Kurosawa's "Yojimbo" - Techniscope?

March 21, 2005

Does anyone know how this 1961 classic was shot? I watched a Criterion Collection DVD of it over the weekend, and it looks like its 2.35.1, with very deep focus for just about every shot. I'm wondering if it was anamorphic or Techniscope (Tohoscope?).

I understand the "Fistful of Dollars" is a remake of it - I haven't seen it, but wasn't it Techniscope?

Nathan Milford · March 21, 2005

It was anamorphic. Tohoscope is simply Toho Studio's Anamorphic process (like Shawscope and Cinemascope). He would have copious amounts of light to enable him to achieve his deep focus. It got very hot on those sets.

A Fist Full of Dollars was infact shot in techniscope. The fact that it was a Sergio Leone flick is probably what tipped you off.

DavidSloan · March 21, 2005

Listen to Nathan, he knows his Kurosawa :D

J. Lamar King IMPOSTOR · March 21, 2005

"Yojimbo" is an awesome film. Have you seen it's companion piece "Sanjuro" yet? I think it is just as good and has some of the best framing of any Kurosawa film, perhaps any widescreen film, ever.

March 21, 2005

I'll add "Sanjuro" to my list of films to see. I thought "Yojimbo" was pretty terrific, especially considering that it was made around 1960. The whole Samurai idom is so much like the classic western, it's amazing. I understand that "Last Man Standing" was also based upon it.

There was another Kurosawa film I saw a few years ago which (IMHO) I thought must been heavily plundered by George Lucas for the first "Star Wars" movie. It featured two bumbling wanderers who were very much like R2D2 and C3PO. Does anyone remember the name? I've forgotten it...

Felipe Perez-Burchard · March 21, 2005

It featured two bumbling wanderers who were very much like R2D2 and C3PO.

you might be thinking of hidden fortress... pretty awsome too, love the opening image behind the two.

-felipe.

Nathan Milford · March 21, 2005

I'll add "Sanjuro" to my list of films to see. I thought "Yojimbo" was pretty terrific, especially considering that it was made around 1960. The whole Samurai idom is so much like the classic western, it's amazing. I understand that "Last Man Standing" was also based upon it.

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The Zatoichi series is pretty good too (Japanese studio era films are a bit of a fetish for me). 26 Features and hundreds of TV episodes from 1962-89 all starting the wonderful Shintaru Katsu. Brilliant stuff! Kazuo Miyagawa (Cinematogapher of Rashomon) lensed five of the movies and there was even a Zatoichi VS Yojimbo installment. Takaeshi Kitano released a new installment which was swell, but I like the Katsu better. Many of Kurosawa's stock players show up here and there, most notably (excluding Toshiro Mifune) is one of my favorite actors Takashi Shimura, Kambei, the main Samurai in the Seven Samurai and the General in The Hidden Fortress oh! and Mr. Watanabe in Ikiru! (How haunting was he on the singing on the swing).

More Zatoichi info here.

David Mullen ASC · March 22, 2005

Kurosawa's 1960's b&w anamorphic films are great examples of 2.35 compositions in deep focus WITH long lenses, a photographic hat trick requiring HUGE amounts of light. "High & Low" is a great example, or "Red Beard" -- some shots are done with a 500mm anamorphic lens indoors stopped down to f/22 (probably on something like Double-X.)

He sometimes built his interior sets at one end of the soundstage and had the cameras at the other end.

Ben Schwartz · March 24, 2005

Here's a pretty interesting link:

http://www.redballoon.net/ws.txt

It lists films shot in the various 'scope formats -- including Tohoscope, Techniscope, Shawscope, Hammerscope, etc. -- starting with the Natural Vision productions of 1926 and going through 1996.