"Sanjuro" (1962) - Directed By Akira Kurosawa

After each Kurosawa film I watch I always have conflicting emotions. On one hand I'm been extremely exhilarated for having seen a film that I enjoyed so much, or gave me so much to think about or inspired me in some way or another. On the other I find myself a little sad, not because the subject matter made me so (although there certainly are moments in the films I've seen that can be that can be upsetting) but rather because I know I'll never get to see that film for the first time ever again. With each film of his I see I understand more and more why he's looked on as such a master.

"Sanjuro" is the sequel to Kurosawa's 1961 film "Yojimbo" about the wandering Ronin played by Toshiro Mifune, and along with its predecessor was the basis for Sergio Leone's "Dollars Trilogy" which I also love very much. When the film opens we see 9 samurai discussing their displeasure with the corruption that has swept through their clan. They are deciding what to do and who to trust. I won't reveal much because of how much I loved the scene wherein Mifune first arrives and begins speaking to these samurai, suffice to say he ends up agreeing to help them to rescue one of clansmens uncle and defeat the corrupted superintendent and his men.

One thing that struck me while watching the film was just how "cool" Mifune is. He's a perfect example of the badass antihero that we see in so many films and shows today. He's tough, smart, rude but ultimately fair. He sides with the underdog samurai despite their relative incompetence and the fact that the other side would have gladly paid him and given him power because he believes they were in the right.

His encounter with the wife of the man they're trying to rescue forces him to face the fact that his is a life of intense violence. He's a wild cannon, cocked and ready to go off at any moment. (She calls him an unsheathed sword, but I've always wanted to use the wild cannon metaphor.) You can see the anguish in him as he struggles with that fact throughout the film. He wishes to be at peace, but all he knows is violence. This violence comes to a huge crescendo at the end of the film with the final eruption (literally) of violence between Mifune and his nemesis. It's quite a shock when it happens.

The film is also at times very funny. One of the superintendents men is captured and taken prisoner by the heroes. They keep him in the cupboard at their home base. Throughout the film he emerges to make several comments about what's going on and each time after being stared down by the other samurai returns to his cupboard. It's as if he's remembering "oh, that's right. I'm a prisoner aren't I? Well I guess I'll just head back to my cupboard now..." The two women they rescue are also quite funny. The way they stay so calm and peaceful despite all the craziness going on around them. In fact they try to take a nap in a barn during the rescue!

It's a simple and fairly straightforward story. The hero helps the underdogs defeat the villains. It's certainly much more light-hearted than it's older brother, and for that reason I think many people might dismiss it too quickly. It's also hugely entertaining and I thought it had interesting things to say about violence and the men who become so proficient at it, and the ending is quite bittersweet. The hero heads off into the sunset, but he's not better off than he was at the beginning, he may in fact be worse off. He's been forced to face himself and he sees what fate has in store for the men like him. He is haunted by the legacy of violence he leaves and no doubt faces in his future: "an unsheathed sword, poised to strike at any time."