Yojimbo (1961) on Netflix
A nameless ronin arrives in a small town where two yakuza gangs fight over the gambling trade. Taking the name Sanjuro Kuwabatake, he offers both bosses his services as a bodyguard.
- Netflix3.9/5
- IMDb8.2/10144,745 votes
- Rotten Tomatoes96%
Trailer
Plot summary
In 1860, during the last years of the Edo period, a masterless samurai walks into a rural town that criminals have taken over. Two yakuza bosses, Seibei and Ushitora, are fighting for control of the gambling business. The tavern keeper Gonji warns the newcomer to move on. He stays, and after cutting down three of Ushitora's men he persuades Seibei to hire him as a bodyguard. Asked for a name, he looks at a mulberry field and calls himself Kuwabatake Sanjuro. Ushitora used to be Seibei's right-hand man, but broke away after Seibei chose his son Yoichiro as his successor. He has joined forces with Tokuemon, a brewer of sake who presents himself as the town's mayor, and the two sides are ready to fight.
Cast
Did you know?!Facts and trivia about Yojimbo (1961)
Can contain spoilers, watch the movie first.
- Sergio Leone's A Fistful of Dollars (1964), starring Clint Eastwood, was the first remake of Yojimbo, but Leone and his production company failed to secure the remake rights, and the resulting lawsuit was settled out of court for an undisclosed agreement before the film's U.S. release.
- After Akira Kurosawa scolded Toshiro Mifune for arriving late to the set one morning, Mifune made it a point to be ready on set at 6:00 a.m. every day in full makeup and costume for the rest of the film's shooting schedule.
- Kurosawa's 1962 follow-up Sanjuro was originally intended to be a straight adaptation of Shūgorō Yamamoto's short story Hibi Heian, but was reworked to include Mifune and his Yojimbo character following the success of Yojimbo.
- A 1968 screening of Yojimbo in the planned community of Columbia, Maryland was considered too violent for viewers, and the hosts hid in the bathroom to avoid the audience.
- The writers of the first season of Barry (2018) discovered they had 'kinda just did Yojimbo' and added an acknowledgement of the similarity in the show itself.
- The wandering swordsman played by Toshiro Mifune became the model for John Belushi's Samurai Futaba character on Saturday Night Live.
