YOJIMBO (1961, B&W, 110 minutes)
Directed by: Akira Kurosawa
Starring: Toshiro Mifune, Tatsuya Nakadai, Eijiro Tono

Watson Scale: 6

Sanjuro, a samurai bereft of direction or purpose, drops a stick so he can walk in the direction it points. Finding a dying town split by two warring criminal groups, the samurai weaves a plan that will lead to the destruction of both evil factions.

In many ways, Japanese samurai movies are likened to Westerns, with the obvious difference being that swords are used instead of guns. It was proved that the genres tie in very well when SEVEN SAMURAI was remade into the American Western THE MAGNIFICENT SEVEN (a great film in its own right filled with an incredible cast), while YOJIMBO morphed into A FISTFUL OF DOLLARS and LAST MAN STANDING.

Physically and psychologically intense, YOJIMBO is a timeless masterpiece which features a combination of humor, thoughtfulness, and depth of character that its two remakes failed to emulate

A YOJIMBO TALE FROM MY FELLOW REVIEWER, VANCE AANDAHL:
Little Deuteronomy visited this weekend, and because Frosty was out of town, we ran wild with no supervision. What do a nine-year-old and a fifty-nine-year old do when they're left alone in the house without an adult? They overdose on Kurosawa, of course! Saturday night we watched YOJIMBO, and it was love at first sight. In fact, Little Deuteronomy liked it so much that after our Sunday morning bike ride he insisted on watching it again. After a brief but fervent discussion of "the warrior," he insisted we bicycle down Beehive Alley to the Schlessman Family Branch Library to get more of this fine, fine shit. We came pedaling back with SANJURO and watched it right after lunch. Bliss! Euphoria! Rapture! In a mere twenty hours Little Deuteronomy had gone from being a directionless child who saw DREAMS and kind of liked it to being a full-fledged stone-cold Kurosawa-freak samurai wannabe! Like millions of other men the world over, he'll spend the rest of his life wishing he were Toshiro Mifune.

Little Deuteronomy visited briefly this weekend -- just long enough for a bike ride, some reading, some story-writing, some picture-drawing, and one movie. When you check movies out of the Schlessman Family Branch Library, not only are they free, you can keep 'em for three weeks, so I had an assortment laid out for him to choose from -- HIDDEN FORTRESS and RASHOMON in case he wanted to continue his love affair with Kurosawa, and AGUIRRE, THE WRATH OF GOD in case he wanted to start one with Herzog. But the little rascal spotted YOJIMBO, which I hadn't bothered to return yet even though he'd watched it twice the previous weekend. You can guess what happened. He insisted that we watch YOJIMBO again -- nothing else would do.

TAMPOPO (1986, 117 minutes)
Directed by: Juzo Itami
Starring: Nobuko Miyamoto, Koji Yakusho, Ken Watanabe, Rikiya Yasuoka, Kinzo Sakura

Watson Scale: 5.8

A very funny movie that actually defies description--you have to see it to appreciate its brilliance. In a nutshell, the widowed owner of a failing noodle shop shares a very special quest with a “cowboy” truck driver: to find the perfect noodle recipe. This search takes them on many fascinating adventures.

Part spaghetti Western parody, part food movie, this hunt for that one special noodle (a food version of the Holy Grail) is, at times, almost religious in its tone. If you want a taste of Japanese culture, while simultaneously savoring the smells that seem to waft from your screen, then this little gem will simply blow you away.

THE FUNERAL, Itami’s debut film, starts with the death of an old man, and then focuses on his family’s efforts to host his funeral. This movie operates on many levels, sharing humor, deep insight into another culture’s view of death, and taking us on a performance within a performance (watch THE FUNERAL and you will understand what this apparently cryptic line means).

Juzo Itami is one of my all time favorite directors. His final film, MINBO (a very funny satire about the Japanese Yakuza [mob]), enraged the gangster community (they took offense at being portrayed as imbeciles). Shortly after its release in 1992, several Yakuza slashed his face, leaving him with ugly, jagged scars.

In 1997, Itami “fell” (at the age of 62) from the roof of an eight-story building. Though this was supposedly an act of suicide brought on by allegations of his having an affair with a much younger woman, many can’t make sense of his death or his suicide note (“In death I will prove my innocence.”). Suffice it to say that, during my last visit to Japan, friends there expressed their opinion that the Yakuza “helped” him off the roof. Whatever the truth may be, this man’s amazing talent will be sorely missed. What a sad, sad waste.

Many Japanese films are studies of erotica, and the term “pinku eiga” refers to this genre. However, unlike the brain dead “R” rated films that dot late night cable channels like Showtime and HBO, these films are far more than scantily clad actresses mugging their way through mindless sex scenes.

In the case of TOKYO DECADENCE, we share a young woman’s loneliness in a world she can’t get a handle on. Earning a living as an S&M call girl (both giving pain to moguls who crave it, and taking pain from others), she is both innocent at heart and simple of mind.

Shot in rich, artistic hues, this powerful film explores the schism created by her profession and her hopeless search for happiness. Longing for romance, she submissively glides through a seedy world that, clearly, will lead to her doom.

Unlike the ludicrous PRETTY WOMAN, TOKYO DECADENCE doesn’t give us a fairytale end, and it doesn’t pull any punches. Thus, it’s not for everyone (to say the least!). However, if you aren’t afraid to look at often-sublimated desires and eyes full of desperation, then your viewing experience will be satisfying and profound.

Okay, let’s fall into the rabbit hole together: Famed transvestite Akihiro Maruyama plays Black Lizard, a brilliant female mob boss. She plans to steal a 1.2 million dollar diamond and, at the same time, kidnap the owner’s daughter so the Lizard can stuff her and keep her in a “doll house” (an exhibit of other beautiful people the Black Lizard has murdered and “preserved”).

Hot on the case is an equally brilliant detective, and before you can say, “Where are the zombies?” they fall in love with each other’s mental acuity. Of course, zombies do indeed appear--would you have expected less?

This perverse, highly interesting, and stylized piece of art is unlike anything you will see from the United States, and will enrich you in ways you have yet to imagine.

Based on an original novel by Japan’s foremost horror writer, Edogawa Rampo, it was adapted for the screen by the famous homosexual activist Yukio Mishima (Yukio formed a private army of 80 to protect the emperor, and he appeared as one of the stuffed dolls in the film.). Two years after BLACK LIZARD was released, while only 45 years old, Mishima committed ritualistic seppuku (suicide). One is left wondering, what is more bizarre, the fictitious Black Lizard or the real life ups and downs of Mishima?