SANJURO (1962) - I have only seen Kurosawa's RASHOMON, but he again hits all the right notes with a very different, but insanely great samurai film. Toshiro Mifune, also from RASHOMON, plays what appears to be a no-good ronin, who is trying to extort some food and a bit of money out of a "noble" group of buffoons. The buffoons are caught in a Machiavellian sort of political chess game that I am not sure is ever really clearly articulated, except that there are some corrupt samurai out looking to take down the good samurai. Mifune is an incredible actor, his appearance is deceptive and he's almost comical in the way he speaks, but as the story unfolds you can tell he's highly intelligent and is wise enough to know when he needs to be taught. The relationship he has with the Chamberlain's wife is extremely interesting, as if she opens up a doorway he never really understood until the end. A sheathed sword is sort of his fate, even though nothing about his past or present are anything close to being sheathed. My history is not good on feudal Japan, but I do know that post-WWII films often spoke about Japan's past in ways that discussed the loss of an old way of life and the birth of a new way of thinking. The honorable samurai code was long gone, but often used to justify modern battle at the expense of such good and important life. This is almost an anti-war/anti-violence film. And I hoped for a battle between the main bad guy and Mifune, which is over in an instant (sort of like the battles between Tarantino's Bride and Vernita Green or the Bride and Bill that were briefly mentioned, but never occurred), much to my dismay. But there are plenty of sword fights to be had, though Mifune does do his best to minimize the carnage. The buffoons likely did not learn much, but the final scene was very touching. Loved every minute of this.
