Yojimbo / Sanjuro
YOJIMBO, 1961, Janus Films, 110 min. Akira Kurosawa incorporates gallows humor in a pitch-perfect samurai film, one of his best. Toshiro Mifune is Sanjuro, a ronin caught in a yakuza gang war. To amuse himself, he plays the gangs off against each other, nearly getting killed in the process. Tatsuya Nakadai is the pistol-packing brother of one of the bosses.
SANJURO (TSUBAKI SANJURO), 1962, Janus Films, 96 min. Director Akira Kurosawa helms this YOJIMBO sequel. Wandering Sanjuro (Toshiro Mifune) helps a young samurai (Yuzo Kayama) and his cohorts when their clan chamberlain is framed. Tatsuya Nakadai is the prime adversary, a proud samurai every bit as dangerous as Mifune.
