What Most people don't realize is, both films are set in at almost same time period. Yojimbo is set in 1860's, Which was the Final years of Edo Period of Japan. Fistful of Dollars is set in the same time period as "The Good, the Bad and the Ugly" which is set in American Civil War 1861-1865. That's why the Yojimbo villain was able to have a Revolver.
How do you know Fist Full of Dollars took place in the 1860s? Good Bad And The Ugly makes sense as you pointed out the Civil War date Yojimbo because of the revolver, but you don't really give an explanation how you concluded that Fist Full Of Dollars took place the same time period. Actually a date on a gravestone in the cemetery indicates the year to be at least 1873.
"Only The Good, the Bad and the Ugly" is set in 1860`s, you can see this by the weapons they are using in the film, the lever action rifles and revolvers are from 1870`s, when in the third part of trilogy you can spot an older black powder models of revolvers and old flintlock rifles
See when you say stuff like that, it's in a very nice and informative video essay. When I say it, I'm Charlie Day with the Peppy Sylvia wall and talking like a gremlin
What Most people don't realize is, both films are set in at almost same time period. Fistful of Dollars is set in the same time period as "The Good, the Bad and the Ugly" which is set in American Civil War 1861-1865. Yojimbo is set in 1860's, Which was the Final years of Edo Period of Japan. That's why the Yojimbo villain was able to have a Revolver.
I watched Yojimbo for the first time last night, and one of my favorite parts of it were that the lone samurai just picked up a stick, threw it up, and went where it told him to go. By the end he just leaves, and this gave me such a refreshing suggestion of how this was one of many adventures he’d been on, one of many he would go on. It alludes to that if he went the other way, he’d have a COMPLETELY DIFFERENT story he’d stumble upon. His fighting style and personality suit this perfectly as well and I just love that. In many movies and stories in general, there’s always this sense that the hero will ONLY have that ONE adventure in their life to look back on, that one story where they saved the world. The original Star Wars made me feel this way especially, like Luke’s only major adventure took place in that span of time, and though he’d come back for the newer films he hadn’t really done much up to that point. He hadn’t gone on any other major adventures, or met people that he didn’t already have some affiliation with OTHER THAN the newer cast that stars in the new movies. This has always made me feel often sad for these hero’s, like you get the sense that they’re not really gonna get any other significant adventures... and that’s something I found so refreshing about Yojimbo. Which now sounds pretty silly being that it came out YEARS before I was even born, only after the 17 years of my life have I now seen it. Either way, I really want to create a story that has that same feeling... though I just now love this movie for thousands of other reasons and WHY DIDN’T I WATCH THIS FOR SO LONG?!?
Walter Hill did his own version of this story with 'Last Man Standing' back in the 90's. It stars Bruce Willis as John Smith, a mysterious gunman that drives into a border town and gets caught between Irish and Italian bootleggers during prohibition. It's not bad, well worth a watch.
As a kid, when these movies came out, the so called critics were trashing the movies and actors. I was stunned by them. Eventually, the foolish critics had to eat crow. Would liked to seen clint Eastwood stay another few months and complete the 4th movie for Sergio Leone. Would have been, Glorious!!!
I cannot describe in words how much I love both this movies. Movies like this simply cannot be made today. These movies were an expression of pure love of cinema.
I’m definitely going to have to rewatch Yojimbo soon. Between this video and Ghosts of Tsushima, I’m feeling the love for Kurosawa. As always great video, glad to see you covering more films!
@GiRayne The romanticization of samurai in Ghost of Tsushima in intentional. By the end of the game, Jin, the protagonist, sees past the romantization and sees the samurai for who they truly are in his universe: power-hungry members of the upper class who actively work to keep the peasants at bay.
This was a fantastic exploration of two great film makers! If he has not yet, I hope he explores the similarities between Kurosawa's The Hidden Fortress and the first Star Wars.
Definitely recommend these movies, along with the following below 👍(All of these are a mix of oldies and modern flicks) ((Also added others from everyone's lovely suggestions in the comments :D -Samurai Films- 13 Assassins Harakiri (Both the original & remake is good, but in different tones) Three Outlaw Samurai Seven Samurai Blade Of The Immortal Lone Wolf & Cub Series The Zatoichi Series The Hidden Fortress Samurai Rebellion -Western Films- Seraphim Falls Unforgiven A Few Dollars More Shane 3:10 To Yuma Once Upon A Time In The West The Outlaw Josey Wales Free State Of Jones The Good The Bad And The Ugly Tombstone Rio Bravo The Searchers The Magnificent Seven (Both are good 🙏) There's some other titles I've probably forgotten, but these are the first that came to mind 👌
Saw the original Harakiri for the first time this year. Magnificent. I'd add Samurai Rebellion to your samurai list, as well as Rio Bravo and The Searchers to the Western-list.
If you can measure any filmmaker's success by his influence, Kurosawa should probably be in the top 10. Think about it: No Kurosawa = No Spaghetti westerns No Kurosawa = No hundreds if not thousands of movies inspired by Seven Samurai or Rashomon No Kurosawa = No Star Wars
@@johncarl5505 op say "SPAGHETTI WESTERNS" totally different subgenre of westerns from what you are generalising, so your replies are BS, spaghetti westerns are not the same as bog standard westerns, spaghetti westerns are the evolution of westerns resulting from kurosawas influence, therefore op is in fact correct
Has anyone seen "Red Sun"? It was a 1971 western starring Toshiro Mifune and Charles Bronson in which a Japanese Samurai travels to the old west and joins forces with Bronson the gunslinger to take on the bad guys.
Excellent video, Matt! I’ve never seen these movies. But they seem like they are timeless classics. I’ve always wanted to watch at least one classic western, and this video might just be the push I needed. Great timing too! With Ghost of Tsushima recently coming out. Any interest in playing that game?
Thanks, Diego! You should definitely check them out, I think you'd dig them. For a Few Dollars More and The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly are also awesome. I'm definitely interested in Ghost of Tsushima. That game coming out and Morricone passing away were what pushed me to make this video after having the topic in mind for awhile.
Diego I implore you to check out Akira Kurosawa's catalog you won't be disappointed, and when you are done check out all of the Zatoichi The Blind Swordsman movies again you won't be disappointed.
I'm surprised people seem surprised by this. I've known about this for over a decade, and no doubt there's some old man somewhere who's known about it since day one. I didn't really go to film school, but guaranteed, if you go, they will teach you about it. Unless they're negligent, I guess.
As much as I love Kurosawa, I am glad to see you provided the original influences, hardboiled novelist Dashiell Hammett's "Red Harvest" and to a lesser extent "The Glass Key" (which is also what Coen Bros' Miller's Crossing is based on). Red Harvest was basically one of Hammett's stories starring the nameless "The Continental Op", a lone operative of the Continental Detective Agency, who took care of his missions with cold, ruthless efficiency without any emotional attachments. You can see that template in both the characters of Sanjuro, as well as The Man with No Name. I highly recommend reading this genre of American crime thrillers to any Samurai and Western fans, specifically novels by Dashiell Hammett and then moving onto Raymond Chandler and Ross Macdonald who took the genre to artistic heights.
Mifunes walking style and shoulder movement are based on the way a wolf walks, Kurosawa told him to walk like a lone wolf when they were making Yojimbo.
Dude, have you ever read Red Harvest? Kurosawa swiped it. Lock, stock and barrel. Right down to the moral ambiguity of the protagonist (who was based on Hammett in real life, when he worked for the Pinkerton Detective Agency). Which is why his lawsuit of Leone was so repulsive. Kurosawa got paid for something he stole from Dashiell Hammett to begin with.
Really . Considering he did 7 samurai yojimbo n sangrio then the yanks nicked it and turned them into magnificent 7 a fist full of dollars n for a few dollars more. Now shut up dumbarse child n probally a yank before i report ur arse
For the plot of the film, the two directors were inspired by an Italian theatrical comedy. Arlecchino servitore di due padroni (Harlequin servant of two masters) by Carlo Goldoni, written by the Venetian author in 1745.
Excellent video as always. Whilst I knew that Leone was influenced by Yojimbo, your essay really broadened my understanding of both Leone's and Kurosawa's 'genre' works and their relationship with Western/American hegemony. Well done!
Heh, I could have done with this video when I was in the midst of writing my MA thesis on 'Death, Justice and Vengeance in Shakespearean Tragedy and Sergio Leone Westerns' nearly twenty years ago, yes...?! Great job by the way...
Great video on an interesting subject. I rewatched these two classics back-to-back last year to compare and contrast, and picked up on a little thing you didn't mention in the video. After having killed the first two gang-members (and dismembered a third), Mifune's samurai tells the undertaker to prepare "Two coffins... No, maybe three." While in Dollars, Eastwood's gunslinger first tells the undertaker to make three coffins ready, but after the gunfight corrects himself: "My mistake. FOUR coffins". Killing one more than Mifune's samurai. I think that's was a pretty cocky (but in a good way) of Leone.
The Story goes, as retelled by Leone himself, that the director made no mistery this was an adaptation of Kurosawa's work in a different setting and he was in the open with everyone who worked on the picture. The production company knew very well it has to acquire rights from Kurosawa (and was instructed to do so according to Leone), but since the movie was for them just another low-budget project, they didn't may be hoping it went unnoticed. Following the unexpected international success it certainly didn't go unnoticed.
I love the scene after Sanjuro meets some of the gang's men after he gets the boss to publicly announce the price he's getting paid. One of the older samurai is unhappy knowing he'll never live up to Sanjuro in the boss's eyes. Before the fight Sanjuro sees him fleeing. They wave at each other, and the samurai smiles and laughs carefree as he leaves. Nothing more really comes from that tale, but I just loved the respect they have of each other, and the pride Sanjuro seems to have seeing a fellow samurai who's finally had enough of these crooks, hitting the open road like himself
Not gonna lie, I thought this was a Usagi Yojimbo video and clicked on it way too fast before reading the full video title :) Anyway, I'm quite surprised how deep the shared relationship between chanbara & spaghetti westerns were. I'm glad to know more about this. Kinda wished there are more modern Westerns try to tell good, meaningful stories instead of apeing off the old stuff.
Positioning the camera right behind Clint Eastwood's gun as he skilfully shoots the bad guys makes for a very immersive and satisfying experience for us, the audience.
I did not know that Kurosawa sued Leone and won 15% of all proceeds of Fistful…. But I’m glad he did! Both are masterworks, but one clearly “borrowed heavily” from the other.
Do we really know that Kurosawa was criticizing "western influence" with these guns? First of all, he supposedly said that being accosted by American censors on his movie "Stray Dog" was the only time he wished Japan had won World War II. It's also obvious given how much he liked John Ford movies that he was arguably more susceptible to western influence than most Japanese at the time, to the point where they didn't really want to fund his movies.
@@vassily-labroslabrakos2263 Yes, another film vlogger pointed out that, instead of fighting to the 'death with honor', many of the seven repeatedly ran away and tried to hide to survive the defeat of their various liege lords.
you can like something but still want to criticize it. doesnt have to be one or the other. At the same time I tend to feel that people read too deeply into symbolism. The period Yojimbo takes place in, very much nearing the end of the era of Samurai, is a very deeply rooted cultural touchstone in Japan, as it was at that point- not WW2, when Japan westernized. When the Government of imperial japan switched to military by conscription rather than caste and warrior ways. And adopted western techniques and tools. And it reflects pretty well with the American west as being a period of social uncertainty as the natural order of society rapidly changes towards an unknown and unproven future, or in the case of America, a new, uncharted frontier.
@@FlameG102 You're completely missing the point that this seems to have less to do with how "the west changed Japan" than it does "how Japan changed" you know... like how westerns _are_ about how the west changed... maybe it's a bit narcissistic to think eastern movies are about how the west changed the east... Even ones with guns in them. Besides which, many Japanese filmmakers demonstrate a direct link between feudal Japan and the futile rise of the Japanese imperial army. During one era, it's said that a samurai could kill indiscriminately just to test the viability of their sword, because no one would hold them accountable for it. It's not a surprise to me that Japanese artists make a critical connection between a culture that commits ritual suicide as restitution for slights against a lord, and one where kamikaze pilots give their lives for honor on behalf of an emperor. The presence of western influence or technology seems largely incidental in its effect on this kind of inhumanity.
Even though I do love both Kurosawa and Leone, Kurosawa’s in a completely different league. The way he composes his shots is nothing short of masterful, with thier incredible depth and dynamic movement.
The Magnificent Seven based on Seven Samurai, and Fistful of Dollars based on Yojimbo. Kurosawa should be a name known to lovers of spaghetti westerns.
Very well-made video. I had seen Yojimbo a year ago and watched Fistful tonight. Not knowing of the actual connection, I thought, "Hmm. This movie is an awful lot like Yojimbo," and then bang, validated. Feels good to be right.
Fantastic Video! Great work, Matt. And I love the fact that you mentioned your favourite film of all time... which just happens to be mine too! The Good, the Bad and the Ugly! I have my fingers crossed that you'll do a video on that one too! Keep up the great work and thanks again, mate!
This is, without a doubt, one of your best videos, and one of the best video essays of 2020. Like holy shit, man, you have set the bar way too high here
Its me or does anyone else wanted for both characters to have a team up film or story were they both are hired for the same job and it like buddy cop film where both guys learn from eachother and grow ro respect the other martial skills and become not quite friends but close enough
I love how Samuraii movies have been inspiring Westerns and Sci-Fi movies for the past decades. And, even films in other countries are inspired by the Samuraii and Western genre. A great example is Yoon Jong-bin's "Kundo: Age of the Rampant" (2014), which not only is a homage to Seven Samuraii, but its musical score comes from the Golden Age of Westerns.
That thumbnail is one of the most badass scenes I’ve ever seen. Is it available somewhere cause I’d love to use it as my desktop background or did you make it yourself?
THE NICEST THING ABOUT ALL OF THIS IS HOW WE CAN ALL JUST TAKE A BACK SEAT AND APPRECIATE IT AND WERE NOT THE ONE ON THE LINE TO MAKING THESE DECISIONS.. THE MUCK.. THAT WE ALL GO THROUGH.. DAY BY DAY.. HAVE WE NOT ALL HAD ENOUGH?
"a Fistful Of Dollars" a awesome movie to watch .It's my favourite No Name trilogy if got that right ,And the other two are sweet also .But did know that Kurosawa inspired Leone to make a. cool western series of movies .That is pretty sweet to know ,Since both of those directors inspired other directors down the road ,And they made some cool movies as well .
The idea of against all odds and the practice of anti hero are the game changers that these flicks contained. They changed the principle direction of western film broader
How in the world did you get to use Yojimbo footage? I was trying to do a comparison video of Yojimbo / Fistful of Dollars / Last Man Standing (I'm not even into monetizing) and Toho blocked the Yojimbo portion globally.
The first western I remember seeing that really blew me away was Once Upon a Time, and when I started watching Kurosawa's movies I remember thinking, these samurai movies are basically the Japanese version of the wild west - except there's also something very 90's hip-hop about them (can't imagine where I got that from..) Was watching Fistful tonight and I was like, oh, this is Yojimbo Thanks for confirming XP
I would argue they don't actually gel that well together. Probably why people love to try it, but it always becomes something else in the end, which makes it feel different. Usually in the sci-fi genre. Which doesn't do it for me. Maybe if you had a fantasy setting where they jump immediately from no guns to revolvers, and that's like the _main_ conflict of the story. Then it would all be samurai at the beginning and all cowboys in the end. Maybe that's too literal for some people.
There was one I liked in that Japanese samurai lone Wolf protecting his son and himself ! I have those movies DVDs , his performance is very good 🎬🎥📽️🎞️👏🏆
Great movies, great analysis. Have you seen Walter Hill’s ‚Last Man Standing‘ with Bruce Willis and Christopher Walken? While it can‘t hold a candle to this masterpieces, I still consider it a guilty pleasure and interesting remake of those movies.
Not just cliched, there were laws that dictated how law, order, and crime were depicted. Any screenwriter or director that wanted to show something more nuanced had their hands tied. In Japan Kurosawa did not have those restrictions Thus he was able to get "first bite at the apple" in making a more nuanced western. That in no way is meant to slight Kurosawa. What he did with it was amazing, and stands the test of time.
I think these restrictions were long gone even in the USA and even before Yojimbo was made. American westerns in the 1950s are very different than those from the 30s and 40s. Moreover, the restrictions did not apply in Italy. Moreover, screenwriters and directors had been getting around the restrictions even in the USA since the beginning of the code.
@@DANIELMABUSE I think some of the best movie making ever out there is writers and directors having to be clever telling a story with those restrictions in place. It leads to innuendo, double entendres, snappy dialog, interesting ways to frame shots and finding ways so show and speak subtext of things you can not say. Now you can pretty much say and do anything, and you lack those "ah" moments when you catch that there was something more there.
When Clint Eastwood first saw Yojimbo not long after its initial release, he told friends that it would make a great western, but no one who have the guts to make it.
I noticed a piece from one of the Trinity movies in the Spaghetti Western montage. While I loved the films, that's like slipping an Austin Powers clip in with James Bond movies. Heck, maybe even Archer.
I’ve been teaching my students about this connection in class for the last several years, and I might use this video next semester! We also looked at Django, which was also a loose remake of Yojimbo and adds strong themes of racism to the mix. The Outrage, a Western remake of Rashomon, also reinterprets that story with a taste of racial violence, recreating the villain of that tale as a Mexican (played by a white man). I read Red Harvest, too, and it’s interesting to see the parallels between that story and Yojimbo and A Fistful of Dollars. I really want to track down the movie version of The Glass Key-maybe I’ll read the book as well. Samurai Jack is an interesting cartoon samurai with a sort of nameless samurai heavily influenced by Yojimbo as well. One other thing I thought was really interesting was how Sergio Leone said that everyone in the USA asked him how much he made. I don’t see that as a common question in the USA-quite the opposite really. I think most Americans would take offense to such a question upon first meeting. I teach in Japan and have traveled a bit in Asia, and as I have studied the cultures over here, I have often heard that in some Asian cultures that question is common. Anyway, great video!
@@nickdriscoll6131 Yeah, I know all that, what I don't know is the plot of the original Django, so when you mentioned racism specifically, I was like: "He can't be talking about Quentin's movie, it thas literally no plot similarities to Yojimbo."
Both movies are 100% adaptations of Red Harvest, not The Glass Key. In Red Harvest the nameless protagonist known only as the Continent Op cleans up all the gangs in the corrupt town. In The Glass Key the protagonist Ned Beaumont is acting to destroy the opposition for his boss.
![20 Things You Didn't Know About The Good, The Bad & The Ugly [1966]](/img/1.gif)
What Most people don't realize is, both films are set in at almost same time period.
Yojimbo is set in 1860's, Which was the Final years of Edo Period of Japan.
Fistful of Dollars is set in the same time period as "The Good, the Bad and the Ugly" which is set in American Civil War 1861-1865.
That's why the Yojimbo villain was able to have a Revolver.
So Sanjuro and the Man With No Name could have feasibly met.
That thought just made my day.
i thought fistful of dollars was the 1870s?
How do you know Fist Full of Dollars took place in the 1860s? Good Bad And The Ugly makes sense as you pointed out the Civil War date Yojimbo because of the revolver, but you don't really give an explanation how you concluded that Fist Full Of Dollars took place the same time period. Actually a date on a gravestone in the cemetery indicates the year to be at least 1873.
They even mention that unosuke just returned from traveling too, explaining how he acquired the American gun
"Only The Good, the Bad and the Ugly" is set in 1860`s, you can see this by the weapons they are using in the film, the lever action rifles and revolvers are from 1870`s, when in the third part of trilogy you can spot an older black powder models of revolvers and old flintlock rifles
A fistful of yen: a samurai in the old west
there was a thirty minute martial arts spoof in "kentucky fried movie" called "a fist full of yen".
He gets gunned down in the first ten minutes by a random Mexican, credits roll.
@@williamhurt8512 Evan Kim played the parody of Bruce Lee. The piece was a take-off on Enter the Dragon
it's called red sun
@@JacobBite Toshiro Mifune and Charles Bronson
Glad to see I'm not the only insane person who sees Westerns and Samurai movies as the same thing.
They're definitely interconnected. It was fun getting to explore that.
See when you say stuff like that, it's in a very nice and informative video essay. When I say it, I'm Charlie Day with the Peppy Sylvia wall and talking like a gremlin
Trust me. You’re not the only one
@Frank Castle
Who would've thought that The Punisher would be so picky over semantics
What Most people don't realize is, both films are set in at almost same time period.
Fistful of Dollars is set in the same time period as "The Good, the Bad and the Ugly" which is set in American Civil War 1861-1865.
Yojimbo is set in 1860's, Which was the Final years of Edo Period of Japan.
That's why the Yojimbo villain was able to have a Revolver.
I watched Yojimbo for the first time last night, and one of my favorite parts of it were that the lone samurai just picked up a stick, threw it up, and went where it told him to go. By the end he just leaves, and this gave me such a refreshing suggestion of how this was one of many adventures he’d been on, one of many he would go on. It alludes to that if he went the other way, he’d have a COMPLETELY DIFFERENT story he’d stumble upon. His fighting style and personality suit this perfectly as well and I just love that. In many movies and stories in general, there’s always this sense that the hero will ONLY have that ONE adventure in their life to look back on, that one story where they saved the world. The original Star Wars made me feel this way especially, like Luke’s only major adventure took place in that span of time, and though he’d come back for the newer films he hadn’t really done much up to that point. He hadn’t gone on any other major adventures, or met people that he didn’t already have some affiliation with OTHER THAN the newer cast that stars in the new movies. This has always made me feel often sad for these hero’s, like you get the sense that they’re not really gonna get any other significant adventures... and that’s something I found so refreshing about Yojimbo. Which now sounds pretty silly being that it came out YEARS before I was even born, only after the 17 years of my life have I now seen it. Either way, I really want to create a story that has that same feeling... though I just now love this movie for thousands of other reasons and WHY DIDN’T I WATCH THIS FOR SO LONG?!?
Watch Hidden Fortress. Lucas watched this Kurosawa movie and it inspired many parts of Star Wars. You can certainly see R2D2 and C3PO in the movie.
check out "sanjuro" same character, totally different plot...
Also watch Three Outlaw Samurai
Walter Hill did his own version of this story with 'Last Man Standing' back in the 90's. It stars Bruce Willis as John Smith, a mysterious gunman that drives into a border town and gets caught between Irish and Italian bootleggers during prohibition. It's not bad, well worth a watch.
I saw it in the theaters when it first came out
I like your profile pic and name my dude misfits are awesome
Just getting ready to put this same statement on my own.
Do love Last Man Standing almost as much as the other two.
Fucking love that movie
Shane
Both of these are just so classic. They both have changed cinema history
As a kid, when these movies came out, the so called critics were trashing the movies and actors. I was stunned by them. Eventually, the foolish critics had to eat crow. Would liked to seen clint Eastwood stay another few months and complete the 4th movie for Sergio Leone. Would have been, Glorious!!!
This was actually my Master's thesis, also 7 Samurai / Magnificent 7.
They gave you a degree for that?
I cannot describe in words how much I love both this movies. Movies like this simply cannot be made today. These movies were an expression of pure love of cinema.
Matt Draper talking about The Good The Bad and The Ugly? HELL YES PLEASE!!!!!
Hey Mr Draper, which one of these would you rather talk about: Frank Miller’s Ronin, Stan Sakai’s Usagi Yojimbo or Samurai Jack? Being honest here.
I’m definitely going to have to rewatch Yojimbo soon. Between this video and Ghosts of Tsushima, I’m feeling the love for Kurosawa. As always great video, glad to see you covering more films!
@GiRayne The romanticization of samurai in Ghost of Tsushima in intentional. By the end of the game, Jin, the protagonist, sees past the romantization and sees the samurai for who they truly are in his universe: power-hungry members of the upper class who actively work to keep the peasants at bay.
This was a fantastic exploration of two great film makers! If he has not yet, I hope he explores the similarities between Kurosawa's The Hidden Fortress and the first Star Wars.
While you are at it the influence of John Ford's silent era western "Three Bad Men" on The Hidden Fortress should not be forgotten either.
@@atholgreen59 Great point well made!
Definitely recommend these movies, along with the following below 👍(All of these are a mix of oldies and modern flicks) ((Also added others from everyone's lovely suggestions in the comments :D
-Samurai Films-
13 Assassins
Harakiri (Both the original & remake is good, but in different tones)
Three Outlaw Samurai
Seven Samurai
Blade Of The Immortal
Lone Wolf & Cub Series
The Zatoichi Series
The Hidden Fortress
Samurai Rebellion
-Western Films-
Seraphim Falls
Unforgiven
A Few Dollars More
Shane
3:10 To Yuma
Once Upon A Time In The West
The Outlaw Josey Wales
Free State Of Jones
The Good The Bad And The Ugly
Tombstone
Rio Bravo
The Searchers
The Magnificent Seven (Both are good 🙏)
There's some other titles I've probably forgotten, but these are the first that came to mind 👌
This is a great list for anyone looking to acquaint themselves with the genres.
Tombstone is a great western as well.
Saw the original Harakiri for the first time this year. Magnificent.
I'd add Samurai Rebellion to your samurai list, as well as Rio Bravo and The Searchers to the Western-list.
The Magnificent Seven both the original and remake are great takes on the Seven Samurai story.
Seven Samurai
Don’t mind me. Just here to help the algorithm.
It's appreciated!
Brilliant video, Matt. I always enjoy it when you look at classic films like these!
Thanks, Owen!
If you can measure any filmmaker's success by his influence, Kurosawa should probably be in the top 10. Think about it:
No Kurosawa = No Spaghetti westerns
No Kurosawa = No hundreds if not thousands of movies inspired by Seven Samurai or Rashomon
No Kurosawa = No Star Wars
No westerns or crime noir, no Kurasawa. This whole argument is BS anyway.
@@johncarl5505 those are genres, not people.
@@kirabey8946Tell that to OP.
@@kirabey8946My main point is that Kurosawa was inspired by older westerns and crime noirs.
@@johncarl5505 op say "SPAGHETTI WESTERNS" totally different subgenre of westerns from what you are generalising, so your replies are BS, spaghetti westerns are not the same as bog standard westerns, spaghetti westerns are the evolution of westerns resulting from kurosawas influence, therefore op is in fact correct
Has anyone seen "Red Sun"? It was a 1971 western starring Toshiro Mifune and Charles Bronson in which a Japanese Samurai travels to the old west and joins forces with Bronson the gunslinger to take on the bad guys.
I have. That obscured movie started before 'Shanghai Noon' started. But Red Sun was better, and Ursula Andress....a sex goddess of that time.
Love red sun, the bond that develops over the course of the movie is great
Excellent video, Matt! I’ve never seen these movies. But they seem like they are timeless classics. I’ve always wanted to watch at least one classic western, and this video might just be the push I needed. Great timing too! With Ghost of Tsushima recently coming out. Any interest in playing that game?
Thanks, Diego! You should definitely check them out, I think you'd dig them. For a Few Dollars More and The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly are also awesome. I'm definitely interested in Ghost of Tsushima. That game coming out and Morricone passing away were what pushed me to make this video after having the topic in mind for awhile.
Diego I implore you to check out Akira Kurosawa's catalog you won't be disappointed, and when you are done check out all of the Zatoichi The Blind Swordsman movies again you won't be disappointed.
i envy you. seeing it for the first time
I literally questioned the connection between the two genre's yesterday. This is impeccably timed. 😂
I'm surprised people seem surprised by this. I've known about this for over a decade, and no doubt there's some old man somewhere who's known about it since day one. I didn't really go to film school, but guaranteed, if you go, they will teach you about it. Unless they're negligent, I guess.
A RUclips video dedicated to my two favorite directors? Yes please!
As much as I love Kurosawa, I am glad to see you provided the original influences, hardboiled novelist Dashiell Hammett's "Red Harvest" and to a lesser extent "The Glass Key" (which is also what Coen Bros' Miller's Crossing is based on). Red Harvest was basically one of Hammett's stories starring the nameless "The Continental Op", a lone operative of the Continental Detective Agency, who took care of his missions with cold, ruthless efficiency without any emotional attachments. You can see that template in both the characters of Sanjuro, as well as The Man with No Name. I highly recommend reading this genre of American crime thrillers to any Samurai and Western fans, specifically novels by Dashiell Hammett and then moving onto Raymond Chandler and Ross Macdonald who took the genre to artistic heights.
Mifunes walking style and shoulder movement are based on the way a wolf walks, Kurosawa told him to walk like a lone wolf when they were making Yojimbo.
Toshiro mifune man. This man makes Eastwood sounds like child
And had a samurai lineage.
@@Griffin24712978 which makes him even more legendary bad ass. No offense to Eastwood
Now I like both of them equally ( maybe baised towards Eastwood) but you are rigth Toshiro is a legend
The Lone Wolf and cub films always felt similar to westerns to me.
Yep, lots of shared DNA in those too, and that series influenced a ton of stuff across mediums and genres, too.
My childhood favorite.
This is a great analysis, thanks, Matt. You made my day!
Dude, have you ever read Red Harvest?
Kurosawa swiped it. Lock, stock and barrel. Right down to the moral ambiguity of the protagonist (who was based on Hammett in real life, when he worked for the Pinkerton Detective Agency).
Which is why his lawsuit of Leone was so repulsive. Kurosawa got paid for something he stole from Dashiell Hammett to begin with.
Everyone steals from everyone in one way or another; the concept of originality itself went out the window not too long after it was birthed
You idiot he did it first . He did everything first till you yanks copied it.
@@Griffin24712978 no, Rageoholic (big fan btw) is right.
Really . Considering he did 7 samurai yojimbo n sangrio then the yanks nicked it and turned them into magnificent 7 a fist full of dollars n for a few dollars more. Now shut up dumbarse child n probally a yank before i report ur arse
Soddong yanks how about you give back the land you stole n keep ur noses out of every other countries bussiness
I love Kurosawa and Leone, thank you ❤️
11:40...ngl, it gave me a small smile when i saw how everyone else had to replay this part too ! :)
Yes! Awesome Movies. Yojimbo Masterpiece defines many Masterpieces to come. And Still Inspire Generations to come for others Masterpieces.
So when Leone does it, it's "inspired by" and "homage to", but when I do it, it's plagiarism? Pfft life ain't fair
For the plot of the film, the two directors were inspired by an Italian theatrical comedy.
Arlecchino servitore di due padroni (Harlequin servant of two masters) by Carlo Goldoni, written by the Venetian author in 1745.
Excellent video as always. Whilst I knew that Leone was influenced by Yojimbo, your essay really broadened my understanding of both Leone's and Kurosawa's 'genre' works and their relationship with Western/American hegemony. Well done!
Heh, I could have done with this video when I was in the midst of writing my MA thesis on 'Death, Justice and Vengeance in Shakespearean Tragedy and Sergio Leone Westerns' nearly twenty years ago, yes...?! Great job by the way...
Great video on an interesting subject.
I rewatched these two classics back-to-back last year to compare and contrast, and picked up on a little thing you didn't mention in the video.
After having killed the first two gang-members (and dismembered a third), Mifune's samurai tells the undertaker to prepare "Two coffins... No, maybe three."
While in Dollars, Eastwood's gunslinger first tells the undertaker to make three coffins ready, but after the gunfight corrects himself: "My mistake. FOUR coffins".
Killing one more than Mifune's samurai.
I think that's was a pretty cocky (but in a good way) of Leone.
The Story goes, as retelled by Leone himself, that the director made no mistery this was an adaptation of Kurosawa's work in a different setting and he was in the open with everyone who worked on the picture. The production company knew very well it has to acquire rights from Kurosawa (and was instructed to do so according to Leone), but since the movie was for them just another low-budget project, they didn't may be hoping it went unnoticed. Following the unexpected international success it certainly didn't go unnoticed.
I love the scene after Sanjuro meets some of the gang's men after he gets the boss to publicly announce the price he's getting paid. One of the older samurai is unhappy knowing he'll never live up to Sanjuro in the boss's eyes. Before the fight Sanjuro sees him fleeing. They wave at each other, and the samurai smiles and laughs carefree as he leaves. Nothing more really comes from that tale, but I just loved the respect they have of each other, and the pride Sanjuro seems to have seeing a fellow samurai who's finally had enough of these crooks, hitting the open road like himself
9:45 Even scratching the beard is ripped off.
A damn shame
Not gonna lie, I thought this was a Usagi Yojimbo video and clicked on it way too fast before reading the full video title :)
Anyway, I'm quite surprised how deep the shared relationship between chanbara & spaghetti westerns were. I'm glad to know more about this. Kinda wished there are more modern Westerns try to tell good, meaningful stories instead of apeing off the old stuff.
Positioning the camera right behind Clint Eastwood's gun as he skilfully shoots the bad guys makes for a very immersive and satisfying experience for us, the audience.
I did not know that Kurosawa sued Leone and won 15% of all proceeds of Fistful…. But I’m glad he did! Both are masterworks, but one clearly “borrowed heavily” from the other.
Do we really know that Kurosawa was criticizing "western influence" with these guns? First of all, he supposedly said that being accosted by American censors on his movie "Stray Dog" was the only time he wished Japan had won World War II. It's also obvious given how much he liked John Ford movies that he was arguably more susceptible to western influence than most Japanese at the time, to the point where they didn't really want to fund his movies.
I also consider the ending of seven samurai as a hidden middlefinger to government of imperial Japan and its glorification .
@@vassily-labroslabrakos2263 Yes, another film vlogger pointed out that, instead of fighting to the 'death with honor', many of the seven repeatedly ran away and tried to hide to survive the defeat of their various liege lords.
you can like something but still want to criticize it.
doesnt have to be one or the other.
At the same time I tend to feel that people read too deeply into symbolism. The period Yojimbo takes place in, very much nearing the end of the era of Samurai, is a very deeply rooted cultural touchstone in Japan, as it was at that point- not WW2, when Japan westernized. When the Government of imperial japan switched to military by conscription rather than caste and warrior ways. And adopted western techniques and tools. And it reflects pretty well with the American west as being a period of social uncertainty as the natural order of society rapidly changes towards an unknown and unproven future, or in the case of America, a new, uncharted frontier.
@@FlameG102 You're completely missing the point that this seems to have less to do with how "the west changed Japan" than it does "how Japan changed" you know... like how westerns _are_ about how the west changed... maybe it's a bit narcissistic to think eastern movies are about how the west changed the east... Even ones with guns in them. Besides which, many Japanese filmmakers demonstrate a direct link between feudal Japan and the futile rise of the Japanese imperial army.
During one era, it's said that a samurai could kill indiscriminately just to test the viability of their sword, because no one would hold them accountable for it. It's not a surprise to me that Japanese artists make a critical connection between a culture that commits ritual suicide as restitution for slights against a lord, and one where kamikaze pilots give their lives for honor on behalf of an emperor. The presence of western influence or technology seems largely incidental in its effect on this kind of inhumanity.
Do love some samurai movies and old westerns Good video you made
Never thought about it but given Kurosawa's love of wide, deep shots, I bet they'd look great in 3D.
This is your best essay yet man holy god guy knocked it out of the park
This channel has some of the best video essays
Ah yes, my favourite two Legendary Anti-heroes, Yo Jimbo and Man With No Name... This two will never get old to me
@Offworlder1 true
Samjiro
Even though I do love both Kurosawa and Leone, Kurosawa’s in a completely different league. The way he composes his shots is nothing short of masterful, with thier incredible depth and dynamic movement.
The Magnificent Seven based on Seven Samurai, and Fistful of Dollars based on Yojimbo. Kurosawa should be a name known to lovers of spaghetti westerns.
Very well-made video. I had seen Yojimbo a year ago and watched Fistful tonight. Not knowing of the actual connection, I thought, "Hmm. This movie is an awful lot like Yojimbo," and then bang, validated. Feels good to be right.
"a fine movie, but it was my movie" - akira kurosawa on fistful of dollars
Great video, always thought this but thanks for explaining it so concisely.
I love Akira Kurosawa and Sergio Leone!
And like that I must watch Yojimbo.
Watch most of Kurosawa. Hes one of the greats and considered the master for a reason.
I also recommend Sanjuro which is the sequel to Yojimbo and it is better than yojimb in mho:).
Two example of movies that watching them as a kid made me the film lover I am now!
Fantastic Video! Great work, Matt. And I love the fact that you mentioned your favourite film of all time... which just happens to be mine too! The Good, the Bad and the Ugly! I have my fingers crossed that you'll do a video on that one too! Keep up the great work and thanks again, mate!
This is, without a doubt, one of your best videos, and one of the best video essays of 2020. Like holy shit, man, you have set the bar way too high here
Thank you! Just always trying to top myself.
Great video. Makes me want to go back and watch both films.
Wow great video essay man!
Its me or does anyone else wanted for both characters to have a team up film or story were they both are hired for the same job and it like buddy cop film where both guys learn from eachother and grow ro respect the other martial skills and become not quite friends but close enough
I love how Samuraii movies have been inspiring Westerns and Sci-Fi movies for the past decades. And, even films in other countries are inspired by the Samuraii and Western genre. A great example is Yoon Jong-bin's "Kundo: Age of the Rampant" (2014), which not only is a homage to Seven Samuraii, but its musical score comes from the Golden Age of Westerns.
That thumbnail is one of the most badass scenes I’ve ever seen. Is it available somewhere cause I’d love to use it as my desktop background or did you make it yourself?
THE NICEST THING ABOUT ALL OF THIS IS HOW WE CAN ALL JUST TAKE A BACK SEAT AND APPRECIATE IT AND WERE NOT THE ONE ON THE LINE TO MAKING THESE DECISIONS.. THE MUCK.. THAT WE ALL GO THROUGH.. DAY BY DAY.. HAVE WE NOT ALL HAD ENOUGH?
Hell yeah dude! The crossover and inspiration between the samurai and western genres is my favorite aspect of cinema.
In film studies in college I watched this film yojimbo last year
Great vid. Insightful
The underrated Bruce Willis movie "Last Man Standing" is also the same story.
Matt, I hate to admit it, but I loved this video. Just fantastic work 🙌
I'll forever remember this day.
Great video and great films! Keep up the good work!
Matt Draper has never made a bad video
Change my mind.
He made that one video about....
...
...
This is the first Matt Draper video I have ever seen.
"a Fistful Of Dollars" a awesome movie to watch .It's my favourite No Name trilogy if got that right ,And the other two are sweet also .But did know that Kurosawa inspired Leone to make a. cool western series of movies .That is pretty sweet to know ,Since both of those directors inspired other directors down the road ,And they made some cool movies as well .
The idea of against all odds and the practice of anti hero are the game changers that these flicks contained. They changed the principle direction of western film broader
How in the world did you get to use Yojimbo footage? I was trying to do a comparison video of Yojimbo / Fistful of Dollars / Last Man Standing (I'm not even into monetizing) and Toho blocked the Yojimbo portion globally.
Awesome. I love your videos.
Superb video
This channel rules keep up the content
Yojimbo also has a lot in common with Buchanan Rides Alone, the classic Randolph Scott western.
The first western I remember seeing that really blew me away was Once Upon a Time, and when I started watching Kurosawa's movies I remember thinking, these samurai movies are basically the Japanese version of the wild west - except there's also something very 90's hip-hop about them (can't imagine where I got that from..)
Was watching Fistful tonight and I was like, oh, this is Yojimbo
Thanks for confirming XP
When are we going to get a Fantasy setting with Cowboys and Samurai together?
Why noy just have them as one, samurai cowboys.
Either works just fine.
You two should check out Cowboy Bebop - space samurai western
I would argue they don't actually gel that well together. Probably why people love to try it, but it always becomes something else in the end, which makes it feel different. Usually in the sci-fi genre. Which doesn't do it for me.
Maybe if you had a fantasy setting where they jump immediately from no guns to revolvers, and that's like the _main_ conflict of the story. Then it would all be samurai at the beginning and all cowboys in the end. Maybe that's too literal for some people.
Excellent vid
always great matt, this reminds me that i feel that mandalorian has a tone of reference to the work of sergio leone and akira kurosawa
Pretty much the entire concept behind the Mandalorian series was lifted from a series of samurai films called “Lone Wolf and Cub.”
Enjoyed this! I'm surprised you didn't bring up another remake of this story: "Last Man Standing" starring Bruce WIllis.
There was one I liked in that Japanese samurai lone Wolf protecting his son and himself ! I have those movies DVDs , his performance is very good 🎬🎥📽️🎞️👏🏆
lone wolf and cub
Great video
Great movies, great analysis. Have you seen Walter Hill’s ‚Last Man Standing‘ with Bruce Willis and Christopher Walken? While it can‘t hold a candle to this masterpieces, I still consider it a guilty pleasure and interesting remake of those movies.
That's right, I forgot to mention that film! It definitely doesn't stand up to these two, but is an interesting riff on the plot.
Well done 👏👏👏
Not just cliched, there were laws that dictated how law, order, and crime were depicted. Any screenwriter or director that wanted to show something more nuanced had their hands tied. In Japan Kurosawa did not have those restrictions Thus he was able to get "first bite at the apple" in making a more nuanced western. That in no way is meant to slight Kurosawa. What he did with it was amazing, and stands the test of time.
I think these restrictions were long gone even in the USA and even before Yojimbo was made. American westerns in the 1950s are very different than those from the 30s and 40s. Moreover, the restrictions did not apply in Italy. Moreover, screenwriters and directors had been getting around the restrictions even in the USA since the beginning of the code.
@@DANIELMABUSE I think some of the best movie making ever out there is writers and directors having to be clever telling a story with those restrictions in place. It leads to innuendo, double entendres, snappy dialog, interesting ways to frame shots and finding ways so show and speak subtext of things you can not say. Now you can pretty much say and do anything, and you lack those "ah" moments when you catch that there was something more there.
I’ve never heard anyone ask “how much do you make” I’m pretty sure that’s known to be bad manners
When Clint Eastwood first saw Yojimbo not long after its initial release, he told friends that it would make a great western, but no one who have the guts to make it.
How about a comparison and contrast of these two with the third FIM inspired by these two. Last man standing. Staring. Bruce Willis
I noticed a piece from one of the Trinity movies in the Spaghetti Western montage. While I loved the films, that's like slipping an Austin Powers clip in with James Bond movies. Heck, maybe even Archer.
"Get three coffins ready"
Toshiro Mifune was so cool in that movie
両方とも同じ原作です。
イタリア側は、日本側に無断で原作通りに映画制作しました。
ほぼ同じストーリーです。
日本側が原作の権利を主張し、イタリア側がそれを認めました。
I’ve been teaching my students about this connection in class for the last several years, and I might use this video next semester! We also looked at Django, which was also a loose remake of Yojimbo and adds strong themes of racism to the mix. The Outrage, a Western remake of Rashomon, also reinterprets that story with a taste of racial violence, recreating the villain of that tale as a Mexican (played by a white man). I read Red Harvest, too, and it’s interesting to see the parallels between that story and Yojimbo and A Fistful of Dollars. I really want to track down the movie version of The Glass Key-maybe I’ll read the book as well.
Samurai Jack is an interesting cartoon samurai with a sort of nameless samurai heavily influenced by Yojimbo as well.
One other thing I thought was really interesting was how Sergio Leone said that everyone in the USA asked him how much he made. I don’t see that as a common question in the USA-quite the opposite really. I think most Americans would take offense to such a question upon first meeting. I teach in Japan and have traveled a bit in Asia, and as I have studied the cultures over here, I have often heard that in some Asian cultures that question is common.
Anyway, great video!
You're not talking about Django Unchained, I take it
No, the original Django directed by Sergio Corbucci. Django Unchained was an homage to that film.
@@nickdriscoll6131 Yeah, I know all that, what I don't know is the plot of the original Django, so when you mentioned racism specifically, I was like: "He can't be talking about Quentin's movie, it thas literally no plot similarities to Yojimbo."
Why does everyone forget Red Harvest exists?
Kurosawa changed the jidai-geki
Leone changed the western
Two genius
Little known fact the Walter Hill film last man standing is a gangster film version of yojimbo
Both movies are 100% adaptations of Red Harvest, not The Glass Key. In Red Harvest the nameless protagonist known only as the Continent Op cleans up all the gangs in the corrupt town. In The Glass Key the protagonist Ned Beaumont is acting to destroy the opposition for his boss.
Clint is just the coolest looking cowboy
13:11
Swan vs. Luther in The Warriors (1979)