Yojimbo is astoningshing for how fast killing in this movie can be. To stir the corrupted village, Sanjuro makes himself the center of the show by killing three gangsters in three seconds (19:28-19:31). His speed is the proof of his mastery of sword and chance of his survival as a samurai, yet this advantage is challenged by the mechanical speed, that is, the pistol.
Throughout the whole movie, Unosuke is the only one who is strong enough to threaten Sanjuro. What Unosuke lacks in martial arts experiences, he makes up with his pistol. He captures Sanjuro effortlessly in the restaurant, as Sanjuro without a sword is no match for his bullets; But when Sanjuro confronts Unosuke and his gang in the final fight, Kurosawa shows us with excellent editing that the speed of a samurai is not only physical but also mental. Sanjuro still can use his quick determination to defeat Unosuke, and hence our masterless samurai of the fallen old world once again triumphs over the corrupted new order.
The fight starts with a countershot of Sanjuro and Unosuke's gang walking slowly towards each other. When the camera firstly shoots from Unosuke's perpective, Sanjuro seems to be surrounded; he is at the center of the frame, but small in proportion to the gangsters.
All seems to be stable from this angle: one man surrounded by many, do they even need to guess which side will win? But on Sanjuro's side, the camera forecasts movement:
He looks like a giant who can crush the whole gang into dust. At this point, Sanjuro alone is equal to the gangsters in terms of visual presentation. But Unosuke hasn't realize his opponent's strength, and his gangsters is laying their intensions open by drawing their weapons one by one.
The gangsters are now armed. They are stronger than a single man who is not holding his sword. But on the other hand, they also make themselves more predictable and thus vunerable.
Comparing to Unosuke who smiles after holding his pistol, Sanjuro's facial expression hardly alters as he approaches his enemy. He sense of security is not depending on his weapon but rather roots from his inner peace. And this stillness can be truly scary in a fight, since Unosuke can't tell what Sanjuro is thinking about. When Sanjuro is close enough to the camera that the frame looks like a close-up, from the opposite angle, all other gangsters have zoomed out of the frame.
The advantage in number no longer exists for Unosuke, for they are only following Unosuke's instruction and thus do not have their own motives for actions. And the essense of this fight has been revealed as the duel between Sanjuro and Unosuke: whoever wins the first move is the winner of the whole battle. Now Unosuke, realizing that he has to confront Sanjuro by himself, is scared. His lack of battle experience forces him to admit that he is the weakling. He smiles no more, and his words are like a plea for his life instead of a declaration of war.
With Unosuke's words revealing his cowardness, Sanjuro makes his first move. His smile symbolizes the change in power dynamics.
Sanjuro stretches his arms, and neither of his hands holds weapon, therefore it is impossible to predict his movement at this point -- but this balance is about to break in any second.
Their visual representations are no longer stable nor equal. Sanjuro shifts to the right as the gangsters duck, and the camera follows Sanjuro's movement.
Unosuke starts to chase Sanjuro. He holds his pistol with both hands, as if he doesn't know how to shoot. This close-up is parallel to Sanjuro stretching his arms -- both of them are the absolute centers in their frames. However, while Sanjuro opens his body as if he has nothing to be afraid of, Unosuke crawls into a defensive pose.
But Sanjuro is not at ease yet. The close-up presents the most frightening look of Sanjuro -- his life is at the stake more than ever, so at this point, even himself cannot be sure of the result.
Sanjuro and Unosuke overlaps in the next frame as their lives are in each other's hand.
Sanjuro throws a dagger as Unosuke finally recalls how to shoot. Knowing that a long sword is not as fast as bullets, Sanjuro has been practicing throwing daggars ever since he escapes from captivity. And now is the moment to put his new skill into test, at the risk of losing his life.
As Sanjuro swiftly zooms out of the next frame, we know that Unosuke misses his shot.
With an injured arm, Unosuke no longer can shoot Sanjuro. This battle is now only about physical speed, in which Unosuke has no chance of survival. He is frightened as his arms cast shadows on his own face.
Sanjuro runs towards Unosuke as the latter collapses. Since the pistol is no longer a threat, Sanjuro is back to his usual self to use his sword again.
Unosuke painfully slips out of the frame. The camera stops following his action, as if it is announcing his offical defeat. The story after is no longer about Unosuke: Sanjuro is in control of everything.
I much enjoyed this slow-motion reading. The term "mental speed" is a good one. Mental speed comes from a relaxed calm, what you call "stillness," which in turn comes from lack of fear. Is this perhaps why Sanjuro lets Unosuke fire his gun at the end? -- to demonstrate to him that the difference between a gangster and a warrior is that a warrior is indifferent to death.
ReplyDeleteI think Sanjuro knows what he can do and what he cannot control, so he doesn't not fear anything in advance. Even if death threats him just like it does to everyone, at least Sanjuro is not haunted by it while he is alive. He accepts that death may decend to him in any given moment. In the last scene, would it make a difference if Sanjuro doesn't allow Unosuke fire the pistol? I think if Unosuke still has the strength to kill Sanjuro, he will do it regardless of Sanjuro's will, with or without his pistol. So what actually matters is that whether Sanjuro has exhausted Unosuke's Strength, and Sanjuro has tried his best to make sure of it -- He has cut Unosuke's arm and made him a dying man. Sanjuro is not afraid of a dying man. And if this dying man has the wind at his back, and somehow killed Sanjuro, then it must be Sanjuro's fate to die with the gangsters and not in his control. So when Sanjuro decides to hand him the pistol, Sanjuro is going to either survive because of his excellent skills, or die because of his unfortunate fate, and he will be the calmest in this way; but if he checks the pistol in advance, or kill Unosuke; then he will lose confident in his skills, for he would never know whether he survives because he succeed in weaken Unosuke or because he is lucky, and in that case what's left of him will be no better than a gambler.
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