![]() This would eventually culminate in the Japanese Revolution, an actual civil war. Those loyal to the shogunate were in conflict with those seeking to restore imperial rule. Needless to say, it was a time of great political and social upheaval. Navy into what is now Tokyo Bay, forcing the country to reopen to the outside world after 200-plus years of isolationism. Commodore Matthew Perry had only recently sailed the U.S. Yojimbo's time setting, 1860, puts it smack dab in the middle of the Bakumatsu (1853–1867), which marked the tail end of the Edo period and the Tokugawa shogunate's power in Japan. The film upholds this interpretation but it helps to have a fuller appreciation for its historical context. The social problem (since Yojimbo is predicated on one) is the breakdown of a traditional society." "The theme is then civil disorder, even civil war-father against son, neighbor against neighbor. In his 1965 book The Films of Akira Kurosawa, American author Donald Richie devoted an insightful chapter to Yojimbo, in which he wrote: The only other question is, which side will Sanjuro take in the town's gang war? Sure enough, a corrupt constable comes running right out to meet him, talking up the local brothel and asking him if he wants to make some dough as a bodyguard. He's one of these "hungry dogs come running when they smell blood." The farmer's suggestion for how to deal with such beasts is, "Let 'em rip each other apart and dye the silk in their blood."Īs soon as Sanjuro goes walking into town, he meets his canine counterpart-and is visibly taken aback, because the dog is trotting down the street with a severed human hand in its mouth. As the farmer throws the door shut on him, the implication is clear: Sanjuro is very much part of the problem. He rails against dice games and says, "Everyone wants easy money." Yet we've just seen Sanjuro essentially gamble his fate on a stick toss, and what drives him forward from here is the prospect of easy money. The farmer thinks the world's gone mad and he sees gambling as the main problem. He wants good food, nice clothes, and the chance (there's that word again) for battle. ![]() No sooner does he turn left than he finds himself witnessing a dispute between a farmer and his son, the latter of whom is running away from home so he can "live it up and die young." To hell with "a long life eating gruel," the son says. At the crossroads, he throws a stick up in the air to determine which direction he will go. ![]() If choices are what define a character, then Sanjuro's first one reveals a lot about him because he's content to let chance choose his route.
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