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Yojimbo & Sanjuro: Two Films by Akira Kurosawa
[Blu-ray 4K]
Blu-ray ALL - United Kingdom - British Film Institute Review written by and copyright: James-Masaki Ryan (23rd March 2025). |
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The Film
 "Yojimbo" 「用心棒」 (1961) A masterless samurai (played by Mifune Toshiro) wanders into a corrupt town in which two gangs are constantly fighting for territory and power. One group is led by Seibei (played by Kawazu Seizaburo) and the other is led by Ushitora (played by Sazanka Kyu), each having dozens of gamblers and thieves working for them at their disposal. As the samurai outsider learns from the local izakaya owner Gonji (played by Tono Eijiro), the only person making a profit is the coffin maker (played by Watanabe Atsushi) as there are constant deaths from the never ending feud. The samurai, who decides on being called Sanjuro sees this as an opportunity to make some easy cash by becoming a bodyguard for either Seibei or Ushitora using his incredibly quick sword skills, and by having the gangs continuously massacre each other to wipe out the bad in the town altogether. But things don’t go according to his plan as there are numerous double crossings and blackmailing, as well as Sanjuro seeing the affect the gangs are having on the other townspeople caught in the crossfire. Kurosawa Akira established his position as Japan’s premiere filmmaker both domestically and internationally, especially with the samurai genre which proved to be his most successful during the 1950s. There were countless other productions for film and television during this time by every Japanese studio that the market was fairly flooded, but Kurosawa’s 1962 feature “Yojimbo” proved there was more blood left in the genre, literally. But there were some risks taken for the production, and there was also mounting pressure from Toho Studios for Kurosawa to produce a hit. His previous feature, "The Bad Sleep Well" from 1960 was the first film produced under the newly established Kurosawa Productions, and it was a box office flop, recouping half of its budget in its theatrical run. Even with critical acclaim, the modern era corporate revenge drama was not something that enticed filmgoers. Kurosawa's samurai films were some of the biggest and most popular during the previous decade, and it seemed like a sure fire way to get audiences to return by making something purely entertaining, yet new and fresh. Writer Kikushima Ryuzo helped write a number of screenplays with Kurosawa, including the gritty noir inspired "Stray Dog" and "The Bad Sleep Well" as well as the samurai films of "Throne of Blood" and "The Hidden Fortress". For "Yojimbo" it was set to have a hard boiled noir inspired main character that was witty yet foul mouthed, violent yet with heart, and likeable even with his flaws. But instead of a suit and a gun for a weapon, it would be a kimono and a katana, set in the Edo period. For the most part, samurai stories had noble men of honor fulfilling their deeds of protecting their lord, but this time it was the polar opposite. The main character was a samurai without a lord, instead wandering from town to town searching for quick easy work in exchange for food, shelter, and booze. There is no backstory for the main character of Sanjuro. He is shown at the start walking without a destination, only randomly arriving at the corrupt town. The audience is never told where he came from or why he is wandering. Even his name that he gives is seemingly not his own, as it literally means “thirty year old man” as he jokes that he is actually closer to forty. The only things that are known are that he is extremely adept with his sword, having both power and speed to cut down any foe, slicing off limbs with ease as seen in his demonstration scene. While he might be disciplined with his weapon, his mannerisms and his attitude are not exactly formal, with his constant irritation and foul language. Mifune’s performance is iconic, taking cues from wild dogs rather than samurai ethics as grunts and scratches himself constantly and looking frustrated. He might have more in common with the dog that he first encounters in the town than any of the people that live there. But he is also intelligent and strategic, being one step ahead of everyone else as he expects to be double crossed and able to manipulate them as well. Although he seems invincible as he is faster and wiser than anyone else in the town, He is not unstoppable as in the latter portion he becomes the target and becomes incapacitated. The town is filled with cartoonish villains. Seibei may seemingly be in power of his gang, but it’s quickly realized that his wife Orin (played by Yamada Isuzu) is pulling many of the strings. This is also apparent when looking at how she treats their son Yoichiro (played by Tachikawa Hiroshi) who is fairly timid compared to his manipulative and powerful parents. Then there are Ushitora’s younger brothers Inokichi (played by Kato Daisuke) and Unosuke (played by Nakadai Tatsuya) who couldn’t be more different than each other. Inokichi is short, stumpy, and unintelligent, though he is powerful. Unosuke is tall and slender, and is seemingly unstoppable as he wields a pistol as his weapon of choice. Other gang members are dirty, gritty, and are the usual brand of evil-doers that are stereotypical con-men with overconfident nastiness that is reminiscent of the yakuza in the modern era. It's fun to see these hordes of gang members, each being far from realistic, and giving a rich flavor to the extras seen throughout the story. But it's obvious that they are all expendable, and when Sanjuro shows off his skills by getting into a fast brawl by immediately killing two men and then slicing off another's arm, it was a genuine shock for audiences at the time as such violence was not at all seen in a samurai film before. Not only that but there are many instances in which stabbings and slicings also came with blood being sprayed out from the victims, something again never seen in the genre. Another technique that was new was the sound effects of the fight scenes. In previous samurai films, there were sounds of swords clashing and sounds of cutting or stabbing, but they usually sounded quite fake. For "Yojimbo", the sound was made to have realism, and this was provided by actually stabbing raw meat with knives to achieve sounds that were never heard before in films. In addition to the innovations of special effects, the film also was a showcase for the cinematography. Miyagawa Kazuo first worked with Kurosawa on "Rashomon" in 1950, which was innovative for its use of camera movements. "Yojimbo" was quite complicated, as it featured multiple cameras shooting at the same time for action scenes, with the cameras being a fair distance away for many of the outdoor scenes using telephoto lenses to capture the image. This meant actors sometimes didn't know where the cameras were or if they were even on screen at the moment. Cameras would still have to shift focus, shift angles to capture the action, and even with well choreographed performers, there were portions in which characters might be slightly off screen or shifted due to movements. It was not exactly documentary like, but there are some examples of shots that feel closer to improvisation rather than completely planned. But not all were telephoto shots. There are some excellent closeup shots especially indoors, and the framing for the indoor scenes are very calculated with who is positioned where and movements of characters being followed. Visually the film utilizes the 2.35:1 widescreen aspect ratio incredibly well, with crowded shots of gangs filling the screen, or with intimate shots of characters' faces filling the frame. The music is also quite different from what people expected of samurai films. Composer Sato Masaru was inspired more from Hollywood and especially the works of Henry Mancini, and the score features horns and strings which were not particularly fitting to the time period of 1860s Japan. Yet the iconic booming score and the theme for Sanjuro are iconic, with the film being empty without the music cues. Being a Toho distributed feature, it made sense that most of the cast and crew were Toho contract workers and a number of them had worked with Kurosawa previously. (There were some such as Miyagawa who was contracted with Daiei, was on special loan from the company to work on the film.) Actors such as Mifune, Yamada, Sazanka and Kato all worked with Kurosawa before, and there were other noted appearances such as Shimura Takashi and Tsuchiya Yoshio who were familiar faces for Kurosawa fans. A notable actor making his first official screen credit for Kurosawa was Nakadai as the gun toting rival villain Unosuke. Nakadai was already an established actor at this point in his career, but it was not the first time he worked for Kurosawa, technically. He made an appearance as a background extra in "Seven Samurai", but was uncredited. His performance is an incredibly exaggerated one, as are all the villains, with more emphasis on vain than power. His white pale makeup and modern looking scarf made him stand out from the other gang members, and his confidence through his evil looking smile was unforgettable. It's no wonder that Nakadai became a Kurosawa regular from this film forward. One of the most notable supporting villains is the character of Kannuki, the towering giant that wields a massive mallet in the noon battle. He was played by Zhuo Yiyue, better known as Rashomon Tsunagoro, a professional wrestler from Taiwan who stood just over two meters tall. Born in Taiwan in 1920, he came to Japan in 1940 and became a sumo wrestler. Following the end of World War II, he moved into the world of Japanese pro-wrestling. He was cast in several television shows and films due to his unique look as well as his fluency in Japanese since he learned the language at an early age while Taiwan was occupied by Japan, he was notably on the live action “Astro Boy” TV series playing the character of Franken in 1959, and played small role in Oshima Nagisa’s 1960 film “The Sun’s Burial”. His stage name might have shared the same name as Kurosawa’s breakthrough 1950 film “Rashomon”, but it is only just a coincidence as he adopted the name during his sumo days long before the film itself was made. He also made small appearances in international films with the Hollywood production “The Geisha Boy” in 1958 and in the French film “O.S.S. 117 - Mision to Tokyo” in 1966. The same year, during the taping of the comedy show “Tenamonya sandogasa”, there was a sketch in which he was to throw five men playing thieves, but due to the small set he fell off the stage, which broke his left ankle. Due to his age and his build, his road to recovery was extremely slow resulting in pain for years down the line. In 1976, he returned to Taiwan and taught at a martial arts school, but his whereabouts after that are unknown. If he is still alive today, he would be 125 years old. To namecheck each and every cast and crew member would take much too long, but there are many stories to be told and have been told about the making of the film. What is quite impressive and is absolutely impossible to do these days is the fast pace it took from production to screen. The production started shooting in January with a scheduled theatrical release for April. The production began on January 14th, 1961 and completed on April 16th, 1961, less than ten days before the film's scheduled theatrical release. During the shooting, it was simultaneously being edited. Following the filming, post production time was also used for ADR and sound editing, and the film was completed and released theatrically on April 25th, 1961, a mere eleven days after the last day of shooting. The production's budget was 90 million yen. "Yojimbo" became a smash hit, breaking box office records and grossing more than 350 million yen theatrically, which was Kurosawa's highest grossing film at that point. It had its first international screening at the Venice Film Festival in August that year, with Mifune winning the Best Actor prize there. It had its American premiere in September of that year, and other international releases followed. Mifune was awarded Best Actor at the Kinema Jumpo Awards and the Blue Ribbon Awards in Japan, and the film had nominations for an Academy Award for Best Costume Design. Kinema Jumpo also ranked it at #2 for the best Japanese films of 1961. But the film went far and beyond just audience and critical success. It almost singlehandedly kickstarted an entire genre of films - the Spaghetti Western. Filmmaker Sergio Leone saw "Yojimbo" and was so heavily inspired by the story that he wrote and directed a film about a wandering gunslinger caught in the middle of a gangland battle in the old west. 1964's "A Fistful of Dollars" became a massive hit worldwide and catapulted American actor Clint Eastwood into stardom. But Kurosawa and Toho saw that it was not just an inspiration, but almost entirely a copy of the story of "Yojimbo". While Kurosawa stated to Leone that he liked the film, he did felt that credit was not given. A settlement was made that Toho, Kurosawa and Kikushima would receive 15% of the film's worldwide royalties and 100% of the film's grosses in Japan, South Korea, and Taiwan. Kurosawa stated that even though "Yojimbo" was his most financially successful film at the time, he made more money from Leone's film than from "Yojimbo". As the Italian produced western film saw massive financial success, the brutal western had its own copycats and inspirations, with hundreds of westerns produced the next decade onward. It was not just Italian westerns, but countless other productions in film and television saw its influence. The ronin samurai and outlaw samurai genre started to flood the Japanese theaters and television screens. Cartoonish villains in samurai features and in other genres were prevalent everywhere. The theme of a hero that gets brutaly defeated and later returns to defeat the enemy that took him down can be seen in everything from "Rocky to "The Dark Knight Rises". Kurosawa already directed the most influential action film with "Seven Samurai", but "Yojimbo" may be just as close in its influence and innovation. Not only is it technically a masterpiece of bloody violence and humor, it is also incredibly enjoyable and ranks as one of the best of the genre that gets better on repeated viewings. "Sanjuro" 「椿三十郎」 (1962) A group of nine young samurai men gather at a temple to discuss an unusual circumstance surrounding the lord chamberlain Mutsuta (played by Ito Yunosuke). One of the samurai, Izaka Iori (played by Kayama Yuzo) is in a relationship with the chamberlain's daughter Chidori (played by Dan Reiko) and is distraught that the chamberlain may be corrupt so he informs about it to superintendent Kikui (played by Shimizu Masao and his men. Their discussion is overheard by Sanjuro (played by Mifune Toshiro) who was sleeping in the next room. He tells the young men that something seems fishy about their details and he is convinced that the superintendent is the corrupt one, rather than the chamberlain. His assessment turns out to be correct as the temple gets surrounded by the superintendent's men who are ready to capture or kill the rogue nine samurai. Sanjuro helps the men hide while he shoos the oncoming samurai away with his brute strength and nasty wit, making it seem like the clan made a mistake. Rather than leaving the seemingly untrained and confused young samurai alone, Sanjuro decides to help them find the chamberlain and to take down the corrupt individuals. Following the massive success that was "Yojimbo", Toho urged Kurosawa for a sequel. He was writing a screen adaptation for Yamamoto Shugoro's novel "Peaceful Days", but he was not planning to direct it himself. The story about a group of young samurai who are not skilled with their swords use their wits instead, the screenplay was rewritten to include the character of Sanjuro, with Kikushima Ryuzo who co-wrote "Yojimbo" and Oguni Hideo who co-wrote a number of other scripts with Kurosawa. The story's setting and structure were completely different from the previous film, having a simple good vs. corrupt and without any major twists or turns. It didn't have the grittiness of "Yojimbo" but instead leaned more on humor. The only consistency was the character of Sanjuro. But with so many differences, how did it become an even bigger hit than the previous film? Kurosawa Productions had a limited schedule for "Sanjuro". Following the release of "Yojimbo" in April 1961, Toho scheduled the sequel film to be their big New Year's release on January 1st, 1962. Instead of creating a new story for the character, Kurosawa decided to use an existing unfinished script and incorporating the lone swordsman for the new story, with approval from the original author. "Sanjuro" starts with a convoluted and somewhat confusing scene with nine men discussing what had gone down with their trusted chamberlain. Since it is done entirely through dialogue in quick succession, most viewers might be baffled by trying to focus on the details as well as being suddenly introduced to nine men, which for the most part are fairly interchangeable without much discerning personalities. But just at the perfect timing, Sanjuro appears from the shadows of the adjacent room and his thoughts are placing better, simpler focus on the story. The nine men are being entrapped. The superintendent is the corrupt one. Sanjuro needs to use his skills to help the young men as they are totally incapable. While "Yojimbo" had many humorous moments, "Sanjuro" takes the laughs up a notch. Gone are the bloody battles, the severed limbs and the cartoonish villains. Instead there are slapstick moments such as with the "caterpillar" scene or the prisoner in the closet, which are well done and funny, but quite a different tone from the previous film. Even the first battle is quite different, with Sanjuro mostly pushing the hordes of samurai around and not pulling his sword out of its sheath. It is more about Sanjuro outwitting the enemy and being one step ahead of everyone else. In this case, he becomes a leader but his foul mouth and manners are still as grumpy and dirty as he was before. Mifune does a fantastic job replaying the character in a new scenario, but in some ways it feels like he stepped into the wrong movie. His character is unlike any of the characters seen in the film, and even the one character he sees as a rival is not quite the cartoonish villain as expected. Muroto Hanbei (played by Nakadai Tatsuya) is the powerful and stoic samurai who works under the superintendent and is not shy to reveal that he knows what he is doing is evil. Nakadai also played the rival villain in "Yojimbo", but he is a completely different character here, instead never cracking a smile, his face darkened with makeup and being less flamboyant. Compared to the film's humorous tone, he is the one character that is on the scarier side. Nakadai is excellent as always bringing a unique character to the screen in comparison to most of the bad guys or good guys in the film which are fairly bland. Many actors from the first film return in the sequel but as different characters. In addition to Nakadai, Shimura Takashi, Tsuchiya Yoshio and a few others play entirely different roles from the previous film and most may not notice them to be the same actors due to their appearances. For the nine young samurai, there are Izaka who is the leader, along with Morishima Hayato (older brother), Kawahara, Hirose, Hokawa, Sekiguchi, Terada, Hatta, and Morishima Hironoshin (younger brother) (played by Kubo Akira, Tachikawa Hiroshi, Tsuchiya Yoshio, Tanaka Kunie, Ehara Tatsuyoshi, Hirata Akihito, Matsui Kenzo, and Namisato Tatsuhiko). Izaka is the one with the most personality shown, such as his relationship with the chamberlain, but as for the rest of the samurai, they are interchangeable without too much to be found. It's never shown if they are adept with their swords, about their backgrounds, though at one point their divided stance as whether to trust Sanjuro or not becomes a setback for their plans. While in "Seven Samurai" Kurosawa was able to give each and every character a distinction, it might seem like a flaw that the main good guys would not in this film. But Kurosawa saw them as a single entity rather than nine individuals, and if they were given backstories it would not have made the story move in the right direction, which was a fast paced tale of humor and action. There were some production issues due to the young actors who were not particularly disciplined, as they would arrive to rehearsals without preparation, would sneak out to eat ramen without telling the crew, and not being adept with their lines or their weapons. It was said that Kurosawa and Mifune were quite tough on them, and in the scene where Mifune slaps the samurai for disrupting his plans, those were real slaps towards the actors that really knocked all of them down, as it was unscripted. Kayama was a newcomer to the Kurosawa crew, though he was already a major superstar in the entertainment world at 24 years old. He made a splash as the lead character in the sports themed "Wakadaisho" film series from 1961 with sixteen features until 1971. He was also an accomplished singer and musician with numerous hit singles and albums. In addition to that, he was a mainstay on television and continued to be a presence in the entertainment industry for decades onward, even to this day at the age of 87. He has contributed to video games (being a massive gamer and fan of the Final Fantasy series and the Resident Evil series) and has been a cultural icon for generations. He would work with Kurosawa one more time in a strong performance in "Red Beard" in 1965. As for the women in the story, the characters of Chidori and her mother (played by Irie Takako) are quite oblivious to the entire situation that the men are going through. Their characters are not at all concerned about the panic, and are a sharp contrast that fuels Sanjuro's frustrations for comedy. But at the same time they also give a sense of humanity to Sanjuro who nicely tell him that his sword wielding ways are not particularly just. There is also the captured samurai Kimura (played by Kobayashi Keiju) who makes a memorable appearance and changes alliances due to both the niceness of Chidori and her mother and his overhearing of the other samurais' discussions, all while being in the closet most of the time. It is not just the humor that is different but the look of the film as well. The cinematography by Koizumi Fukuzo and Saito Takao is much more controlled and geometrical in composition, as they frequently have to have numerous characters on screen at once, including more than ten at a time. Camera movement is fairly restricted and there are no scenes of telephoto lenses like "Yojimbo" had. It feels fairly conventional, yet it all works incredibly well. Music is again handled by Sato Masaru, and the Sanjuro theme is repeated as well. The most discussed moment of the film is the final duel between Sanjuro and Murata, which is a stark difference from the action packed final battle in the previous film, which had choreographed action between dozens of characters, and multiple cameras shooting the scenes with telephoto lenses. For the final battle in "Sanjuro" it is a static geometrically composed single shot which is held for over a minute, with the duel itself being incredibly fast. While it is an incredibly impressive moment which the tension is undeniable, the terror and the violence does feel very out of place with the rest of the film. It does connect the Sanjuro character with the bloodiness of the first film, but it feels like this should have been the true ending to "Yojimbo" rather than "Sanjuro". The production started shooting on the Toho lot on September 25th, 1961 and the final scene to be shot was the final duel on location on December 20th, less than two weeks before the film's scheduled release. The final days were used for ADR and sound effects plus final editing, and the film was released as scheduled on the first day of January, 1962 where it broke Japanese box office records again. Grossing 450 million yen theatrically, it was an even bigger hit than "Yojimbo" and became Kurosawa's most successful film to date. Although it was well received, it was not a major awards winner, with only Nakadai receiving a Best Actor award from Kinema Jumpo, shared with his iconic performance in "Harakiri". In comparison to "Yojmibo" it lacks the originality and the tension, but "Sanjuro" is still a fun and well made feature overall. It is not prime Kurosawa in creativity but it certainly is one of the director's most enjoyable works, and has grown in stature over time. While "Yojimbo" had a number of unofficial remakes and parodies over the years, "Sanjuro" received an official remake in 2007 as "Tsubaki Sanjuro" with superstar Oda Yuji in the lead. The film was extremely faithful to the original film and it was planned to be the start of a new series of films with the character, starting with the retelling of "Sanjuro" and then leading into a remake of "Yojimbo". Unfortunately the film was not a hit and plans for the film series was scrapped. While the remake has largely been forgotten about, the original continues to find new fans and some even preferring it over "Yojimbo". Yes, it has its flaws, but it is an incredibly enjoyable experience even all these years later. Mifune did not return to the Sanjuro character but there have been similar roles in his later filmography. 1970's "Zatoichi Meets Yojimbo" takes the yojimbo theme but he is not exactly the same character. This also goes for "Incident at Blood Pass" and "Red Sun" as well, with similarities. "Yojimbo" and "Sanjuro" were previously released by the BFI on the DVD format in 2000 and 2003 respectively. The BFI issued them on Blu-ray in 2014 as part of the "Akira Kurosawa Samurai Collection" with "Seven Samurai", "Throne of Blood", and "The Hidden Fortress". Now with 4K restorations, they have released the two films on the Blu-ray format with new transfers, along with this 4K UltraHD set with new transfers and new extras. Note this is a region ALL 4K UltraHD set
Video
The BFI presents both films in the original 2.35:1 aspect ratio in 2160p HEVC with HDR10/Dolby Vision grading. Both films were restored in 4K resolution by Toho from the original camera negatives. As both films were massive hits in their theatrical runs and have been transferred to home video numerous times over the years, the negatives for both films while completely intact and preserved had some wear and tear such as damaged edges of frames, scratches, and others. For very damaged frames, master positive elements were used for reference for the digital restorations. Though the master positive elements used were three generations away from the original negative as a direct master positive or internegative were not preserved. Once the negatives and master positives were scanned in 4K resolution, the image data was digitally cleaned, removing scratches, speckles, and other damage marks, stabilizing the image to fix warping, balance the color grading of the grey levels, and restoring any missing frames or heavily damaged frames with elements from the master positives to correct any other issues. Two teams worked simultaneously on each film for two to three months, completing the restoration work in 2018. Both features look absolutely exceptional. Detail is very strong with everything from the wardrobes to the backgrounds looking pin sharp. The black and white image has wonderful greyscale, and note that the Dolby Vision grading is exclusive to this BFI release. There are no instances of flickering to be found and there are no signs of damage to speak of while film grain is left intact for a natural filmic image. There was some criticism with Toho's initial Blu-ray releases of Kurosawa's films with the black and white contrast as well as the digital cleaning making the image look too clean by scrubbing away much of the original grain, but the new 4K transfers have done the films justice. Absolutely a fantastic restoration by the Toho restoration team and a great job with the transfers by the BFI. The runtimes are as follows: - "Yojimbo" (110:30) - "Sanjuro" (95:34)
Audio
Japanese DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1* Japanese LPCM 1.0 Both films have two options with a lossless 5.1* track and an uncompressed 1.0 mono track. The 5.1 has an asterisk as it is not a true 5.1 track, but a 3.0 track as only the left, front, and center speakers are used while the surrounds and subwoofer are silent. Both films were originally released theatrically with "Perspecta Stereophonic Sound" for accommodating theaters. This was a process developed in 1954 which would electronically spread a single audio track into a three separate channels using a Perspecta integrator. For theaters that did not have the capability, it would run the single channel as standard mono audio. Kurosawa first used the process for 1958's "The Hidden Fortress". Hollywood studios used Perspecta for only a handful of features from 1954 to 1958 as it was not widely adopted by cinemas, which for the most part were still only equipped for mono audio. Toho was the lone Japanese studio to use Perspecta starting with 1957's "The Mysterians" and it was mostly used with their kaiju and science fiction features, as well as for Kurosawa who was experimenting with sound design. "Sanjuro" was the last true Perspecta mixed feature, as from the following year with "High and Low", Kurosawa used discreet surround audio. For the restoration, the original mono audio was converted to WAV files and digitally restored from the original negatives. To properly create a Perspecta track, Toho discovered the only known functioning Perspecta integrator in Japan in their vaults. With the previous DVD and Blu-ray releases that featured the 3.0 track, the original mono was digitally converted to Perspecta through software. But for the 4K restoration they took the analog step by running the restored original mono track through the vintage integrator to faithfully recreate the original theatrical experience. The Perspecta mixes for the films are well utilized for music cues which have some breathing room. The iconic music cues are well balanced against the dialogue and effects throughout, with all of Mifune's grunts, sword slashes, destruction heard as clear as it can. There are some limitations due to the original sound recordings inherent, though they are well preserved with no signs of damage such as hiss or crackle. The mono tracks are also excellent and are equally clean and clear as can be. There is one moment of dropout though, in "Sanjuro" for the Perspecta track. For the final five seconds of the film as it turns to black and has "The End" on screen, the final music note abruptly cuts off to silence. The mono track is unaffected and plays the soundtrack cue to the very end. There are optional English subtitles for both films in a white font which are well timed, easy to read, and without errors.
Extras
Note that this is a 2-disc 4K UHD set with "Yojimbo" and its extras on DISC ONE and "Sanjuro" and its extras on DISC TWO. DISC ONE "Yojimbo" Audio commentary by Philip Kemp (2000) This commentary by film critic and historian Philip Kemp has a lot of good information, as he discusses how Kurosawa changed the samurai mythos with the Sanjuro characcter, the state of Japan during the 1860s when the film takes place as well as the country in the 1960s and the parallels, Kurosawa's critique of the government and distrust of the yakuza, the camera work of Miyagawwa, and much more. Unfortunately Kemp only talks about half of the film's runtime as he sporadically speaks during the 110 minutes, with many lengthy gaps in between, sometimes lasting ten minutes or more. This may have been better as a screen-specific commentary and having the accompanying scenes encoded as a separate title rather than an alternate audio track over the film. Or to have another commentator to fill in the gaps. (Maybe I should make an effort to do one someday...) Note this was originally available on the BFI's 2000 DVD release of the film. in English Dolby Digital 2.0 without subtitles "Sword for Hire" 2025 interview with Jasper Sharp (25:14) This new and exclusive interview with critic Jasper Sharp has him discussing Kurosawa's career at the time of the two films, the creation of the films, notable aspects of the Sanjuro character, the political context, the differences between the two films stylistically, the shocking ending of the second film, Kurosawa's career following the two films and more. A lot of great information is covered here though it should also be noted that there are spoilers for both films to be seen and heard. in 1080p AVC MPEG-4, in 1.78:1 / 2.35:1, in English Dolby Digital 2.0 without subtitles "Akira Kurosawa: It Is Wonderful to Create - Yojimbo" 2002 documentary (44:36) Celebrating the works of Kurosawa for release on DVD in Japan in 2002 and 2003, Toho produced the "It Is Wonderful to Create" documentary series, with each documentary focusing on each film made for Toho Studios. Featuring interviews from various cast and crew members, many great stories about the production of "Yojimbo" is uncovered, such as the technical difficulties with multi-camera setups with telephoto lenses capturing the action, the expensive fake limbs made for the film, the use of stabbing meat to create the slashing and stabbing sounds, the 30 million yen outdoor set construction, the wardrobes and characterizations for the main cast, and much more. As stated, this was originally available on Toho's 2002 DVD release of the film. in 1080i60 HEVC, in 1.33:1 / windowboxed 2.35:1, in Japanese Dolby Digital 2.0 with optional English subtitles Image Gallery (2:42) An automated slideshow gallery of promotional stills and behind the scenes stills in black and white. in 2160p HEVC Original Japanese Theatrical Trailer (2:36) The original trailer is presented here and has some unique shots from screen tests as well as some iconic moments from the final feature. It looks very sharp though scratches and speckles can be found, with a bit of hiss in the audio. It has been embedded below, courtesy of The Criterion Collection. in 1080p AVC MPEG-4, in 2.35:1, in Japanese Dolby Digital 1.0 with optional English subtitles DISC TWO "Sanjuro" Audio commentary with Japanese-Australian filmmaker Kenta McGrath (2025) This new and exclusive commentary with McGrath is another great one from the filmmaker, as he discusses about the major differences between the first film and the sequel stylistically, background information on the various actors, differences between the original novel and the film, the class structure, the geometrical and classical compositions in framing, and much more. Like his commentary for the BFI's "Stray Dog" Blu-ray, he is very well prepared and has a great deal to discuss. in English Dolby Digital 2.0 without subtitles "Out of the Dust and into the Koi Pond" 2025 visual essay by Nic Wassell (17:30) This new and exclusive extra by Wassell has discussions about the use of nature in the two films, such as the windy dust in the town in the first film and the symbolism of the camellias in the second, as well as talks on the cinematography and more. This is illustrated with various clips from both films. in 1080p AVC MPEG-4, in 2.35:1, in English Dolby Digital 2.0 without subtitles "Akira Kurosawa: It Is Wonderful to Create - Sanjuro" 2002 documentary (34:45) This is another great entry of the documentary series, here focusing on the sequel film. Discussed from various cast and crew members are about Toho's demand for a sequel due to "Yojimbo" being a massive box office hit, the rewriting process of adapting "Peaceful Days" and incorporating the Sanjuro character, about the nine samurai and their experiences on set including the "real" slapping scene", the technical difficulty of not being able to use color for the red camellias, the background behind the shocking final duel sequence, and much more. Note this was originally available on Toho's 2002 DVD release of the film. in 1080i60 HEVC, in 1.33:1 / windowboxed 2.35:1, in Japanese Dolby Digital 2.0 with optional English subtitles Introduction to Sanjuro by filmmaker Alex Cox (2003) (5:13) Filmmaker Alex Cox discusses with spoilers about the film, such as the differences between the previous film and the second, about the actors, and the final duel. Note this was originally available on the BFI's 2003 DVD release of the film. in 1080i60 HEVC, in 1.78;1, in English Dolby Digital 2.0 without subtitles "Alex Cox on Akira Kurosawa" 2003 interview (9:11) This is the second part of Cox's interview, focusing here on the filmmaker himself. He discusses Kurosawa's youth, his entrance to Toho, his relationships with Shimura and Mifune, his international breakthrough with "Rashomon" and his continued success domestically and internationally, and more. Note this was originally available on the BFI's 2003 DVD release of the film. in 1080i60 HEVC, in 1.78;1, in English Dolby Digital 2.0 without subtitles Image Gallery (3:12) An automated slideshow gallery of promotional stills and behind the scenes stills in black and white. in 2160p HEVC Original Japanese Theatrical Trailer (2:31) The original trailer is presented here, which like the previous film’s looks very sharp though scratches and speckles can be found, with a bit of hiss in the audio. There is also some behind the scenes footage shown at the beginning and end with Kurosawa at work. It has been embedded below, courtesy of The Criterion Collection. in 1080p AVC MPEG-4, in 2.35:1, in Japanese Dolby Digital 1.0 with optional English subtitles Booklet A 28 page booklet is included with the first pressing. First is the essay "A Sword without a Shealth: Yojimbo and Sanjuro" by writer Hayley Scanlon that looks at the themes of both features. This is followed by vintage writing, with two excerpts from "Kurosawa on Kurosawa", written by the director and edited and translated by Donald Ritchie, focusing on "Yojimbo" and "Sanjuro", and also a review of "Yojimbo" from Monthly Film Bulletin from 1970, written by John Gillet and a review of "Sanjuro" from Monthly Film Bulletin from 1971 written by Nigel Andrews. There are also full film credits for both features, special features information, transfer information, acknowledgements, and stills. Both films received 4K UltraHD releases in Japan by Toho in 2023. "Yojimbo" had exclusive long unseen behind the scenes footage, a stills gallery, and the theatrical trailer as extras. "Sanjuro" had a stills gallery and the theatrical trailer as extras. Note that the documentaries produced by Toho for the DVD editions were conspicuously missing from the 4K releases, as well as the Blu-ray releases. In the US, The Criterion Collection recently issued both films in a 4-disc set, with two 4K UltraHD discs and two standard Blu-ray discs. Like most of Criterion's 4K upgrades, the Blu-ray copies are just a repackaging of the previously issued discs. Exclusive to the Criterion releases are commentaries from the late Stephen Price on both films and teaser trailers for both films. Sharing extras from the BFI are the Toho documentaries, the original trailers, and photo galleries, though there are some differing image content to be found. Also note that the Toho and Criterion releases of the films in 4K use SDR grading. The HDR10/Dolby Vision grading by the BFI is exclusive to the BFI 4K releases. Other notable clips: Nakadai in conversation with Japanese film historian and professor Aaron Gerow, discussing shooting "Sanjuro" Theatrical trailer for "Zatoichi Meets Yojimbo" (1970) Kurosawa receiving an honorary Oscar at the 1990 Academy Awards Location of the opening credits shot of "Yojimnbo", courtesy of KEN O Location of the opening temple in "Sanjuro", courtesy KEN O Location of the final duel in "Sanjuro", courtesy KEN O Trailer for "A Fistful of Dollars" (1964) Trailer for "Last Man Standing" (1996) A commercial for the Panasonic Dream DVD-A300, Panasonic's first commercial DVD player from 1996, featuring Kurosawa Trailer for the 2007 remake of "Sanjuro"
Overall
"Yojimbo & Sanjuro: Two Films by Akira Kurosawa" is a fantastic set of the director's iconic films featuring the grumpy and violent Sanjuro character, brilliantly played by Mifune. The BFI has given both films excellent transfers from the 4K restorations by Toho, with both new and vintage extras that are of excellent quality. Though note there is the small issue with one of the audio tracks of Sanjuro dropping out at the end. The release still comes as highly recommended. BFI Shop Link (4K UltraHD set) Amazon Link (4K UltraHD set) BFI Shop Link (Blu-ray set) Amazon Link (Blu-ray set)
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