Samurai Films & Westerns: The Complete History of Two Iconic Film Genres
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- čas přidán 24. 02. 2019
- Westerns and Samurai Cinema (Jidaigeki or Chambara films) are both iconic film genres with iconic film heroes, and over the years, they have had an odd relationship. One genre influenced the other, then the reverse, and so on and so on. In this video, I will not only break down the history of their relationship (who influenced who) but examine what makes them so interchangeable. What do the Samurai and the Gunslinger have in common and why does the story of one apply to the other?
Let me know your theories in the comments below.
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#samuai #cowboys #clinteastwood #akirakurosawa #westerns
Instrumentals in this video are by:
1.TORK PROD / @torkprod
2.Gravy Beats / @gravybeats
3. Brett VanDonsel / @brettvandonsel8837
4. Chuki Beats / chukimusic
5. Ganga Beats / @gangabeats
6. DJ Williams - Krátké a kreslené filmy
Personally I think the biggest similarity is in the circumstances of their settings. Both Ronin and Gunslinger tales came from the aftermath of major conflicts where large amounts of highly skilled warriors suddenly had no master or cause to fight for, and all they knew how to do was fight. Some became criminals, others became lawmen, and the lucky became legends. For the westerns it's usually the aftermath of the civil war. Maybe not directly but that's how the old gunfighters learned how to fight to begin with. John Wayne was specifically an ex Confederate in one of his movies (I believe it was The Searchers). For the samurai, their conflict was the wars before during and after the fall of the shogunate. With the samurai suddenly masterless and the samurai class itself destroyed you had wandering warriors of terrible skill with nothing better to do than drink and fight. Sometimes for a cause.
A similar thing happened during the golden age of piracy, after the wars between France and England and Spain on the seas, a lot of sailors had nothing to do but piracy or priaveteering to turn to. Of course they had the unique twist that they're on the high seas, always in groups as you cant run a ship alone, and were far away from their governors. Not to mention they had a much broader geography to work with, and a much more diverse group to draw from.
I partially agree. I think more often than not it's a conflict between civilization and/or modernization on one end, and the wild and/or an older system of honor that's dying out on the other. The protagonist(s) can embody one or the other or neither or both.
The aftermath of conflict to which u refer is common, but not explicitly necessary for a western/samurai story, since these conflicts are usually the result of the "modernizing" process- the transition from old systems to newer ones (end of shogunate in Japan, establishment of more centralized authority in the US post Civil War or the Indian Wars as a result of Manifest Destiny).
Imo, what defines these genres are the conflicts that arise from the march of "progress"
The term "Jidaigeki" was the inspiration for the name "Jedi" in the Star Wars franchise.
The success of Red Dead Redemption 2 and Ghost of Sushima give me hope that the genres will continue into new forms of media
Yes👌
Absolutely
Bruh he’s talking about classics in film industry and all you can think of is modern stupid video games lol
@@DarshanBhambhani don't knock 'em till you try 'em. Play Red Dead Redemption 2 or Ghost of Sushima and tell me they aren't nuanced, compelling stories worthy of the genre
@@DarshanBhambhani Ah yes, 2 masterpieces with incredible stories that brought attention from modern audiences to the classic film genres are now "stupid games"
Go and play them, open your mind
Pet sounds and Sargeant Pepper
Ford to Kurosawa to Leone to Tarantino.
Jidai geki to Star Wars to space anime.
Great things create new great things.
Amazing subject matter, another good work.
"The first weaboo" I'm dying of laughter!
I think plots and characters like these would be a good fit for Northern Europe during the height of Roman expansion.
Or maybe the Viking Age. Imagine taking The Good, The Bad, and the Ugly and making it about Vikings!
You should watch the 2008 Outlander movie with Jim Cavizel.
just noticed you had Ghost of Tushima in one of the shots pretty cool we have a samurai game and a cowboy game like red dead 2.
Now imagine a colab
Well yeah Ghost of Tsushima was pretty much an homage to Kurosawa to the point a black and white filter made to look like a samurai film was made which in my opinion is the best way to play the game
Even today, Japan and the US continue to have an odd relationship with each other. Maybe not so much politically, but socially is another story. One thing that really should have been mentioned is that increasing urbanization led to both the death of the American Frontier and the samurai.
The death of the unique Asian cultures is why I hate the 1800s and early 1900s with a passion.
I loved avatar The Last Airbender because it was a blend of multiple Asian cultures that I loved and I couldn't stand the sight of the garbage sequel because they portray a post colonial setting despite the fact that Europe doesn't exist in the Avatar universe.
Lone wolf and cub just got a scifi western with the mandalorian
Compared to Solo at least.
The baby cart has 50 caliber machine guns and rocket launchers?
Unforgiven 2013 looks awesome ty so much for mentioning that!
I just saw Red Sun and that ending made me want to cry, dammit.
My dad was really into Westerns, and I've been into Japanese media since I was little. But what I think would be really cool would be a similar kind of film set in medieval Europe. That could potentially be quite interesting.
That would be pretty cool. Maybe a film about a robber baron forced to defend the people he once preyed upon from a tyranical invader, and thus redeem himself as their leader, or a Hospitaller knight trying to track down a divine artifact in the Holy Land before the Templars or Saracens get ahold of it. There's plenty of potential for that kind of setting in the Western/Samurai genre to be sure.
Robert E. Howard, the creator of Conan the Barbarian, wrote a series about Solomon Kane. He's a 16th century English puritan and traveling mercenary warrior who uses two flintlock pistols and a rapier. His story is a bit more fantasy since he battles demons and prehistoric monsters but the style and character is similar to what you find in samurai and westerns stories.
That would be something about a highwayman like Robin Hood I think
@@goobiusthetrafficcone1438 These sorts of stories necessitate a state of lawlessness (the main characters of these sorts of stories are niether with the state or against the state, they're independent of them and just out for themselves; they have no affiliation, they're an outsider, which is why they're so often bounty-hunters), so if it were to be set in Europe I'd have to imagine it set either during the early middle ages just after the fall of Rome, or on the fringes of society in the highlands or border-territories like so many of Sir Walter Scott's books are. Could also be set in modern day Sicily or olden Venice what with the Mafia and the in-fighting, could take place among Vikings, there are many possibilities. Armies and wars are backdrops, never the main characters (Ran and Kagemusha don't really have that spaghetti-western vibe now do they), it's more about gangs and roving bands... and poverty is a must.
Perhaps the plague would be an interesting time-period.
The Hundred Years War would be fertile ground.
3:10 to yuma is one of my favourites and also Lonesome doves from western
Just saw you post a link to this in a SW Facebook group. Great job, really informative. This is a topic I am very into, but I learned a lot in this video I didn't already know about.
Lonesome dove would be an epic Samurai tale.
What would be the Japanese version of cattle drives?
Great video.... I've been watching a lot of Kinji Fukasaku's Yakuza-themed films recently, and I can't help but also notice some obvious crossover between them and Westerns. SYMPATHY FOR THE UNDERDOG (1971) is a great film, with some obvious nods to THE WILD BUNCH, for instance..
Yojimbo was always my favourite. Fun fact that you didnt mention, Last Man Standing with Bruce Willis is yet another westernish take on that same plot.
I never knew there was a samurai redo of unforgiven. I know what I'm watching next.
Wow, that was very interesting and informative. Thanks for posting it.
Awesome video, this is all so interesting
Really interesting video 👏🏾
Hey thanks for this. I'm subbing.
Great video, thank you
Great video!
Very well done 👏👏👏
Great video
Even John Wayne spoke of the Cowboys/ Samurai being very similar. He said. The only thing that comes close to the Western is The Samurai stories of Old Japan. ( paraphrased )
If there was an adaption of ‘Bring Me the Head of Alfredo Garcia” into a samurai film (please Mr. Miike, hear my plea) it would be awesome.
This makes me question if “The Good The Bad The Ugly” has a samurai movie counterpart?
Great video, I learned quite a bit. Props for giving credit to Samurai Western's developers, rather than the publisher by the way. I'm a bigger fan of supporting the actual creators of my entertainment, rather than the suits who funded it.
you explain shit so smoothly
16:05
Meme potential
Alain Delon: me getting ready to relax for the weekend
Toshiro Mifune: the homework I have that is overdue
and it seems these two genres have made their way into gaming as two of he most popular games of both genres are ghost of tsushima and red dead redemption 2
Классное видео !
Never made the connection before but now I totally see it!! My fav movie has always been Tampopo tho so I shoulda seen it
oh man, that Comedor Parry quote from Bill Wurtz history of japan almost went unnoticed sir.
no one has ever, as far as i know, redone "sanjuro" as a western. ..... though not as stark and riveting as "Yojimbo" it's still gritty enough with a more humanistic aspect and even funny at times.................done right it would make a heck of a western and may even stake a brief return to the classic style genre ...................... i like your video, a great idea done well, very insightful, fresh and entertaining as well, thanx...............................
started feeling that samurai western itch, its time to go down the rabbit role once again!
best genre ever undisputed
When talking about Red Sun, you should have noted that Charles Bronson was also in the magnificent seven.
We have Shogun now 🎉🎉🎉🎉
Because I’m a fan of Shane, I absolutely love the Avatar Episode Zuko Alone, Which I see as a Samurai film version of the classic western film, that works to highlight the similarities by the contrast (Zuko Alone gives us Zuko’s backstory while Shane leaves the heroes past a mystery. Shane leaves despite the boy he saved protesting while Zuko is forced to leave when the boy he saves decides he wants nothing to do with him. The Tragedy is that Shane is content to leave his past life behind. Where as Zuko can let’s his ego and anger over his past get the better of him.
Good taste. Harakiri is a masterpiece.
Hello, do you have sources for the info provided in this video? I am currently writing an essay on this subject for my degree and it would be very useful to me! thanks!
Yes, I do. It would take me a bit to find and list them all, but a lot of it was Wikipedia (I always checked the Wiki book sources). Email me at listymcgee@gmail.com with any specific question and I can help.
@@StoryDive I never noticed this notification! I have just finished my essay, but I am greatly appreciative of your offer to help!
Stranger In Japan Aka Silent Stranger by Luigi Vanzi and starring Tony Anthony was THE first Western/ Samurai crossover in 1968
زمن الفن الجميل
In surprised you didn't mention "the warriors way" its a fun samurai/ western crossover
It's a decent film but I don't think the main character is a samurai.
@@StoryDive
A warrior that defeats the greatest swordsman, then becomes a ronin because he wont kill a baby (which his clan considers a betrayel)
Sounds like a samurai to me, unless we want to get exceedingly pedantic, but that would call many of the samurai film / chanbara into question since most of them feature Ronin / sword wielding gangsters instead of officially employed samurai.
@@StoryDive
A lot of what are called "samurai" are moreso ronin. Samurai is technically just a job title after all. One that comes with a lot of expectations of course, but a job nonetheless. Most depictions of "samurai" are just dudes wielding a katana who uphold that bushido code, but since they serve no master, they can't technically call themselves samurai.
4:40 Most influential filmmaker.
the Japanese verison of unforgiven reminds me of the anime Ruruain Kenshin
you managed to make a video abot westerns without refrencing the good the bad and the ugly even once.
think it would be cool to adapt the duelist by ridley scott into a western
More western and/or samurai movies should be placed into Sword & Sorcery settings. That way, the genre might be taken a might more seriously.
7:26. This reminds of the Italian kid from "20 Million Miles To Earth." Saying that he wished he had enough money to buy a ranch in Texas.
11:47. Wasn't "Young Guns" an early 90's film?
15:13. This will sound unorthodox, but I think Brazil would be a good setting for a joint Samurai/Western film. Hear me out. Alot of both Americans and Japanese moved there in the later half of the 19th Century. Americans from both sides of the Civil War looking to start over and Japanese expanding to the outside world post Meiji Restoration. A potential clash of three very different cultures. I also think Hong Kong, South Africa, and Australia would also work very well for similar reasons. You could even throw pieates in there as many fled to less civilzed lands or just plain quit at this time due to how hard it was to continue their way of life in the modernized Americas and Japan.
Zwick's movie should have been called The Last of the Samurai. That would have sounded less like they were saying Tom Cruise was the last one rather than the plural.
It was probably a Verhoeven move where he wanted to use a pre-existing name to help sell the movie.
U speak good
Were was ninja turtles 3
Haha. I actually saw that one in theatres when it came out.
@@StoryDive I had the tape.
Could Logan , Wolverine story be both a western and samurai movie at the same time?
Wolverine was mostly ninja related though
neohubris I think he meant the last one where he died
GIRI GIRI CHAMBARA!
This is very intelligent and fascinating. There's a chapter missing here, or two. What was the American West really like? How was it similar to Mexico and Canada? Cowboys are of course Americanized vaqueros. And then what are the written stories that influenced or were the sources for the movies. I simply can't imagine a cliff hanger film like Hara Kiri as not having had literary or theatrical precedents. And of course what is the history of samurais and how did the fictionalized accounts develop. (Mishima had to have been a source. The duel near the beginning of the Seven Samurai, the scene you included of the clever 'shoot out' at the end of Sanjiro. 'Yojimbo' starts cutting that guy as he's taking his sword out of the scabbard, pushing it into the guy's side with his fist at the back of the blade. These are pure Mishima, the two toughest guys meeting for a show down, then the hero doing something clever and seemingly counter-intuitive.)
And Kurosawa. I've studied his movies for years. I can see from the high angles of the first big street stand off, seen from 'Yojimbo's' PV in the tower match traditional Japanese block prints and paintings, but over all Kurosawa seems as international a director as there ever was. When the writer for Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon said in interviews that his writing that script without a Chinese cowriter would be like a non-American trying to write a Western. Of course: Yojimbo. It's a classic Western. Did John Ford ever see it? )
Another critical aspect of the Western, and Samurai genres is how visual they they. It's no mistake that John Ford was a well established silent film director when he continued to invent the visual language of the Western. Many techniques he continued to use, like the slightly long close-up one-shot for reaction, emphasis or feeling-- especially of bit characters.
You have to be more specific when you use the words "moral code." Most uses of 'moral' do not refer to guidelines of when it is okay to use violence. This is why you don't find movies about St Francis, the wandering mendicant, included with these almost always very violent films. He too is a man wandering through the wilderness living by his moral code, but he never kills anyone, or feels the need to. Samurai culture and code like gunmen of the old American West and medieval knights is predicated on violence. It's often shocking after seeing dozens of samurai movies to then find out that armed samurai were basically tough bullies, just as were medieval knights and most gunmen. You're not likely to find a fight unless you go looking for one. Not to disparage these movies, violence, action, movement, rapid visual changes of circumstance -- he was alive and now he's dead-- a perfect in movies. He was rich and now he's poor, sure that plays too, it's just not as exciting.
And the knight errant of the 'middle ages' wasn't invented until the 15th century. I wouldn't be at all surprised to find out the heroic ronin Samurai story was invented after the Meiji Restoration.
I was taking a college course when The Last Samurai came out. A Japanese student friend from Sapporo asked me if I'd seen it He'd really liked it. What just about gave him a heart attack was when I said I had seen it and, "I never knew that it was an American who'd saved Japanese culture." Then I laughed and he could breathe again. I like to know the real body counts and history behind these terrific movies. My son and I got a big laugh when while watching a tape of a John Woo movie, after Chow Yun Fat had killed at least a hundred guys on motorcycles, we looked up the homicide rate for Hong Kong. 2-3 a year. My girlfriend, who's from Hong Kong, pointed out that most of these were stabbings with an occasional poisoning. The last thing that was ever likely to happen in Hong Kong is somebody shooting a gun at someone else. (About as likely as catching it and throwing it back through the skull of an evil foreign devil.)
Toshiro Mifune was basically John Wayne and Clint Eastwood and a Shakespearean actor all wrapped up into one package. 😁
And you should have pointed out how Japan turned at least two Shakespearean plays into Samurai movies, such as the critically acclaimed throne of blood.
@@NostalgicGamerRickOShayand Ran
0:48 "open the country. Stop having it be closed"
Please post a list of movies mentioned in this video.
Ok I will when I have time. In the meantime you can always just look at text in the lower left hand of the video because I listed all the films there.
StoryDive
HAHAHAHAHAhahahahahaHAHAHAAAA!!!!
8:08 Got him sued
Lone Wolf and Cub in 1880's America? Wow...
Or the 1930's ie Road to Perdition.
The Searchers should be turned into a samurai film, and Sanjuro should be turned into a western
Yes the Bill Wurst
Japan it's pretty much take what it works for their films and throw the gaijin stuff into the trashcan. And then ubisoft put the samurai and the western mixed the two into one and we got red steel 2 and it was awesome
Samurai champloo as a classical western
I wished someone did a tale of a young ambitious samurai go on a journey to the west to duel a old Cowboy who swore to nonviolence but the young samurai is willing to go as far as he need to duel the old cowboy!
Don't forge the panned Keanu Reeves film 47 Ronin
Another one is Ninja
My favourite samurai films are all with Mifune Toshiro: Seven Samurai, Yojimbo, Sanjuro, Zatoichi meets Yojimbo, Musashi Miyamoto l-lll, Samurai banners, Samurai Assasin I kinda appreciate Last Samurai ( this is not with Mifune) Japanese film and The last Samurai US films. As for westerns the best are: The magnificient seven all 3, Once upon a time in the west. I love some films with Gregory Peck the titles escaped my mind. This is what I think. Interestingly, I do not like American weterns. I think the Wild Bunch was great even though I do not like the genre too much. I can easily deal with it in Japanese cinema because it is different there.
That dude in yojimbo has a six shooter with his sword so basically the same genre
There's a near 1:1 correspondence between the Ronin and the Confederate veteran. Both lost their leaders, their land, and their banners. They're pariah who have no place in polite society, and in the case of Reconstruction America and Edo Japan, even their skills as warriors are no longer valued. An age where people strive for peace and stability also requires submission to the new unified authority, and both of these men are loathe to relinquish their liberty, lawless as it might be.
I like to see more western with black oreint native American Latino people in Morden western?
SWORD OF DOOM, SWORD OF DOOM, SWORD OF DOOM!!!!
*cowboy bebop exits stage left
ガンマンは自分と自分の名誉のため、侍は守るべき人とその名誉のために戦います。似てるようで真逆。
Star Wars Sux
And then George Lucas stole it all and did Star Wars....
11:12
stole is a terrible way to describe it when talking about genres who were their influences on their sleeves.
actually it's a great word for a lot of levels. i will just leave one of them here from tarantino: "great artists steal. they don't do homages."
The only art I'll ever study is stuff that I can steal from - David Bowie
@@p.evrenk.2020 Did you ever consider that maybe that was a joke?
1:18 American cowboys aren't the national character of the US in fact they have little to do with American national history
an american national character would be a minute man or a infantry soldier basically gun culture
cowboy culture isn't original from the US but Spain via hacienda system and has little to do with dealing with guns
Cowboy culture is America.
Spanish ranching is not the same as American. Just like the mafia and the crips aren’t the same although both are gangs and both deal with drugs and are violent. Their culture is completely different so they’re not the same thing.
@@TheKnoxvicious
You realize Spanish brought cattle to America a 100 years before any British had set a foot on the continent right?
Japanese cinema was way less racist
Well they see everyone else as equal crap, in order words they see two groups: Japanese people and everyone else
@@darkroninmarvel Nah that's the Chinese lol
@@MILDMONSTER1234 oh
It was only less racist because the country was and to an extent, still *is* very xenophobic. So it's hard to have racist caricatures in your films when everyone pretty much only knows people of the same race.
Or was it?