This blog entry is part of my “movie year countdown”. To read more about that check out my first Spout filmblog entry.
Yojimbo
It's the second time I've seen this movie, and hey it's a lot of fun. Listening to discussion of this film fits you into a whole back and forth history of different directors from all around the globe inspiring each other. This film was inspired by American film-noir and westerns and was both a tribute and a subversion of the genres while also addressing many Japanese traditions and modern conundrums. And then of course was itself the inspiration for A Fistful of Dollars which was another movie inspired by and a subversion of American westerns while playing up what was a very Italian viewpoint.
And then of course you can see how the spaghetti westerns further influenced more Japanese and American cinema and it has all gone back and forth. Well I kind of see this movie as being a pivotal point in the history of sort of a whole genre of radical, gritty, and violent samurai/western theme movies with their own dark sense of humor and style.
I realized how great and radical the music for this movie is too, just like Morricone's score for the inspired spaghetti westerns as well. I will have to obtain the soundtrack.
Rating: 9/10