Sanjuro, Jidaigeki's New Hero

Abstract

Since the 1960s, a new subgenre (cruel-Jidaigeki) has been introduced to Japanese period films, with its own rules. This subgenre requires a new hero. During this research, I found out that Sanjuro, the first recognised hero of this genre, who appears in Yojimbo for the first time and stands as the model for the other cruel-period films, is indeed a complicated man. Firstly, he is after money. The idea is that because he exemplifies the modern Japanese man who is trapped in a new money-oriented society, he needs to represent the financial difficulties of common men. Secondly, in the course of the narrative in Yojimbo and then Sanjuro, he learns to control his personal conflicts and desires. As a result, he evolves from being his own hero and becomes a hero of the people. Thus, he can be a positive force in society.

About the Author

Alireza Vahdani has born in 1983 in Tehran, Iran. In 2006 he began studying in Oxford Brookes University in Oxford, UK and is currently a PhD candidate in Film Studies. He is presently an Associate Lecturer in Film Studies at Oxford Brookes University. His research interests are Japanese period drama films, Italian popular cinema, classic American Films.

At the moment Alireza is working on his first fiction book 'Poetry of Blood: The Vampire Hunter'.