The Structure of Yojimbo (Isabelle Kirschbaum)

I’d like to talk about the structure of Yojimbo and why I consider it to be the ultimate example of an action movie. The two main ways I understand its structure are through the characters and through the editing. 

The characters: Sanjuro’s character is impeccably crafted to fit his role of protagonist in the story. We know exactly enough about him to understand who he is and how he fits into the world of the movie, but we don’t know any more than that. If we were told more about his backstory (perhaps what kind of family he came from, how he got his training, or how he ended up in this village), it would distract us from the story. The one and only focus of the movie is the story that unfolds over the course of a few days in this little village, and there is no room for anything other than that story. Adding in a side plot about Sanjuro and his backstory would make it an entirely different story. The movie is laser-focused on the immediate action, nothing else. 

As for the other characters, we know even less about them. They are textbook examples of archetypes: the grumpy old man (restaurant owner), the reckless young gangster (pistol man), the inept constable, corrupt mob leaders. All you need to know about any character in this movie is whatever such tagline suits them. These few words sum up the entirety of their character. The only thing worth knowing about Unosuke is that he is a reckless young gangster. Everything he does in the whole movie is consistent with what we would expect from him based on this brief description.

The effect of these archetypes is that as soon as a character is introduced, we know who they are and what to expect from them. We know what role they are going to play in the story. There is no need to know their backstory or motivations, because, as with Sanjuro, who they are matters far less than their direct participation in the action going on in the present moment. We are only concerned with what’s happening right now, and the only thing we need to know is that we can trust the old man who owns the restaurant, but not the gun-toting gangster. This streamlined treatment of the characters lets the audience become fully emersed in the action of the story, devoting as little thought as possible to anything outside the immediate action happening on screen. 

The editing: Pudovkin’s essay on film technique describes how the camera should “see” the action and move through the scene the way that an actual person would observe the scene if they were there. The editing should also be done to create the emotional response in the viewer that the filmmakers wish to have: if they want the viewer to feel anxious, the camerawork should mimic the perspective of an anxious observer; if they want the viewer to feel calm and relaxed, the camerawork should similarly reflect that attitude. If the editing is done properly, the viewer should be affected by the film but should not be able to notice that effect. It should feel natural enough that the viewer doesn’t realize what techniques are being employed to obtain whatever effect the filmmakers chose to produce. 

Yojimbo applies this philosophy very effectively. The camerawork and editing fit so well into the atmosphere of the film that I as a viewer never once noticed it. The camera is always exactly where it needs to be to direct your attention to the heart of the action. Its movements are natural and intuitive. It shows us the action of the film the same way we would see it if we were actually there where the action is taking place, and therefore it fits seamlessly into the film without being noticed.

However, there is a little more to the editing style of Yojimbo than simply the fact that the camerawork is so natural and intuitive that we don’t notice it. In addition to guiding our viewing in this natural way, it also styles the story into a very specific kind of film. Pudovkin talks about the environment of a film as a kind of color or tone or “vibe” of the film. He says that the environment “cannot, and must not, be rendered by one explanatory scene or title; it must constantly pervade the whole film, or its appropriate part, from beginning to end” (196). While it’s hard to describe exactly what the environment or “vibe” of Yojimbo is, no one could deny that it has a distinct vibe. The editing is one of the factors (in addition to the music, the acting, the plot, etc.) that creates this feeling that pervades the film. Without the precisely cut action scenes or the dramatic wide shots of Sanjuro standing in the village street, the movie would not be the pinnacle of action movies that it is.