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Travis Knight recommended Yojimbo (1961) in Movies (curated)

Yojimbo (1961)

1961 | Action, Adventure, Classics

8.4

(9 Ratings)

Movie Favorite

"An utter masterpiece from the great Akira Kurosawa. Curiously, a Dashiell Hammet novel provided the inspiration for this film. I love that an American pulp novel from the 1920s was the spark for a staggering work of genius from Japan over three decades later. It demonstrates how art can transcend barriers across time, space, and culture and speak to us in a meaningful way. Yojimbo was remade as Sergio Leone’s spaghetti western classic A Fistful of Dollars, which I saw and loved long before I knew the original even existed. But when I discovered Yojimbo, it was like a gift from the universe. Everything else paled in comparison. Yojimbo is part western, part gangster noir, part samurai story, all awesome. It’s so good. Plus, if Kubo’s dad looks a wee bit like Kurosawa’s resplendent muse Toshiro Mifune, that’s not necessarily a coincidence."

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Kudos

Dick Cavett recommended Tokyo Story (1953) in Movies (curated)

Tokyo Story (1953)

1953 | Drama

(0 Ratings)

Movie Favorite

"Tokyo monogatari, perhaps better known to non-Nipponophiles as Tokyo Story. Any film by the great Yasujiro Ozu will do, especially if it has Japan’s walked-away-in-mid-career huge star, the divine, mysterious, heart-seducing Setsuko Hara, who, Garbo-like and at the peak of her popularity, vanished into obscurity, never to return to the screen. I discovered her hideout in Kamakura, Japan, and briefly glimpsed her, refuting my cabdriver’s assurance that she was long dead. She lives yet, in her mid-nineties. Don’t pass this way without losing your heart to Miss Hara—Japan’s “eternal virgin”—on the screen. Also, same film, the great Chishu Ryu, who teaches the entire acting profession how to play, at a still youngish age, an ancient and enfeebled oldster. He is, one critic said, “old in his bones.”"

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Kudos

William Friedkin recommended Vengeance Is Mine (Blood for Blood) (1974) in Movies (curated)

Vengeance Is Mine (Blood for Blood) (1974)

1974 | International, Drama, Mystery

(0 Ratings)

Movie Favorite

"A tough, energetic chase film from Japan in the late  seventies, based on a true story, with a strong performance by Ken Ogata as an  outwardly charming con man and serial killer. It differs from the formal style  of the great Japanese filmmakers like Ozu, to whom Imamura was  an assistant. When Imamura started directing, he wanted to make films as unlike Ozu’s  as possible, and Vengeance Is Mine is the best example of that. He leaves all judgment of his characters to the viewer, and the film is both operatic  and contemporary. Beautifully photographed, it’s at times surreal and at other  times plays like a documentary, which some viewers have found confusing,  especially Imamura’s fracturing of the timeline. Those who love film and know  Imamura’s others, like The Eel and The Battle of Nayarama, will find this one  essential."

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Kudos