Yojimbo

A nameless ronin, or samurai with no master, enters a small village in feudal Japan where two rival businessmen are struggling for control of the local gambling trade. Taking the name Sanjuro Kuwabatake, the ronin convinces both silk merchant Tazaemon and sake merchant Tokuemon to hire him as a personal bodyguard, then artfully sets in motion a full-scale gang war between the two ambitious and unscrupulous men.

Cast

Toshirō Mifune

as Sanjuro Kuwabatake / The Samurai

Tatsuya Nakadai

as Unosuke, gunfighter

Yōko Tsukasa

as Nui

Isuzu Yamada

as Orin

Daisuke Katō

as Inokichi

Seizaburō Kawazu

as Seibê - brothel operator

Takashi Shimura

as Tokuemon, sake brewer

Hiroshi Tachikawa

as Yoichiro

Yōsuke Natsuki

as Kohei's Son

Eijirō Tōno

as Gonji, Tavern Keeper

Reviews

Andres Gomez

Great movie! Akira Kurosawa is just a master movie maker....

CRCulver

Akira Kurosawa's 1961 film YOJIMBO is a Japanese period drama where wily strategy is worth just as much as prowess with a sword. In the late Edo era (some decades before its end in 1868) a community is plagued by two opposing gangs who have built up a criminal empire of prostitution and gambling. Ev...

CinemaSerf

I was surprised when I saw this, how late it was set - 19th Century - as I'd always imagined it to be of a more historical nature. That doesn't remotely detract from the story though - as again Kurosawa casts Yoshirô Mifune ("Sanjûrô") in the leading role. Here he is a wandering samurai who arrives ...

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