IMDb plot summary: A crafty samurai helps a young man and his fellow clansmen save his uncle, who has been framed and imprisoned by a corrupt superintendent.
Directed by Akira Kurosawa. Starring Toshirô Mifune, Tatsuya Nakadai, Keiju Kobayashi, and Yûzô Kayama.
Watched this as part of the Letterboxd Season Challenge, and it's definitely on par with its predecessor Yojimbo. Toshiro Mifune is wonderful as always, his leisurely character a delightful contrast to the high-energy ones around him. I've been paying closer attention to Kurosawa's framing and composition choices with each one of his movies I've seen, and there were some stunning shots here. With so many characters present in nearly every scene, it would have been easy to make it seem crowded or unruly. But there is beautiful elegance in how the nine samurai especially are arranged around various characters. The movie didn't wow me as a whole like Seven Samurai or Rashomon or Throne of Blood, but I liked it and would recommend it.
3.5 stars.
How it entered my Flickchart:
Sanjuro > Melinda and Melinda
Sanjuro < The Red Violin
Sanjuro > Nothing in Common
Sanjuro > We Need to Talk About Kevin
Sanjuro > Eve's Bayou
Sanjuro < You Can't Take It With You
Sanjuro < Seven Up!
Sanjuro > Before Sunset
Sanjuro > My Date With Drew
Sanjuro < The Great Mouse Detective
Sanjuro < I Heart Huckabees
Final spot: #655 out of 2380.
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