(You can skip to about 10 minutes in if you want to hear about the movie. It’s all sexy ASMR and shop talk until then.)

SANJURO (1962), sequel to the groundbreaking YOJIMBO (1961), is not so groundbreaking. It’s where you start to get a sense for the commercial viability of Toshiro Mifune’s inimitable character (he’d go on to appear in ZATOICHI MEETS YOJIMBO in 1970, pairing him up with the blind swordsman for the most ambitious crossover event of all time). Despite being specifically named after the character this time, SANJURO feels somewhat less true to the spirit of YOJIMBO. That’s maybe not surprising given that it’s an adaptation of a completely separate novel into which the character of Sanjuro was written to capitalize on the commercial success of YOJIMBO. Trivia!

Theme: "Raindrops" by Huma-Huma/"No Smoking" PSA by John Waters.