Akira Kurosawa's Yojimbo

I have been really anxious to watch Yojimbo ever since I watched Seven Samurai and immediately fell in love with Akira Kurosawa's work. I was definitely not disappointed with Yojimbo. This film was very enjoyable mostly thanks to Toshiro Mifune's performance as the calm and savvy roninon samurai Sanjuro. I loved how the character starts off as an observer of the two rival factions but grows into the sole person responsible for making them destroy each other. Usually a protagonist or an antagonist is clearly on one side of the good and evil spectrum but Sanjuro was mostly in the middle. It's not that his character couldn't decide which gang to be a part of or to help, it was simply because he was disgusted by both gangs lack of honor and morality. Sanjuro is a character who simply did as he pleased which makes him very unique compared to other characters in films. I thought it was also interesting to see how simple miscommunications can lead to arguments, fights, and even death. The "miscommunications" within this particular film were fueled by Sanjuro of course. In the end, I would say Sanjuro still had a moral fiber to him as he protected and saved the innocent family from being slaughtered from one of the gangs.

I also really enjoyed Akria Kurosawa's use of framing within this film. Every scene is very purposefully set up so the characters and the action takes place within a confide space and multiple continuous shots. I love this technique because I feel it is more engaging to watch how a scene plays out without multiple cuts as it feels more natural and meaningful. The framing was also very clean and defined as each character stood out in a unique way whether it be Sanjuro standing calmly in the middle of the town or one of the gang leaders surrounded by his henchmen.

Overall I really enjoyed Yojimbo thanks to Sanjuro's character and Kurowsawa's masterful direction.