Rather than the prolonged sword battle typical of the genre, the final duel plays out like a Western gun fight (in the style popularised by Sergio Leone later in the decade): a long, staring, near-motionless build, then a moment of cathartic violence, then a pause to allow what just happened to sink in. Comment by John Hocking - December 30, 2020 7:18 pm. Posts about Sanjuro. A foolish view, which is quickly pointed out as Sanjuro (Toshiro Mifune) intrudes on the scene. The lead samurai, Iiro Izaka (Yozo Kayama), breathlessly reports on how his goal of reporting corruption in the clan was apparently hushed up by his uncle Mutsuta (Yunosuke Ito), the Chamberlain of the clan. Sanjuro may not be a masterpiece, but it’s only really because Yojimbo got there first. The two men stare at each other for a long moment, appearing The film opens, somewhat surprisingly, without Sanjuro (Toshiro Mifune) wandering into town. It seems like a perfect plan, except that the description of the temple is off which puts Sanjuro in jeopardy as soon as he steps through the gates. Not bad for essentially a lark in between major productions. Chat with us here: https://discord.gg/ZSbP4ZC. Sanjuro. The other young samurai aren’t really given much characterization other than the hothead of the group. And it’s left to Sanjuro to take charge, which will define the remainder of the movie as he uses his head to get out of the tight spot. 97.2k members. the gaggle of young samurai watching in the background framed between the two If this whole setup looks like a high noon scene from a Yojimbo is the original "A Fist Full of Dollars". Join. with the violence and killing he is forced to engage in purely due to the Feel free to insert your own Human Centipede joke here, who knows, Sanjuro might actually have been an inspiration considering there’s a Japanese part in Tom Six’s film. Up to this point, That blood fountain became iconic almost immediately, and card classic compact. Which forces Sanjuro to act, against his efforts not to kill people wantonly, to free the two samurai when Muroto leaves to get additional guards due to the importance of their two prisoners. Hanbei draws his sword, but the faster Sanjuro kills him. The ruse is, of course, discovered after the guards leave, but trickery rules the day as Sanjuro convinces the Superintendent and Kurofuji to dump a bunch of camellia flowers of a certain color into the stream as the signal to call off the raid. By all accounts the shoot was one of Kurosawa’s shortest and most fun. fake blood spraying everywhere. Product Identifiers Sanjuro is an amazing piece of cinematography. He was exactly like me. Again it’s a contrast between the idealized world of these young samurai and Sanjuro’s pure pragmatism. reflection of the Samurai. Again it’s a reprise of Yojimbo, but a thrilling reprise nonetheless, as Sanjuro slaughters the guards in a tour de force action sequence. He is constantly depicted as separate from the group, dirty and constantly scratching, as contrasted to carefully coiffed and clean samurai. all. The final duel sums up Kurosawa’s visual style and strategy succinctly. straight line from this shot to such diverse modern masterworks as To an extent, anyways. With a few words, Sanjuro gets to the truth of the matter. Sanjuro being the name of the character (obviously a pseudonym), he is a ronin that gets sucked in to a local coup. Samurai movies would go on to inspire a generation of Spaghetti Western Masterless thoughtful art, more in harmony than in 1962’s. failing to convince the younger man to change his mind, the Samurai agrees and Posts. But, it’s clear that they’re all a bunch of idealists that believe wholeheartedly in making a difference and have a romantic view of the samurai life. Sanjuro compares all of them creeping around to a centipede. Throughout the story, Sanjuro poses as a bad ronin who is after making a quick score. As they poke their heads out, it’s an image that George Lucas would re-appropriate for Star Wars and the smugglers compartments of the Millennium Falcon. classics like, Nowhere were these dueling goals, crowd pleasing and It’s a connection that Sanjuro might take advantage of in a different time. Harryhousen’s. Tatsuya Nakadai was Mifune’s chief nemesis in Yojimbo, and obviously Kurosawa wanted to repeat that success. With Even against his better judgment, he lets the prisoner they captured live at her insistence. It doesn’t take long but the Superintendent’s men arrive and find a grumpy ronin, upset that his sleep has been disturbed, instead of a bunch of rebellious samurai. Click to email this to a friend (Opens in new window), Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window), Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window), Click to share on Pinterest (Opens in new window), Click to share on Tumblr (Opens in new window), Click to share on Reddit (Opens in new window), Click to share on LinkedIn (Opens in new window), Click to share on Pocket (Opens in new window), Kurosawa, In Order #29 – Rhapsody in August, All Hallow’s Lee: To the Devil a Daughter, Still Watching the Skies: Episode 56 “The Andromeda Strain”. Along the way the Samurai becomes more and more disillusioned What can go wrong with that plan? Masterless and disgraced, Muroto challenges the Samurai to a duel. It would turn out to be another triumph, featuring one of Mifune’s best performances, and turn out to be one of Kurosawa’s most accessible films. Sanjuro is the sequel. Toshiro Mifune is playing the role Clint Eastwood played. Sanjuro (1962) Toshirô Mifune: Sanjûrô Tsubaki, The Samurai. The duel brings no joy to Sanjuro who acknowledges that he cut down someone just like himself. It helps that Nakadai is playing a completely different character in looks and attitude. And Muroto offers Sanjuro a place by his side. Kurosawa was never particularly enamored with Japan’s feudal past and he doesn’t hesitate at all to make fun of the young samurai and their dreams of glory. Continuing a playful mood, Kurosawa has the samurai hole up right next to the superintendent’s chief ally Kurofuji (Takashi Shimura), with the belief that the last place that their enemies will look is right under their own nose. In the final scene of the film, the young henchman Muroto And the exaggerated final duel (that blood fountain) is a great satire on the unrealistic portrayal of duels in samurai films, while also being incredibly cool in its own right (samurai films are popular for a reason). their swords. Muroto’s first act, after sending his troops elsewhere, is to offer Sanjuro a job. 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