A classic

I can’t believe I haven’t seen any movies directed by Akira Kurosawa for such a long time. A few years ago, I was doing a good job and ended up watching 13 of his movies but, by now, it has been almost 10 years since I saw another one of his movies. It is a real shame but maybe I will pick it up again later on. Anyway, this flick is probably one of his most famous ones and therefore I was really eager to check it out. Indeed, it is above all famous because Sergio Leone made a few years later a little remake called ‘For a Fistful of Dollars’ and it was at the time a big mess because they didn’t give credit to Kurosawa. Eventually, after watching ‘For a Fistful of Dollars’ so many times, it was rather difficult for me to really get into this flick. I think I would have enjoyed it more if it would have been the first time I saw this story but it is something you should always try to avoid : to watch the remake before the original version. Still, it is definitely an entertaining samurai flick with some very good directing by Akira Kurosawa and a solid performance by the always dependable Toshiro Mifune. To conclude, don’t be fooled by my seemingly low rating, it is a classic and it is definitely worth a look, especially if you like the genre.

7/10