Sanjuro: "Good swords are kept in their sheaths." — 7 weeks ago
Getting it right out of the way: Sanjuro is no Yojimbo. But that doesn’t mean that it’s bad. Toshiro Mifune and Akiro Kurosawa bring the nameless samurai back in an adaptation of a Japanese novel about nine young samurai who get in trouble trying to fight corruption in their town. And while the plot is a little simple and the morality a little obvious, it’s great to see Mifune back in the role. His samurai appears to have no scruples but is in fact very honourable; he’s dirty but noble; he’s humourous and yet can switch to deadly serious in an instant. It’s just a great role for him, and he pulls it off magnificently. There are some amazing shots, including the scenes with the flowers flowing down the river, and the fights are always good. But that ending scene…wow. Just a great shock; very powerful. A very good movie, but it suffers when compared to its predecessor.
