Sanjuro (1962)

Today's movie of the day = Sanjuro. It's a continuing story, albeit not connected, of actor Toshiro Mifune and directed by Akira Kurosawa. You can really see why Clint Eastwood is the way he is in the Dollars trilogy based upon this Ronin character.

While not as good as Yojimbo, there were still plenty of entertaining parts in Sanjuro. Mifune plays his character so will as the brilliant strategic mind but portrayed as more loose when he presents material. He always has a plan and struggles with people who don't follow it as it is usually in their best interest.

This film jumped into the material so quickly that I had a hard time catching up. There is a local chamberlain who a group of local mafia (for lack of a better term) are trying to get to admit to wrongdoing so they can take over. The Ronin happens across a band of hapless Chamberlain supporters who he saves again and again.

I think one of the things about these two films is that there is a sense of humor to them. My comparison to Eastwood is about right as he's serious when he needs to be but can also get a good laugh when he has to roll his eyes at the incompetence surrounding him.

I enjoyed this one. Not as much as Yojimbo but it's still a fun one.

Yes, I will recommend this but only after watching Yojimbo.