This is one of my favorite movies of all time. I love Sanjuro, I love Toshiro Mifune's portrayal of him, and I love Akira Kurosawa's direction. Its such a wonderfully great film. I found it interesting that Garrett pointed out the use of dark clothing for Sanjuro and the lighter clothing for Seibei and Ushitora's crew. Black is generally a negative color in most societies of the world. I thought about the color use, but the more I thought about it, the more I realized: Sanjuro is not a good guy. The only good thing we see him do is save Nui and her family and the old man later. And as soon as he was done he left. I would say he was in it for the money, but I don't think he ever took any (maybe the bit Seibei gave him for turning over Kuma and Hachi, but the other thirty ryo he got he gave to Nui).
I think he was in it for the fun. He talks about money quite a bit, but he talked about being amused far more. He even lets himself sit in a vulnerable position because he wants to watch Unosuke and the others smoke Seibei out.
So does that make him a sociopath or a sadist? Maybe.
All I know is after research that black in Japanese culture is a strong symbol of death.
To quote Sanjuro:
"I'll get paid for killing, and this town is full of people who deserve to die."
I don't know; I still think he was a good guy. He did bring death with him, but as he said, those people deserved to die. Not to tear into you, Kayla, but, just saying: what's wrong with enjoying getting rid of bad guys? C.S. Lewis said something once about how, if you're fighting for a good cause, then don't act glum; it's good you're doing. So it didn't bother me at all that Saburo enjoyed getting rid of them.It's a good thing he did, and so he ought to enjoy it. If he was torturing them and enjoying that, that would be something else, I think.
ReplyDeleteNice picture, by the way :)
ReplyDeleteIt wasn't so much the enjoying getting rid of the guys as much as the just enjoying them kill each other. We have no idea his intentions. He obviously sided with neither party.
ReplyDeleteI'm not saying he's a bad guy. I'm saying he's not a good guy. More an anti-hero than a straight-laced Superman. Superman wouldn't sit and watch people kill each other, even if they were the 'bad guys', and then sorta laugh to himself and say 'Well, that was fun~'. I don't think CS Lewis would condone that either. Even if they were bad people, they were people, and being positively giddy that people died because of you made Sanjuro not that much different from Inochiyo, when he came back and bragged about the three guys he killed in the fire with a childish grin on his face.
All that in mind, I love Sanjuro and I love the fact that he is not a straight laced good person.
And thanks~ It was super quick but I like how it turned out