Toshiro Mifune swaggers and snarls to brilliant comic effect in Akira Kurosawa’s tightly paced, beautifully composed Sanjuro. In this sly companion piece to Yojimbo, jaded samurai Sanjuro helps an idealistic group of young warriors weed out their clan’s evil influences, and in the process turns their image of a “proper” samurai on its head. Less brazen in tone than its predecessor but equally entertaining, this classic character’s return is a masterpiece in its own right.
Sanjuro
This film is part of the Kurosawa Restored series.
Sanjuro
4K Restoration
1962. 95 m. Akira Kurosawa. Janus FIlms. Japan. Japanese with subtitles. Rated NR.
Tickets: $11 (members), $16 (nonmembers)
"Jaded samurai Toshiro Mifune shows younger warriors the ropes, just as John Wayne used to toughen up tenderfoots on the range."
"It's a surprisingly funny movie at times, even though it deals with serious themes, deconstructing the samurai mythos while also having a solid amount of gritty sword-fighting action."
This film is part of the following initiatives:
This film is part of the Kurosawa Restored series.
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