Toshiro Mifune can’t believe what he sees in YOJIMBO.
YOJIMBO (Akira Kurosawa, 1961)
BAMcinématek
30 Lafayette Ave. between Ashland Pl. & St. Felix St.
Sunday, November 7, 2:00, 4:30, 6:50, 9:15
Series continues through November 21
718-636-4100
www.bam.org
Kuwabatake Sanjuro (Toshiro Mifune) is a lone samurai on the road following the end of the Tokugawa dynasty in yet another of Akira Kurosawa’s unforgettable masterpieces. Sanjuro comes to a town with two warring factions and plays each one off the other as a hired hand. Neo’s battles with myriad Agent Smiths are nothing compared to Yojimbo’s magnificent swordfights against growing bands of warriors that include the evil Unosuke (Tatsuya Nakadai), who is in possession of a new weapon that shoots bullets. Try watching this film and not think of several Clint Eastwood Westerns (including Sergio Leone’s pasta remake, A FISTFUL OF DOLLARS) as well as HIGH NOON. The film is being screened in conjunction with BAM’s presentation of Ping Chong’s theatrical adaptation of Kurosawa’s THRONE OF BLOOD, running at the Howard Gilman Opera House November 10-13. The series concludes with the sequel to YOJIMBO, 1962’s SANJURO, on November 14 and RAN on November 21.