It was almost as if in nature, he was bigger than a mere man. He towered above mountains, he even fit with them like a piece in a puzzle. I felt as though that was not only a metaphor for how he was going to fit in the progression of the plot, but also his part in nature. He decided his direction based on the throwing of a stick, whose ultimate path is affected by wind, a natural occurrence. In the scene in the temple, he uses the wind to blow the leaf so that he can bring his skills back up to par before he returns to the town to face the remaining family. I felt as though there was a reoccurring sense that he was “one,” I guess, with nature. In nature, he does fit—he fits with the mountains, the wind shows him where to go and aids in his recovery. In the town, however, the man-made structure, he encounters problems. He faces adversity. He is tested, and although he triumphs, it isn’t always easy. I think that kid of related to the mythical theme that surrounded his character. It reminded me Greek mythology, where they had Gods of the natural world. Not that Sanjuro is necessarily a God in the natural world, but it kind of related like that. How he didn’t quite fit in the man made world, he fit much better in nature.

The presentation of him as a type of mythological God-like being was enhanced by the shots Kurosawa did sometimes from close to ground-level, looking up at Sanjuro. That creates an almost messianic image, where he is so large. It reminded me of Leni Riefenstahl’s Triumph of the Will. She did the same type of imagery with Hitler, taking shots from near ground level to make him look like an almost larger than life figure. I found a picture example from Triumph of the Will.

I just thought that was interesting, mostly because it is so effective. (I can honestly say I never thought I’d be adding a picture of Hitler to my blog.) It is also even more messianic because of the clouds in the background of Hitler. Kind of creepy, right? I found an image of Sanjuro, too, although it’s not the best illustration of what I’m talking about, I thought I’d add it because it’s the best I could find at the moment.

I also saw a lot of similarities between The Glass Key and Yojimbo. Although there was that one huge difference: no Paul. There was a strong relationship between the old man (I suppose the bartender?) and Sanjuro, though. I found that to be the closest Ned/Paul-like relationship in the movie. The scene in which Sanjuro is being beaten up, though, was almost exactly like The Glass Key. The ending was similar in some ways, too—we didn’t see the town being rebuilt, we didn’t see how everyone ended up, or where Sanjuro was going, it just kind of ended.

I think that’s all I have about Yojimbo right now, except that I really did enjoy it. I might think of some more later!

By the way, does anyone know why I’m getting those huge massive gaps after my pictures? I’ve messed around with it but it doesn’t seem to be helping — I might have actually worsened it. Whoops!