You’ll never get a bad or commonplace film recommendation from me.
You’ll fall in love some of the hidden cinematic gems I recommend, you’ll hate others. But you will never be indifferent towards any of them. And you’ll have plenty to think and talk about. These are all films you’ll want to own, revisit, and share.
I recently decided to scale my one-to-one recommendations at the suggestion of a few people I respect. People seem to enjoy the book reviews I’ve given out the last few years, so why not films and albums too?
Here’s my first Film Pick of the Week, plus thoughts in quick-fire note-form.
YOJIMBO (dir. Kurosawa, 1961)
Watch Yojimbo and try to tell me Kurosawa wasn’t an influence in Tarantino’s filmmaking aesthetic.
If you want to see Aristotle’s Poetics near perfectly executed, Yojimbo by Akira Kurosawa is a masterclass in the “unities”.
Kurosawa’s classic samurai flick if indebted to Shakespeare in much the same way that the spaghetti westerns are indebted to Kurosawa.
I’d call Yojimbo a comedy. But where would you place it genre-wise?
You can see the rule of three perfectly executed in every shot. Superb cinematography from Kazuo Miyagawa.
Audio-wise, there’s always something happening. Music, rustling, nature sounds, etc. Constant atmosphere.
And the weather + scenery are characters themselves. Even when the characters are still, something is always happening in the background.
Where did Sergio Leone get Clint Eastwood’s Lone Ranger character in A Fistful of Dollars? Direct rip-off of Toshiro Mifune’s lone ronin.
Also: don’t bring a gun to a knife fight…
The new era can’t compete with the old!
Yojimbo is a great film. Highly recommend you watch it.
5 STARS *****