Yojimbo

1961

110 mins

Directed by Akira Kurosawa
96%
96%
Drama
Award Winner

Toshiro Mifune stars in this Kurosawa-directed classic set in late-Edo era Japan. Mifune's performance as a wandering ronin who commits... More

Toshiro Mifune stars in this Kurosawa-directed classic set in late-Edo era Japan. Mifune's performance as a wandering ronin who commits to ridding a terror-stricken town of corruption garnered him two Best Actor awards at the 1961 Venice Film Festival.

A nameless samurai with no master (Mifune) enters a small village where two rival businessmen are struggling for control of the local gambling trade. Taking the name Sanjuro Kuwabatake, the ronin convinces both silk merchant Tazaemon (Kamatari Fujiwara) and sake merchant Tokuemon (Takashi Shimura) to hire him as a personal bodyguard, then artfully sets in motion a full-scale gang war between the two ambitious and unscrupulous men.

Remade twice, by Sergio Leone (A Fistful of Dollars) and Walter Hill (Last Man Standing).

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Yojimbo | Ratings & Reviews

96_%46 reviews
Rotten Tomatoes® rating
96_%42,530 reviews
Audience score rating

"Rousing, good story, told with vigor and visual excitement by Akira Kurosawa, and splendidly acted by Toshiro Mifune, this has ideal remake material for a Yank company."

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Variety

"If the plot sounds familiar, it's probably because Leone stole it for A Fistful of Dollars."

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Time Out

"A movie that is both a wow of a show and a masterpiece of misanthropy."

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Time Magazine

"Despite the sometime appearance of the whole thing as a forthright travesty, it does have stretches of excitement and cinematic power."

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The New York Times

"Even Eastwood's Man With No Name is inspired, perhaps, by the samurai in Yojimbo."

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Roger Ebert

"Less visceral than the battle scene in Seven Samurai, this is more of a free-for-all, with brute force leaving no room for skill."

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Empire Magazine

Yojimbo | Details

Directed by

Cast

Award winner: Winner of both the New Cinema Award and the Volpi Cup for Best Actor (Mifune), Venice Film Festival 1961.
Rating: PG, Occasional low level violence
Runtime: 110
Genre: Drama
Country of origin: Japan