In this companion piece and sequel to "Yojimbo," jaded samurai Sanjuro helps an idealistic group of young warriors weed out their clan's evil influences, and in the process turns their image of a proper samurai on its ear.
Acting
Mifune's physical comedy—scratching, shrugging, supreme irritation.
Direction
Kurosawa's wind tunnel finale: blood spray in perfect synchrony.
Editing
Tight 96 minutes, not a frame wasted on these fools.
Director
Akira Kurosawa
Toshirō Mifune
Sanjûrô Tsubaki / The ronin
Tatsuya Nakadai
Hanbei Muroto
Keiju Kobayashi
The Spy
Yūzō Kayama
Iori Izaka
Reiko Dan
Chidori, Mutsuta's daughter
Takashi Shimura
Kurofuji
Kamatari Fujiwara
Takebayashi
Takako Irie
Mutsuta's wife
Masao Shimizu
Kikui
Yūnosuke Itō
Mutsuta, the Chamberlain
Akira Kubo
Samurai
Hiroshi Tachikawa
Samurai
Yoshio Tsuchiya
Samurai
Kunie Tanaka
Samurai
Tatsuyoshi Ehara
Samurai
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
Kurosawa wrote this in two weeks after a studio misunderstanding—he'd only pitched Yojimbo's success, not a sequel. The rushed production accidentally created a looser, funnier film.
The nine young samurai represent Kurosawa's self-critique: his earlier idealistic heroes, now seen through the jaded eyes of a director who'd lived through war and occupation.
No ratings yet
Sign in to join the discussion — comments are spoiler-gated to your watch progress.
Discussion starters
JP
