Saturday Afternoon at the Japanese Cinema is a monthly event showcasing Japanese movies. The movie and snacks are free courtesy of the MBT Sangha (temple members). Movies are shown each month except when the temple’s Social Hall is scheduled for other activity – so please check our website or call the temple to confirm the date – 312.943.7801.
The featured movie this month is: Yojimbo (with English subtitles)
Where: MBT Social Hall
When: December 7, 1:00 pm to 3:00 pm
Suggested Donation: The movie and snacks are free!
Register: Please RSVP so we’ll know how many chairs to set up (email: office@mbtchicago.org or phone: 312.943.7801)
About “Yojimbo”
A nameless ronin, or samurai with no master (Toshirô Mifune), enters a small village in feudal Japan where two rival businessmen are struggling for control of the local gambling trade. Taking the name Sanjuro Kuwabatake, the ronin convinces both silk merchant Tazaemon (Kamatari Fujiwara) and sake merchant Tokuemon (Takashi Shimura) to hire him as a personal bodyguard, then artfully sets in motion a full-scale gang war between the two ambitious and unscrupulous men.
Ironic, that having borrowed from the Western, Kurosawa inspired one: Sergio Leone’s “A Fistful of Dollars” (1964), with Clint Eastwood, is so similar to “Yojimbo” that homage shades into plagiarism. Even Eastwood’s Man With No Name is inspired, perhaps, by the samurai in “Yojimbo.” Asked his name, the samurai looks out the window, sees a mulberry field, and replies, “Kuwabatake Sanjuro,” which means “30-year-old mulberry field.” He is 30, and that is a way of saying he has no name. He also has no job. The opening titles inform us that in 1860, after the collapse of the Tokugawa Dynasty, samurai were left unemployed and wandered the countryside in search of work. Sanjuro’s strategy is to create great interest about himself while keeping his motives obscure.
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