Thursday, October 27, 2011

Movie Review: The Man With No Name

As a creature paradoxically possessing too much and yet too little time I find myself multi-tasking (in a way) quite frequently.  Now I generally have a Hulu stream or a movie playing while I write to both lessen the impact of long term boredom/fatigue and also because I subscribe to the idea that inspiration can come from anywhere.  Especially the Wild West.

I was watching "The Man With No Name" for the first time.  I had thought that it payed homage to Kurosawa's Yojinbo in the same way that Eastwood's later "Pale Rider" payed homage to "Shane" before it.  I wasn't expecting scene by scene recreation.  Ah well, it was just as entertaining the second time around as it was the first.  Still the finale pitting Mifune's Sword and skill against the upstart's gun was important for the way it symbolized the last gasp of an era (When the Last Sword is Drawn also tries to capture this moment).  The impact just isn't the same with the "Ha-hah! My gun is bigger prepare to lose Yankee!" plot line.

No comments:

Post a Comment