Sanjuro (Akira Kurosawa, 1962)

When his slumber is disturbed by a group of naive samurai, a nameless grizzled ronin (Toshiro Mifune) is drawn into their dilemma:

A group of corrupt local officials are conspiring to bring down the lord chamberlain, and have kidnapped him and his family.

The ronin reluctantly joins the bumbling warriors in trying to foil the villains' scheme.

In the course of this, he comes up with his own plan to bring down the schemers - from the inside...

“Good swords stay in their sheaths”

Yojimbo was one of the best first watches I have had in years, and I waited for an opportunity to see the sequel on the big screen.

Originally, this review was going to drop in 2024. When the 4K restorations of Akira Kurosawa’s films were released later that year, I bought a ticket for a Sanjuro screening.

Initially I found the set up to Sanjuro a little confusing. We open on the young samurai gathering to discuss their problems with their lord.

It is a little dialogue-heavy but it sets up one of the key dynamics of the film: the samurai deliberate on a problem - their lord refusing to accept their petition on corruption - only for the ronin to intervene and point out how they are on the wrong track.

As with the previous movie, the ronin has to match wits with a larger enemy - but he also has to look after a collection of other characters: the chamberlain’s wife and daughter, as well as the nine earnest samurai whose pride and lack of cynicism put them at risk.

Unlike the ronin’s first adventure, the stakes are higher than saving his own skin.

The film is almost like the set-piece with the family from the previous movie - except if the ronin had to save them for the length of a movie. 

This sense of tension has its comedic elements, but also means the movie is ultimately more dramatic.

I found it a little leaden - the nine samurai work as comic blob, but the film ends up feel a touch less fleet-footed.

I found myself starting to lose interest, but the ending completely reversed my feelings - the final scene not only elevates the film but takes it into its own space, apart from its predecessor.

Over the course of the film, the ronin has grown to loathe his key talent.

Confronted with the villains’ muscle, Muroto (Tatsuya Nakadai), a swordsman of comparable skill, Mifune’s swordsman is forced into a literal form of self-reflection.

Their final duel represents not just the death of Muroto, but the death of Mifune’s self-image.

Gone is the laconic loner; Sanjuro leaves his second adventure haunted by his own capacity for violence.

Related

Yojimbo

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