YOJIMBO (1961) SANJURO (1962)

While SEVEN SAMURAI remains Akira Kurosawa’s most famous title, YOJIMBO was (and likely still is) his biggest hit.  Deservedly so.  An hour & a half shy of SEVEN’s full-length cut, its plot known to many who’ve never heard of Kurosawa thanks to Sergio Leone’s near carbon-copy Italian Spaghetti Western A FISTFUL OF DOLLARS/’64 with Clint Eastwood.  The easy-to-follow story has unattached samurai warrior Toshirô Mifune (in Eastwood’s case a gun-for-hire) selling his services to both sides in a warring two-faction town that ultimately leaves him richer (in coin) and the town poorer (in population).  Violence, humor, irony, outrageous acting choices, with Mifune at his most engaging, scratching & killing with abandon.  Less well-known and less highly rated, the sequel, SANJURO, refitted from an earlier unrelated Kurosawa screenplay, is more relaxed, lighter on its feet, every bit as engaging, with its own rather joyful voice.  This time, Mifune’s ragged swordsman comes to the aid of an elegant nonet of young gentlemen who’ve fallen into a deadly political trap by picking the wrong political faction and now, only Mifune has the tactical skills, unerring intuition and camellias to get them out of their jam . . . if they’ll only listen to a man below their high station. 

Kurosawa isn’t the only director to be denied critical acclaim on a quick sequel; and not the only one to get scant recognition for it.*  Yet SANJURO has its own spot-on look and tone.  More soundstage bound, it feels more all-of-a-piece, with better secondary parts in general (especially for a couple of smart, delightful court ladies), less fussily staged with longer takes.  Plus the fun they must have had filming it is contagious in a manner unique in Kurosawa’s output.  Though much of this will only be apparent when the two are watched in proper order.  So make it a DOUBLE-BILL.  (Criterion has them as a package.)

SCREWY THOUGHT OF THE DAY/LINK:  *The relationship between a hit film and its quick sequel most like this comes out of left field, Blake Edwards’ THE PINK PANTHER and its more-or-less accidental follow-up A SHOT IN THE DARK.  Like SANJURO, a rush rewrite to incorporate the last film’s hit character in a looser, more improvisatory  fashion.  And so quickly produced, both films were released in 1964.  One diff, SHOT works just as well whether or not you’ve seen PINK.  https://maksquibs.blogspot.com/2010/08/shot-in-dark-1964.html

ATTENTION MUST BE PAID: Only downside (at least for some), Kurosawa’s taste in music, with favored composer Masaru Satô’s awkward mix of Japanese & Western styles.