Yojimbo
Sometime in the 19th century, itinerant ronin Kuwabatake Sanjuro, a samurai without a master, arrives in a village where two fighting crime clans call the shots. The leaders of both clans try to pull Sanjuro to their tune. But Sanjuro is not only very skilful with the sword, he also knows how to play the two clans off against each other very inventively. The violent conflict gets further and further out of hand, which is exactly what Sanjuro wants - it is the only way to cleanse the village of all the rabble.
Kurosawa drew inspiration for the story of this masterful action film from John Ford's westerns, but especially from the film noir The Glass Key (1942), which in turn was an adaptation of Dashiell Hammett's novel of the same name. Kurosawa's version proved a great source of inspiration for numerous screenwriters and directors, including Sergio Leone, Walter Hill and Quentin Tarrantino. As in many Kurosawa films, the lead role is played by Toshirô Mifune.
