Yojimbo: Difference between revisions
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'''''Yojimbo''''' is a [[1961 in film|1961]] film by [[Akira Kurosawa]], in which a [[samurai]] arrives at a small town with competing crime lords making their money from gambling, and convinces each crime lord to hire him as protection from the other. The film [[parody|parodies]] many conventions of [[western film]]s, including the canonical taciturn gunslinger, and the helpless townsfolk. Its cinematography mimics conventional shots in western films including that of the lone hero in a wideshot, facing an enemy or enemies from a distance when the wind kicks up dust between the two. Much of the music is also clearly "Western". Kurosawa nevertheless brings to the mix a clearly Japanese attention to visual texture and composition. |
'''''Yojimbo''''' is a [[1961 in film|1961]] film by [[Akira Kurosawa]], based on the novel [[Red Harvest]], by [[Dashiell Hammett]], in which a [[samurai]] arrives at a small town with competing crime lords making their money from gambling, and convinces each crime lord to hire him as protection from the other. The film [[parody|parodies]] many conventions of [[western film]]s, including the canonical taciturn gunslinger, and the helpless townsfolk. Its cinematography mimics conventional shots in western films including that of the lone hero in a wideshot, facing an enemy or enemies from a distance when the wind kicks up dust between the two. Much of the music is also clearly "Western". Kurosawa nevertheless brings to the mix a clearly Japanese attention to visual texture and composition. |
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''Yojimbo'' was later [[remake|remade]] as ''[[A Fistful of Dollars]]'', a [[Spaghetti Western|spaghetti western]] directed by [[Sergio Leone]] and starring [[Clint Eastwood]], and remade, yet again, in a 20th century "gangster" genre, as ''[[Last Man Standing]]'', starring [[Bruce Willis]]. Arguably ''A Fistful of Dollars'' was a ripoff, rather than a remake, since, unlike ''Last Man Standing'', it gave no credit to Kurosawa's film. |
''Yojimbo'' was later [[remake|remade]] as ''[[A Fistful of Dollars]]'', a [[Spaghetti Western|spaghetti western]] directed by [[Sergio Leone]] and starring [[Clint Eastwood]], and remade, yet again, in a 20th century "gangster" genre, as ''[[Last Man Standing]]'', starring [[Bruce Willis]]. Arguably ''A Fistful of Dollars'' was a ripoff, rather than a remake, since, unlike ''Last Man Standing'', it gave no credit to Kurosawa's film or the Dashiell Hammett's novel. |
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''Yojimbo'' is clearly based in [[Red Harvest]], by [[Dashiell Hammett]] |
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Revision as of 09:47, 5 March 2004
Yojimbo is a 1961 film by Akira Kurosawa, based on the novel Red Harvest, by Dashiell Hammett, in which a samurai arrives at a small town with competing crime lords making their money from gambling, and convinces each crime lord to hire him as protection from the other. The film parodies many conventions of western films, including the canonical taciturn gunslinger, and the helpless townsfolk. Its cinematography mimics conventional shots in western films including that of the lone hero in a wideshot, facing an enemy or enemies from a distance when the wind kicks up dust between the two. Much of the music is also clearly "Western". Kurosawa nevertheless brings to the mix a clearly Japanese attention to visual texture and composition.
Yojimbo was later remade as A Fistful of Dollars, a spaghetti western directed by Sergio Leone and starring Clint Eastwood, and remade, yet again, in a 20th century "gangster" genre, as Last Man Standing, starring Bruce Willis. Arguably A Fistful of Dollars was a ripoff, rather than a remake, since, unlike Last Man Standing, it gave no credit to Kurosawa's film or the Dashiell Hammett's novel.