“I'll get paid for killing, and this town is full of people who deserve to die.”
Welcome to Harbour Highlights, a series of cult and classic films, all handpicked by the staff of Harbour Lights – and one which began with a young film fan’s request for us to screen some Akira Kurosawa films. Six years and fifty-nine screenings later, Duty Manager Trev brings us full circle with a screening of the director’s 1961 classic, Yojimbo,
Kurosawa’s regular collaborated Toshiro Mifune stars as Sanjuro, a wandering ronin and master swordsman who comes across a small town rule by competing crime lords. Sensing Sanjuro’s skill and potential, each tries to hire him as a bodyguard, leading to escalating violence as Sanjuro seeks a way to allow the townspeople to live in peace.
Inspired by 1942’s film noir classic The Glass Key, the film would itself inspire another iconic movie character when it was unofficially remade as A Fistful of Dollars, launching Clint Eastwood’s The Man with No Name trilogy. But Yojimbo stands as a classic in its own right, a samurai saga from the master of the genre with both Kurosawa and Mifune at the top of their games. Don’t miss the chance to see one of the greatest films from one of the greatest filmmaker’s of all time on the big screen.
