakiri, and I get a lot of people recommend Kurosawa, but Kobayashi has a similar background as far as filmmaking, photography, and painting goes.
It’s a 1962 film that’s a slow burn of dialogue and near the end you’re just, “Yooooooo!” and the film is a critique on bushido and the “honor code” the house Iyi follows.
It stars Tatsuya Nakadai (he’s the big bad gun wielding brother in Yojimbo) and is just a phenomenal actor just like Toshiro Mifune, and Nakadai is still alive today.
The tension is phenomenal in that film and the screenplay was written by Shinobu Hashimoto who also wrote Rashomon and Seven Samurai, so I highly highly recommend this film as Masaki Kobayashi deserves plenty of attention as well when it comes to being a director plus learning about his background on being against Japanese imperialism even when he was drafted just speaks volumes.
Kobayashi is more well known for the film anthology Kwaidan (Different inspired folktales in Japan from a book that was written by a man born in Greece; Lafcadio Hearn went to the U.S. and then settled in Japan later in life then made a book from the folktales he’d gather) that would inspire Guillermo del Toro.
Where do I donate for this to happen? 😆 I feel that strongly especially since Nakadai is still acting in stage plays and movies to this day.
Agreed :)
Definitely seconding Harakiri. The Okamoto film The Sword of Doom also has a top notch performance from Nakadai.
@@clif_playsIf only we got to see a trilogy when it came to Sword of Doom then we can see another stand off between Nakadai and Mifune which is always a certified classic in my brain.
@@Caliginous333 I'd have loved to have seen that. Even if it wouldn't live up to the classics I would love to see a modern filmmaker create something in that style.
Apart from A Fist Full Of Dollars, this has also been filmed as Last Man Standing , staring Bruce Willis set in 1920's or 30s.
Fist full of dollars is the better of the two
Yo-Jeem-Bo. 🙂 Now you've got to check out the sequel "Sanjuro" (Sahn-Joo-Row).
For frame, composition and static camera you should watch some films by Ozu.
I forget if you have reacted to the Dollars trilogy yet, from Sergio Leone starring Clint Eastwood. But if not would highly recommend them after this movie as the first one A fist full of dollars, is honestly from what I hear a bit of a remake of this film.
Yep it definitely is
'a bit of a remake' - lol it's practically shot-for-shot remake, including the famous wide framing in the climactic showdown. I think they even got sued by Kurosawa or his production company
Dollars isn't directed as well as this mature Kurosawa piece (some ugly day-for-night shots, some goofy scenes like one where guys are shooting at dead bodies not realising they're dead) but I kind of like it better..granted I saw Dollars first. Mainly because of the music which is iconic (no hate to Yojimbo's music, it's awesome in a minimalist way). And I feel bad b/c Toshiro Mifune is such a legend but he was already a legend long before Yojimbo, whereas Dollars practically GAVE us Clint Eastwood as a movie star, so that's one reason I like it a little better
@@helvete_ingres4717 To be fair. Have seen the Leone film, never seen the Kurosawa original. Lol
almost total repeat of all the story lines but in a US West/semi Mexico context
In the best way possible, there's almost a feeling of self-indulgence with the insanely good shot composition Kurosawa can get. It'd be perfectly acceptable to have a shot/reverse shot for dialogue scenes, but why not have all three characters separate in the same frame talking with each other?
Hey james how are you i hope everything is great much love ✌😁
I remembered watching Yojimbo and 7 Samurai on PBS. My local PBS station had a little carnival to pay for the rights to show them four times over a week. This was in the early 80's.
....the good ole days.
Other films this inspired (besides A Fist Full of Dollars): Miller's Crossing, Last Man Standing, and Survival of the Dead, to name a few.
The opening of this movie was used for inspiration in the Samurai Jack Episode "Jack and the Zombies." Jack is walking down a lonesome road when he comes to a fork. He picks up a stick, throws it up in the air, and the evil that is Aku sees this happen, and uses his magic to direct which direction the stick points. Jack, unaware of Aku's influence, follows the the stick to a haunted graveyard, where he ends up battling all manner of terrible undead, and ultimately Aku himself.
It also references legendary director Sam Raimi, and the "Evil Dead" series. The witch screaming "I will swallow/eat your soul!"
Only one man, Mifune, could be so badass as to be the origin of both Clint Eastwood's entire career AND Obi Wan Kenobi
冒頭の３人の会話のシーンから、望遠レンズの使い方が素晴らしい。
Kurosawa & Mifune did an excellent modern tale, High and Low (1963). Highly recommend it!
This was super good too! Modern Japan but black and white. Would love to see you do a reaction!
You REALLY gotta get to Sanjuro soon as well! Personally I prefer it to this, but they're both amazing films!
One of my all time favorites. Possibly on my list of perfect movies.
The American Western genre would be nothing without Kurosawa's filmography and other great Japanese samurai films
It's easy to miss but he says his name is Kuwabatake Sanjuro while looking out over the mulberry fields, and so he claims his name literally is Mullberry Field Thirty-years-old, as good enough an alias as any.
Still freshly fresh 💁♂️
Mifune is goated
Fantastic piece of cinema. Absolute treasure.
In Kill Bill, Vol. 1, The Bride utters a similar line to what Sanjuro said to the kid...
"This is what you get when you hang around with Yakuza!"
(slapping the kid on the butt with the flat edge of her Katana in rhythm with her words)
(then, one more hard slap on the butt with the Katana)
"Now go home to your Mother!"
The use the j in the Japanese language. So it's YoJIMbo. If this was Spanish it would be YoHimbo. Kurosawa was a master; often copied, but never duplicated. Nice video
Hey, James! "Yojimbo" is inspired by Dashiell Hammett's 1929 novel "Red Harvest".
"Yojimbo" was then remade as:
-- "A Fistful of Dollars" in 1964 by Sergio Leone starring Clint Eastwood
-- "Django" in 1966 by Sergio Corbucci starring Franco Nero
-- "The Warrior and the Sorceress" in 1984 produced by Roger Corman starring David Carradine
-- "Last Man Standing" in 1996 by Walter Hill starring Bruce Willis
Toshiro Mifune and Takashi Shimura star in almost all of Kurosawa's films.
"Sanjuro" is the sequel.
I've always liked "Drunken Angel", another Kurosawa film with Toshiro Mifune and Takashi Shimura. I recognize that it is not as great as Yojimbo or Seven Samurai or Ikiru but it seems to be unjustly overlooked. It is another morality fable set in post-ww2 Japan.
「椿三十郎」の「三十郎」は三十歳（くらい）を名前としたもので
つまり、三船はまったく自分の名前を名乗ってない
It's pronounced "yoh-jin-boh," just as it's spelled. The "j" is always pronounced as the "ja" in Japan.
I've enjoyed your Kurosawa reviews, please be SURE to review at least three of his 'modern' dramas - in order or priority :) - High and Low (Kurosawa's film noir based on a McBain detective novel, pure perfection and is really two stories merging into one) - Ikiru (bring some kleenex you'll need it) and finally 'Stray Dog' (bring some cold drinks cause it is HOT HOT HOT) Keep up the great reviews!
Later on in A Fistful of Dollars (1964) when Clint Eastwood tells the coffin maker, “get three coffins ready.” “My mistake, 4 coffins.”
Totally took that from yojimbo 🤣
I've been trying to get people into these movies.. I loved them. Seven Samurai was GREAT! I saw it 5 years ago..but I wish I saw it 20 yrs ago.
Now I understand how Paul Verhoeven quoted the Sashimi part in his film, RoboCop (1987).
Reputedly, when Akira Kurosawa saw Sergio Leone's A Fistful of Dollars, he sat back in his chair at the end of the screening and said, “A very good film. Where's my 15%?"
You now need to see the year later sequel, Akira Kurosawa's Sanjurō 1962
You should react to High and Low, and Ikiru. I would say they are Kurosawa’s best films that are not samurai related at all, even though his samurai films are equal in quality
I think director Akira Kurosawa wanted to tell this meaning.…
(Why did all four samurai die by western matchlock guns instead of Japanese Katana swords?)
th-cam.com/video/0mqTCdP6GqI/w-d-xo.htmlsi=MuElsjjtLkEwBm20
Yojimbo is very good, Sanjuro, the sequel, is even better. One of my top 10. Kurosawa was able to really dig in and express himself in round two.
22:00 Children shouldn't play with swords.
Go home to your mother and live a long life eating gruel.
Paraphrased in Kill Bill at the end of the Crazy 88 fight scene;
This is what you get for f*cking around with Yakuzas.
Run home to your mother.
Looking forward to a comparison when you get around to watching A Fistful of Dollars.
As a kid, I always used to think Yojimbo was a western cowboy movie because of that title. Sounded a lot like a texan calling the attention of a cowboy named Jim. "Yo, Jimbo!"😂
YO! HIMBO! Toshiro Mifune is totally a himbo and a zaddie.
Ah you finally got around to watching a fist full of dollars.
If you like The Yojimbo Main character . Look out for another samurai movie called Zatoichi meets Yojimbo . The Zatoichi character is his own franchise.
The best samurai movie ever: "Seppuku" 1962, director Masaki Kobayashi
Can't wait to watch this after work. Kurosawa was a great director
Yeeeesssss Kurasawa love! Thank you for representing the old masterpieces
I’m excited whenever you get a chance to watch Throne of Blood. That film is incredible.
If you want the best Kurosawa compositions you gotta watch High And Low
Hi. Please, if you have never seen "Love and Death" 1975, make a reaction to it. Thanks.
Our as we call it in these parts, "For A Few Dollars More". But Yojimbo rules & especially Kurosawa Rules! By the way, He's actually a Ronin, Samurai with no lord to serve. As you can plainly see, this story takes place in a time of great change for Japan. With the age of the Shogun fading fast, Ronin roamed the land, trained to kill and purposeless. Who was Kurosawa's greatest influence?... John Ford! You need to watch you some Ford to see that same attention to composition and some amazing B&W cinematography from top talent of their day. I say you go back to Ford's early stuff first, like say... "The Informer" 1935 ish I think. "Stagecoach" 1939 would be a good one also, the role that made John Wayne, John Wayne, so to say. Also a great start to watch a few John Ford Westerns.
I would argue now is time to watch the same genre with different props- The Magnificent Seven and Fist Full of Dollars.
An underrated element to this movie is Masaru Sato's score. It's just so weird and perfect. Apparently when he was starting the score, Kurosawa told him "I don't care what kind of music you write so long as it's not the stereotypical 'samurai' music" and so Sato decided to emulate Henry Mancini with a big band with lots of saxophones. Shouldn't work and yet it does
"Dreams" is an interesting film. Even off the channel, you should check it out.
I recommend throne of blood, its samurai macbeth directed by kurosawa
Sanjuro, Rashomon, and the much less heard of Red Beard are all Kurosawa favs of mine.
The common kimono of this period was linen, which is a rather tough fabric, so one would have to swing the sword down firmly to kill a person.
Check out Kurosawa's High and Low. I think it's one of his best!
This movie was the archetype for countless action movies.
Now you have to watch A Fistful of Dollars with Clint Eastwood.
Giant baba plays the giant and he is one of the biggest (in both ways) stars in Japanese wrestling history. I love this film
Well... Samurai loved, loved guns though.
S&W Model 2
.38 Caliber blackpowder
Pretty sure Kurosawa ripped off Samurai Jack
Thank you for keeping an eye out on the 'real' important movie milestones, James!
I must admit: watching movie reactions has become a past time for me in the late years but most of these reactors just seem to be running down the ominous IMDB list or some recent popular movies; there are so many more great story telling movies out there:
To mention director Jim Jarmusch and e.g. 'Night on Earth', Robin Williams in 'Bicentennial Man', Joachim Phoenix in 'Her'; the list goes on&on! 🙂
Happy you are enjoying these selections!
This isn't spanish my friend, the J is not silent. yo-JIM-bo
The clint Eastwood man with no name movie fist full of dollars were based off this
Stray Dog is a good Kurosawa film to watch in the summer.
Take a look at Sanjuro- Toshiro Mifune as the same character.
the more time passes the more it like thoses older movies it all about acting the a famose face of effects
「天国と地獄」もぜひ今度 !
next time HIGH AND LOW please!
You can't watch this and not compare it to a Fistful of Dollars 🙂
Yojimbo's alignment is def Chaotic Good :)