Abstract
There are many ways to read the relationship between a film and its remake: in terms of fidelity, imitation, plagiarism, appropriation, or other enactments of power. For the most part, such models rely on a binary system to analyse the relationship between two films in isolation from their surroundings. In this chapter I wish to examine such a relationship in terms of a wider model of understanding, based on possibilities of dialogue with a wider film genre. The case study will be the relationship between Akira Kurosawa’s film Yojimbo (Y¯ojimb¯o 1961) and Sergio Leone’s remake, A Fistful of Dollars (Per un Pugno di Dollari 1964).1 The two films themselves are very well known. Akira Kurosawa (1910–1998) made Yojimbo because he had always wanted to make a movie in the Western genre after the style of John Ford, whose movies he had seen as a child. Sergio Leone (1929–1989) was electrified by Yojimbo and made his own version starring Clint Eastwood, a relative unknown. Both films broke box-office records, inspired sequels and made huge stars of their main actors, Toshir¯o Mifune and Eastwood.
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Filmography
A Fistful of Dollars (Per un Pugno di Dollari), Sergio Leone, West Germany/Spain/Italy, 1964.
Covered Wagon, The, James Cruze, US, 1923.
For a Few Dollars More (Per Qualche Dollaro in Più), Sergio Leone, Italy/Spain/West Germany/Monaco, 1965.
Gold Rush, The, Charles Chaplin, US, 1925.
Good, the Bad and the Ugly, The (Il Buono, il Brutto, il Cattivo), Sergio Leone, Italy/Spain, 1966.
Iron Horse, The, John Ford, US, 1924.
Last Man Standing, Walter Hill, US, 1996.
Last of the Mohicans, The, Maurice Tourneur, US, 1920.
My Name is Nobody (Mio Nome è Nessuno), Tonino Valerii, Italy/France/West Germany, 1973.
Psycho, Gus Van Sant, US, 1998.
Salvation Hunters, The, Josef von Sternberg, US, 1925.
Sanjuro (Sanjurō), Akira Kurosawa, Japan, 1962.
Seven Samurai, The, Akira Kurosawa, Japan, 1954.
Shanghai Knights, David Dobkin, US, 2003.
Shanghai Noon, Tom Dey, US, 2000.
Three Bad Men, John Ford, US, 1926.
Unforgiven, Clint Eastwood, US, 1992.
Wild Bunch, The, Sam Peckinpah, US, 1969.
Yojimbo (Yōjimbō), Akira Kurosawa, Japan, 1961.
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© 2007 Rachael Hutchinson
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Hutchinson, R. (2007). A Fistful of Yojimbo: Appropriation and Dialogue in Japanese Cinema. In: Cooke, P. (eds) World Cinema’s ‘Dialogues’ with Hollywood. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1057/9780230223189_11
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/9780230223189_11
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