In celebration of Toshiro Mifune's birthday on April 1st, we're here with one of his most celebrated roles: Akira Kurosawa's Yojimbo from 1961!
We discuss how this movie works perfectly as both a black-comedy satire or as a straight up action movie, how Yojimbo's DNA is present in virtually every action movie that followed, and why Kurosawa regretted making what's hailed as one of the best action comedies of all time. Plus, Sergio Leone doesn't really get how copyright law works.
Next week we're returning to present-day with Domee Shi's feature-length debut, Turning Red from 2022!
