The Japanese Classic Yojimbo and A Fistful of Dollars by Sergio Leone - Admission/Application Essay Example

Two Films: Translation of Themes in Yojimbo into Western Cultural Contexts, Comparison of Meanings of ‘Man with No in Eastern and Western Contexts Table of Contents I. Introduction 3 II. Discussion 3 Endnotes 8 I. Introduction This paper examines two films, the Japanese classic Yojimbo, and ‘A Fistful of Dollars’ by Sergio Leone, in terms of the translation of the themes in the former movie into western cultural contexts, and specifically in terms of the complexity of meanings of the character of the ‘Man with No Name’ in Eastern and Western cultural contexts. This paper develops the thesis that because of the universality of the themes of greed, violence, the complex psychologies of men, and the mercenary man with no name who outwits and outlives everyone, the themes of Kurosawa’s ‘Yojimbo’ translate well into Leone’s ‘A Fistful of Dollars’, and that both films excellently explore the many nuanced meanings of the man with no name character in Japanese/Eastern and American/western cultural contexts. i ii iii iv v vi II. Discussion There is much to be said about the themes of Kurosawa’s work ‘Yojimbo’ representing universal human qualities, values, traits, and compulsions. In a way the movie is an exploration of those deeper human impulses, ambiguous, dark and sometimes hard to figure out outside of the contexts of the daily interactions of people in closed and isolated communities such as the one in the film. The best and worst of people emerge in such conditions of isolation and forced daily encounters among people. In the movie too, the rogue elements of the communities dominate with little regard for presenting more acceptable, honorable, and decent fronts. The rogues are rogues and they are in the business of killing each other for supremacy, out of fear too, out of a sense of greed, and the complex dark and vicious motivations that compel men to act in the ways that they do. Looking at the counterpart themes in ‘A Fistful of Dollars’, the translation of that exploration of deep-seated, complex and often dark human values and impulses seem to be flawless. It is a testament to the fact that those values are inherent in all men, and that in a way the movie is able to translate those deep human values, qualities and impulses in a setting that is as foreign as can be to the sensibilities of the Japanese- the wild west. Other themes relating to human nature exploration are similarly well-translated from the former movie to the latter remake, which is what Leone’s film amounts to. The literature tells us that in essence, Leone recreated the Japanese classic almost scene for scene, and that Kurosawa successfully sued for financial consideration as a result of the copying. That aside, we see that the themes of revenge and violence that seems to border on the absurd are common in both movies, and is well explored. Both groups are driven to almost insane levels of violence partly driven by a sense of wanting to take revenge, and in both movies the theme of revenge seems to permeate all interactions between the two rival groups/gangs and act to keep the tension taut. The violence seems to hang like swords over their heads, ready to drop at any time. The theme of revenge too is explored in terms of how revenge forms part of a complex dynamic that seems to drive the groups and rule their behaviors and their lives, like fate, something that is more powerful than the individual players in that drama, and capable of perpetuating itself and the violence that it also breeds into infinity. There seems to be no end to both, and the movie ‘A Fistful of Dollars’ is able to adapt that universal dynamic and the two underlying themes making it up from the original Japanese classic very well. The translation of those themes seems to have been done flawlessly, and we see that in any cultural context, those themes and those aspects of human nature and human interactions are universal. vii viii ix x Exploring the man with no name character in both films, one can see that there are many nuances in the cultural contexts of the character in the east and in the west. In the western context of the character, as typified by the character of Clint Eastwood in ‘A Fistful of Dollars’, the man with no name is a mercenary that seems to be devoid of class and of moral scruples. He seems to be agnostic too, with no stigma associated with being the kind of person that he is, wandering from town to town and looking for opportunistic job prospects essentially killing people and dealing with the rogue elements of different towns. He is less of a marginalized person that seems to be the personification of the ronin, or masterless warrior and samurai, in the Yojimbo movie. In the latter movie, there seems to be a greater emphasis on the cultural and social context of the ronin, someone who lives on the fringe of society, someone who is an outsider and generally considered as being of an inferior quality and occupying a very low position in the social hierarchy of the society. In this latter context the man with no name seems to carry more social and cultural baggage, and he in turn seems to personify and live those baggage with indifference. He peddles his warrior and samurai skills and lives for the day, for money and for the daily diversions at the end of the day’s work. The other characters in the movie treat him from this position of considering his social standing and baggage in turn. The townspeople either put him down, or else the rogue groups recruit him expecting him to do their dirty work, all the while too considering him as an outsider. He is an outsider and a kind of independent outcast. In contrast, in the western cultural context as typified in ‘A Fistful of Dollars’, Joe seems to have no such cultural and psychological baggage to contend with, and neither do the other characters and the community in general regard him in contexts tied to social hierarchy. This may be partly due to the fact that American and western society in general does not seem to view the world in those same social and cultural contexts that the Japanese do. Clint Eastwood’s character is regarded on his own merits and skills as a kind of mercenary for hire. In this sense the man with no name is regarded in more egalitarian terms in the west, as opposed to the more heavily social hierarchy-based consideration of the man with no name in the Japanese classic. xi xii To conclude, one can see from the above discussion that the themes of the Japanese classic, focusing on the complex makeup of human nature and specific elements such as violence, greed, the different nuances of human nature in the context of closely-knit communities and the dark side of human nature, translate seamlessly into western cultural contexts, as seen in ‘A Fistful of Dollars’. This stems arguably from the fact that such aspects of human nature are universal, and cut through time and through different cultural contexts. On the other hand, the man with no name has varying nuanced connotations in the east and in the west, with the eastern ronin carrying more cultural and social baggage tied to social hierarchies and the low position that ronins occupy in those contexts, in comparison to the western mercenary. xiii xiv Endnotes Read More