A ronin (masterless samurai) arrives in a small town to find it beset by two warring criminal clans and soon starts playing one off against the other. When the young gangster Unosuke returns home with his new revolver he beats our man for interfering and slaughters the rival clan. During the massacre our man escapes but when Unosuke finds out he kidnaps his only friend, holding him to ransom and forcing the final duel.
If you feel you recognise this story it's probably because you've seen it. A Fistful of Dollars, Last Man Standing and even Miller's Crossing are all remakes of this film but the original is still the best. Kurosawa was one of the greatest and most influential story tellers there has ever been and remakes of his movies are some of the west's most beloved films. The Magnificent Seven, Pulp Fiction and Star Wars, none of these would exist without this giant of the cinema. His partnership with Toshirô Mifune lasted for 16 films and Kurosawa's accidental discovery of Mifune, he's said to have walked into an audition by mistake where the director fell in love with his angry reaction, brought the world one of the largest presences ever seen on screen.
Though, in terms of camera work or lighting, there are no great tricks in this one it's a wonderfully crafted story with some great action, acting and comedy moments and you'll enjoy the comparisons between Mifune and Eastwood.
Watch this to see two of the best making one of the best.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0055630/?ref_=nv_sr_1
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