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Yojimbo Overview:

Yojimbo (1961) was a Action - Crime Film directed by Akira Kurosawa and produced by Akira Kurosawa and Tomoyuki Tanaka.

Academy Awards 1961 --- Ceremony Number 34 (source: AMPAS)

AwardRecipientResult
Best Costume DesignYoshiro MurakiNominated
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Yojimbo BlogHub Articles:

Yojimbo (1961)

By Beatrice on Nov 27, 2014 From Flickers in Time

Yojimbo Directed by Akira Kurosawa Written by Akira Kurosawa and Ryûsô Kikushima 1961/Japan Kurosawa Production Company/Toho Company Repeat viewing/Criterion Collection DVD This is certainly the most fun film Kurasawa ever made. For all the violence, it just makes me smile. A ronin (masterle... Read full article

Kurosawa Classic: Yojimbo (用心棒)

By Rachel T on Apr 19, 2014 From Sunset Blvd

One of the best aspects of the study of cinema is watching the story of a magnificent art form unfold, and observing a kind of great conversation blossom between filmmakers across the world. In many ways, Yojimbo is the continuation of the classic Hollywood tradition; one need not look too deeply to... Read full article

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Yojimbo Quotes:

No Quote for this film.
Yojimbo Facts
Yojimbo is an uncredited film version of Dashiell Hammett's novel 'Red Harvest', which has yet to be filmed. Red Harvest is about a detective who comes to a small city and sets two sides of a gang war against one another until both gangs are almost completely wiped out. The scenes where Toshirô Mifune's character is held and beaten, however, was taken from Hammett's novel The Glass Key, which has been adapted for the screen twice.
In one scene, the samurai shows incredible skill at knife-throwing by impaling a blowing leaf against a wooden floor. This was accomplished by running the shot backwards. In the frame before the knife hits the leaf, you can see a slit in the leaf the same size and at the exact point where the knife penetrates it a frame later.
Akira Kurosawa told Toshirô Mifune that his character was like a wolf or a dog and told Tatsuya Nakadai that his character was like a snake. Inspired by this direction, Mifune came up with Sanjuro's trademark shoulder twitch, similar to the way a dog or wolf tries to get off fleas.
The massive amount of dust seen in the film being blown about the wind was actually imported by the truckload from an abandoned firing range. When the wind-machines started, it was nearly impossible for the actors to keep their eyes open because they were being engulfed in the dust. When Tatsuya Nakadai 's death scene, shot over the course of three days, with the combination of the fake blood and the blowing dust, made him break out in hives that lasted for weeks after filming.
George Lucas, a known Kurosawa fan, filmed Star Wars: Episode IV - A New Hope under the false name 'Blue Harvest' to maintain secrecy and to make an inside reference to his favorite director, Akira Kurosawa and Dashiell Hammett 's novel.
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