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A gang of idealistic young nobles are gathered in a decaying house, talking about how they are trying to battle local corruption. Suddenly a scruffy warrior (Toshirô Mifune) who calls himself Sanjûrô Tsubaki, appears and tells them who is lying and who isn't -- and that after confiding in the treacherous superintendant, they're being set up for an ambush.
After he saves their butts and drags the none-too-bright young men into hiding, he begins concocting a plan to save one young man's uncle, who is being held as a political hostage. After rescuing the lord's wife and daughter, Sanjuro and his band of fools continue with their plots to save him from the evil superintendant -- and he teaches his bumbling co-conspirators that exalted social position isn't what keeps you alive...
Kurosawa isn't known for having made goofball comedies, and as comedies go, this is a pretty subtle one. But there's a definite comic flair to this film, from the pampered prisoner offering nuggets of wisdom to the silent "happy dance" that all the young noblemen do. At the same time, there's a poignant note to Sanjuro's regrets about the men he's killed -- including men much like himself.
Even steeped in comedy, Kurosawa's creativity is still intact -- to give the feel that people are running, he shows short, rapid shots of several young men running down different streets. There are a few flaws (a lot of people get cut down without a speck of blood) but only a really determined nitpicker would let it bug them. And the finale is a shatteringly brutal scene, reminiscent of a western shoot-out, where you almost expect Sanjuro to put on a white cowboy hat and spit.
Mifune is wonderful as the grubby, grumpy samurai who is like an "unsheathed blade," and who has more brains than his little gang. He gives the character a lazy, languid air, sort of like an unexploded land mine. His followers are well-acted, though they don't have much individual personality. And small supporting roles -- like the kindly, prim noblewoman and the friendly prisoner in his little closet -- are very well-drawn.
Lurking under the comic flourishes is an intelligent film with likable characters, solid writing, and plenty of action. "Sanjuro" is as good as the film before it, though in a slightly different way.
Once again Toshirô Mifune returns as the same arrogant hero he played in "Yojimbo" (which means "Bodyguard"). The name he gives, when forced to do so, is Sanjûrô Tsubaki. It was Sanjûrô Kuwabatake in the first film, which told the story of a crafty and cynical wandering ronin who comes to town being fought over by rival gangs and exploits one against the other to make some money and free the town. "Yojimbo" was based on Dashiell Hammett's novel "Red Harvest," although it is uncredited in Kurosawa's film. "Yojimbo" was remade in the West several times, most notably by Sergio Leone in "Per un pugno di dollari" ("A Fistful of Dollars") and most recently in the Bruce Willis film "Last Man Standing."
There were certainly moments of grim humor in "Yojimbo" (such as when Mifune kills two samurai and cuts the arm off of a third and tells the Cooper "Two coffins...No, maybe three"). But in "Sanjûrô" Kurosawa has fun with just about everyone and everything from the start. Mifune's samurai is highly skilled but relentleslly crude, even when he is forced to deal with genteel ladies. His sleep at a shrine is interrupted by nine young samurai who are trying to rescue the uncle of their leader, who has been taken by a corrupt official. These young samurai are hopelessly idealistic and totally naive (they mistakenly think they know who the corrupt official is because he is the one who is not good looking). Sanjûrô decides to help them, not just because their cause is right, but because these kids are going to get slaughtered if he lets them run off to save the day.
Sanjûrô keeps heaping scorn and contempt on the young samurai who show a collective inability to do the right thing and usually to make things worse. It does not help that Sanjûrô rarely explains his plans to his young allies, which makes it easier for these kids to interfere with his plan. Meanwhile, our hero makes an impression on Muroto (Tasuya Nakadai, in a role similar to what he played in "Yojimbo"), the chief samurai of the corrupt officials, which allows him to do a little inside work to help move things along in the desired direction. You would think that Muroto would catch on that the young samurai are not good enough to keep defeating our hero and tying him up, but that just serves to reinforce the idea that Kurosawa is playing this one for laughs.
That being said, in the end "Sanjûrô" is memorable because of the final scene, which offs a shocking and bloody contrast with the rest of the film with one of the most unforgettable duels in all of samurai films. Talk about putting an exclamation point at the end of a film. Kurosawa might have been having fun with his characters and the genre, but in the end he certainly reminds us he is a master.
There are those who argue that it does not matter which in which order you see these two films and since I first came across them in the wrong order I can honestly say that I sort of prefer seeing them backwards simply on the basis of the way Mifune's character arcs from one film to the next. But in terms of going from the known to the unknown, watching this classic 1962 film after "Yojimbo" would be the way to go. Seeing both of them, along with Kurosawa's other masterworks, is what is ultimately important.
Why is my review title "Hilarious"? Read more
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