Around the World in 24 Frames 07.24.09: Yojimbo

Posted by Len Archibald on 07.24.2009

As we complete a three-part retrospective on the films of Akira Kurosawa, Arthouse Archibald rants about health care in the U.S. and declares Toshirō Mifune as the prototype of the Modern Action Movie Star...

Welcome connoisseurs of foreign films! Let's get this show on the road.

The Rant

I need to get this off my chest because it's been bothering the HELL out of me…

I make no qualms over that fact that I was born in Canada – I can even say that I'm proud of that fact. Right now, I live with my wife in Ohio and it is here that I am "planting my flag" so to speak. Making a life for us, positioning myself so I have a stable and successful career in the film industry, blah blah blah…

I don't like to discuss politics – simply because it is an ugly thing to me. I can't vote (yet) but I pay attention to the issues; I don't listen to or get caught up in the "opinion" pieces or "op-ed" tongue-lashers (Olbermaan, Limbaugh, etc) – I can make up my own mind, thank you very much. Just give me numbers and let me decide if something is right for ME. I also believe in life experiences. I don't agree with the wording of Judge Sonia Sotomayor's now-infamous "speech" about how being a "wise Latina may blah blah blah over a white man", but I understand the intent of her wording (some people are capable of looking into context than knee-jerk reactions of "racist".) But that is not what this rant is about. I believe that if you experienced something – in-depth – for a number of years, you may be more qualified to discuss it than others. I would feel more comfortable hearing an army general discuss how to run a military unit than some college freshman who had never fired a gun in their lives, for example.

So, it bothers me, as a proud Canadian, and as a contributor to society as a permanent resident in the United States to hear such IGNORANCE when it comes to health care in this country. So there's a debate on whether or not we should have "Universal Health Care" (I love the marketing name) here. I have my own opinions, and I will keep them to myself, because my opinion doesn't mean anything to you. I don't care if someone agrees or disagrees with me on a particular subject. What I do care about is misinformation and slander. I care even more if that slander comes at the expense of the country that I am from and love. I do not appreciate it, when those who have no idea how our Canadian Health Care system works, try to use US as an example of why it will/won't work here. I don't care if you debate for or against something, but don't cherry pick statistics or site one or two incidents you may have HEARD from "hearsay" about how the Canadian Health Care System is a "failure" or is "floundering".

I have had my Health Card (formerly OHIP) since I was born. I have gone to the doctor, had treatments for a hernia, concussions, chicken pox, fevers, etc. I have been around family and friends for surgeries, various treatments and other healthcare necessities. My grandfather was taken care in Canada before he passed away. My grandmother is currently in a nursing home there. I have N-E-V-E-R had any experiences, nor do I ever recall any friends or family having any experiences where someone has a life-threatening ailment, for example, and was told to WAIT. I have N-E-V-E-R talked to any "bureaucrat" at a hospital or office before any care or service needs to be administered. I have N-E-V-E-R seen a dramatic shift in the cost of living in my country because of the "cost" of our healthcare system. But lately, I've been seeing some "talking heads" or even some lemmings of either party (and somehow we need to get past the two party system in this country…But that is another issue) discuss stats or stories that vary from a gross exaggeration to an outright lie about how Health Care is run in Canada. They pass these inaccuracies as fact, and people choose to believe them (Why? Especially since the majority of people around here have such a terrible mistrust of the Government for pretty much everything else) without taking one simple thing into account:

None of these people have EVER lived in Canada.

Now, I understand that some people want to cry the usual labels: "socialism", "fascism", "communism", "racism" and all the other "-isms" used to divide people into classes based on income, religion, race, creed, social status, education, military involvement, athletic prowess (trust me, here in Ohio – they do this), etc – but I don't fall into that trap. It's sad that so many people do. It's sadder that so many people don't take the time to research for themselves and instead listens to the first person that whispers something in their ear.

Look, we're all human beings. We all carry our own ideals, vices and prejudices (not the same as bigotry or celebrated ignorance), so we vote "yay" or "nay" on issues based on those things – that's natural. But we should also base our votes or opinion on facts as well. There was this whole debate on whether or not the people were lied to when it came to going into Iraq and overthrowing Saddam Hussein. There are issues with the information (or lack of) and speed used to pass the bill that put those two "stimulus" packages into the laps of the American people. Shouldn't we use these past experiences to inspire us to be MORE INFORMED about things of importance than to just sit back and let people (who, once again I re-iterate, the majority of us don't trust in the first place) do the research for us?

So here's the long and short of it: If you weren't born in, lived in, or were/are a citizen of Canada, please – shut the holy hell up about the Health Care System there. Stop lying (both sides) about the issues up there to sway opinion your way. Don't use another country as an example of how things will or won't work here. It's a different system, with a different population and a different cost of living that are all contributing factors. YOU may not like "socialized medicine" in Canada, but rest assured – if YOU tried to take it away, prepare for a riot that will make all other small-scale riots in the US look like a teddy bear picnic. YOU may like "socialized medicine" but it is a BEAST to put together and only works in its current state because it has been written into law for DECADES.

If you really want to find statistics, why don't you ASK. Ask the Canadian Government, ask the Canadian Health Care officials, most importantly – ask the Canadian PEOPLE how it serves THEM. That's usually how we reach substantial conclusions, right? Research?

Then again, why don't you worry about YOUR country, while Canada worries about Canada. Yeah? Okay? Thanks, eh?[/end rant]

********************

I love movies. They represent escapism, art, intellect and spirituality. Some are nothing more than popcorn flicks, designed to ease the burden of "real-life" for a couple of hours. Some bring important issues to the forefront that challenges how we perceive our surroundings. The most important thing for me – if one is a serious film goer – is to constantly expand and discover new movies. This includes experiencing stories told outside of North America.

Yes, I know: "I don't like to read while I watch movies". Well, neither do I, but I won't use that to prevent me from finding a great story within the screen. It is important, as human beings to discover other cultures and expand our perceptions of those different from us and how they see the world. There are reasons that Bergman, Kurosawa, Fellini, Ozu and Truffaut are important in the movie world – They are just great at what they do.

I intend to highlight a new film every week that is considered "foreign-language"; now that definition is simple, yet broad and complex. For example, if you need subtitles to understand the events of the plot, I will discuss it. If it is a film from a primarily English-speaking nation, but is *NOT* in English (i.e. Leolo or Atanarjuat: The Fast Runner from Canada), I will discuss. If it is a film from outside the U.S. and it *is* in English, I will not discuss (sorry, Brits & Aussies) – for now. My goal is to shed light on some of these gems, and help quell the insatiable appetites for those who can't live without seeing a new movie. Enjoy!

用心棒: Yojimbo (1961)
Japan
Dir: Akira Kurosawa
Runtime: 110 min




Allow me to attempt to speak as a man who loves movies: as a man, I love action. I am compelled with situations where the good guy flexes his machismo and testosterone at the screen. I am enamored with physical brawling and love to see a good scuffle (even if it's choreographed, hence why I write for a website that was originally a wrestling fanboy forum). I also love seeing a talented actor perfectly embody all these qualities.

Ladies and gentlemen, let me introduce you to…Toshirō Mifune, who I feel is Japan's response to John Wayne, Bruce Willis and Arnold Schwarzenegger wrapped up in a neat amoral samurai's kimono. For as much praise I will heap on Kurosawa for another great sweeping and quirky masterpiece, I must give equal billing to Mr. Mifune; his character, Sanjuro in Kurosawa's homage (and reinvention) to the Western genre, Yojimbo, is in my opinion ground zero for the modern action star. He deservedly won the 1961 Best Actor award for his portrayal at the Venice Film Festival.

When Yojimbo (which means "bodyguard") opens, a nameless, tired samurai arrives in a dusty old town. Earlier, he threw a stick in the air to lead him on which direction he should go. One of his first encounters is with a dog that carries a severed human hand in its mouth. A small, beady-eyed man approaches and attempts to push Sanjuro into being a bodyguard for one of the local crime syndicates in the town. Sanjuro doesn't bother to listen. He wants food…And more importantly, sake.


Something is rotten in Denmark...

Yojimbo's success critically, culturally and commercially (it is Kurosawa's most popular film in his homeland of Japan) is one of the great paradoxes in cinema. Here is a film where Kurosawa blatantly ripped off the Western genre in almost every form possible, down to the dusty town, wooden buildings and seedy drunken townspeople that comes straight out of Dodge – only for it to inspire, reinvent and reinvigorate the same genre in the United States and beyond. It almost plays as a satire of Westerns, exposing some of the old "rules" and crushes them all. One character brings a gun to town. How do you think it will be used when the hero is confronted with it? The name that Mifune's character gives himself, Kuwabatake Sanjuro – is not even his real name (when asked, he looks out the window, sees a mulberry field and replies with "30 year old mulberry field.) Kind of a strange resemblance to another "Man With No Name" in westerns.

It is mentioned at the start of Yojimbo that it is 1860, after the collapse of the Tokugawa Dynasty. Samurai were scattered, unemployed and in search of work. The town that Sanjuro arrives in gives him the greatest possibility one in his specialty could find: desperate men in desperate need. The town really – has almost no one that has any reason to be saved. It is overrun with the minions and henchmen of the two warring factions, who are so inept and uncoordinated that a street fight between them consists of half-heartedly charging with swords, only to cower back in fear when the other side does the same. Sanjuro finds inspiration in this situation; he will create interest for himself by hiring himself as a bodyguard to the two syndicates while keeping his motives to himself. It is said that Kurosawa was inspired by Dashell Hammett's novel, Red Harvest, in which a private investigator sets one gang against another.

Kurosawa masterfully plays the situation out, with no false moments. Sanjuro arrives in town and is confronted by a group of ruffians who talk big at him. He simply turns away from the possible confrontation. Later, when he decides on his plan to make some money, he re-approaches them and single-handedly kills three of them. The scene is completed with a punchline as Sanjuro instructs the town coffin-maker, "Two coffins…No, three." – was Toshirō Mifune the first wisecracking action star?


Toshirō Mifune as Sanjuro, enjoying the chaos he has caused.

Mifune is remarkable as the lead character, mixing boredom with cerebral thought. Notice how Sanjuro, with his hands in his kimono (like how Clint Eastwood's "Man With No Name" would always hide his arms in his poncho) is always scratching, always observing, always thinking; he is making up his moves as he goes along. Sanjuro is a dangerous man because his spontaneity masks strategy. It is no wonder that when he deviates from his plan and actually commits an act of nobility that he finds himself in danger. The act also takes us by surprise too, since we have been accustomed to his amoral personality.

Every time I watch Yojimbo, I am never quite sure what to make of it. A great running gag in the film concerns the coffin-maker who is receiving big business because the two warring gangs are killing each other off, only for there to be no business because there is no one left to pay for the coffins. That screams "dark comedy", but it is so much more than that. Akira Kurosawa has always been a master of composition and movement, but Yojimbo is one of his best looking, and perhaps more importantly – easiest to visually interpret. The film opens (and alludes to many times) on a low-angle shot following Mifune's character through the wilderness, giving him a larger-than-life feel. Kurosawa and director-of-photography Kazuo Miyagawa, who also shot such Japanese classics as Rashomon, Yasujiro Ozu's Floating Weeds and Kenji Mizoguchi's Ugetsu , uses the wide frame to its full potential to create dramatic composition. Battles face-off with vast emptiness between them; shots are usually at right or straight angles to emphasize the simplicity of the town – only showing off few "diagonal" shots to show Sanjuro upsetting the balance. Shutters and screens are used to obscure or show only what is needed on screen. In regards to creating singular memorable pictures, Yojimbo is magnificent filmmaking.


Unosuke (Tatsuya Nakadai), facing off against Sanjuro: Future meets Past.

But what about Toshirō Mifune? It is on his back that Yojimbo would succeed (or fail) and he knocks this out of the park – perhaps out of the planet. We never quite guess what Sanjuro is up to next. His squints and glances inspire the looks of a Steven Segal in his ass-kicking prime. His compact, singular and direct fighting style is something Bruce Lee would be proud of. His constant one-liners, bravado and machismo are descendants of Arnold Schwarzenegger and Chuck Norris. His cerebral amorality gave birth to the character that would give Clint Eastwood worldwide fame. His comedic timing (observe a slapstick-like scene in which he hides in a barrel) opened the door for someone like Jackie Chan to take action and physical comedy to the next level. Sanjuro's character was so popular, that his presence was required to exist in a sequel (aptly titled, Sanjuro.) He is, in my opinion, the prototype for the modern action hero. He is the guy who rises to the occasion, not out of a desire to, but out of a necessity to simply survive – much like Bruce Willis' John McClane in the Die Hard series.

One of the great pieces of Yojimbo is its subtle irony; Samurai are known for their unyielding loyalty, but Sanjuro is a man who finds himself unemployed because of the breakdown of the feudal system and must live for himself in order to survive. He creates, bends and breaks the rules in order to give the perception of loyalty when he is anything but. Akira Kurosawa was a Japanese filmmaker with very American ideas of individualism and resiliency. It may be why his films are considered the most accessible of those that come from Japan – people easily relate to the stories of one against many (Yojimbo), the underdog overcoming great odds (The Seven Samurai), or breaking free from the shackles of bureaucracy to find a greater purpose (Ikiru).


Toshirō Mifune as Sanjuro, always scheming, always one step ahead.

I think what Kurosawa does not get enough credit for – from any film critic – is how in tune he was with the sensibilities of the worldwide film audience. Kennedy was just voted in as President. Japan was finally beginning to pick up the pieces and gain better footing in the world after having two nuclear bombs dropped on them. It was a new dawn – a time of individual voices coming together to declare their moment in the annuls of modern society. The Beatniks and the counterculture were just around the corner. The civil rights movement was taking its first major steps. It was almost as if Kurosawa knew this, and felt the film audience was ready to accept heroes and protagonists who were ultimately noble to society, but not afraid to be independent and have their own singular inner-code. Even with later films such as Ran and Dreams, it was like Kurosawa knew that the film audience had expanded and evolved enough to be able to digest stories and visions of great scope and depth.

Everything about Yojimbo clicks, from its undeniably catchy score, composed by Masaru Satô , Kazuo Miyagawa's cinematography, its witty dialogue and the mood created from the town to the colors of the various townsfolk, this is just a great piece of entertainment – and a great piece of art, to boot.

But I must give the final credit to Toshirō Mifune. He is considered by many in his homeland to be Japan's greatest actor – someone comparable to Marlon Brando in regards to the depths he was able to go to create a convincing character out of nothing, and layer him with details, speech, mannerisms and a sly, cool appeal that kids and adults, from all cultures could relate to. He could play comedy in action (like this and in The Seven Samurai), or he could play tragedy with the compassion of Shakespeare's greatest works (The Bad Sleep Well). The fact that he may have invented the skeleton for the wise-cracking, tough but intelligent one-man army is just icing on the cake. He was a man's man – a hero's hero, and was able to save a town with either a samurai sword or a small knife.


Badass.

Let's see the Govenator do that.

Yojimbo Trailer


{Film Passport Stamped}

Coming Attractions: "...We've got a 1080 out here...a truck on fire...We have a man on the lift, we're unable to find the switch to turn off the lift...We can't stop the dancing chicken. If you send us an electrician out here, we'll be standing by. Over." That is all.

Questions or comments? Email me at [e-mail]!!!

Bookmark 411mania.com on your computer!

-or-

Check us out at Twitter!

TWITTER

http://www.twitter.com/411mania
http://www.twitter.com/411wrestling
http://www.twitter.com/411moviestv
http://www.twitter.com/411music
http://www.twitter.com/411games
http://www.twitter.com/411mma