But is the danger so real? Is Sanjuro, as Prince suggests, helpless against these forces, and is his prime weapon his guile? We need to ask ourselves, I think, whether the tough guys of Yojimbo (while undoubtedly immoral and cruel) really are that tough, just what sort of figure Sanjuro is, and whether Sanjuro avoids confrontation with them because he must rely on guile (as Prince asserts), or simply because it is easier and perhaps even more amusing for him to do so. There are victims and perpetrators, the good are seen hiding indoors, cruelty and waste are everywhere. On the face of it, Prince is right: the world, as seen in Yojimbo, is violent and ruthless. He spends most of the film hiding indoors with Gon and must rely on trickery and guile for success rather than direct confrontation.” Against all this, Sanjuro is largely helpless. “The world of the film is so dangerous that one can only cower indoors and hope that the violence will not spill over inside” Violence, and the organized forces that maintain it for profit, is coextensive with space. In The Warrior’s Camera, Stephen Prince writes:
Much of this, by the way, was suggested by some of the comments in Jeremy’s excellent post of a couple of weeks back, and that is why I quote Jeremy at length throughout.
As usual, I haven’t been able to polish things so apologies if anything lacks clarity. So, having now watched roughly half the film again (I hate having to split a film into two sittings but there you go) I thought I’d just go ahead and write some thoughts down, relying partly on memory. I’ve been meaning to sit down and watch Yojimbo again carefully but time simply hasn’t allowed it.
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