Sanjuro

Director Kurosawa takes a lighthearted turn in this sequel to Yojimbo. Toshiro Mifune is back as a Japanese Clint Eastwood: a lone samurai roaming from town to town, working for the highest bidder. This time he helps out some young, inexperienced warriors embroiled in a feud. This movie lacks the seriousness or intensity of many of Kurosawa’s other works. Even his movies with humorous elements, like The Hidden Fortress, are essentially serious. So it’s refreshing to see the movie poke fun at the samurai genre. Mifune, as usual, turns in a good performance as a cynical, lazy samurai.