SAMURAI VS THE

The samurai film, and other forms of jidai-geki (period piece) (Jidai=Jedi), is “singularly Japanese in that it draws upon the peculiarities of Japanese history and myth just as the Western [has drawn] upon those elements in America” (Nolley 232).

Two forefathers of the genre, Akira Kurosawa and Masaki Kobayashi, were influenced by American western film directors such as John Ford.

Ronin and The Gunslinger seem to occupy the same social/cultural place in the stories of their respective cultures.

Both are essentially an updated version of the Knight Errant (or rather, Ronin serve as a bridge of sorts between the Knight Errant and The Gunslinger, having at one point been the contemporaries of both), drifters with Mysterious Pasts Walking the Earth, dueling rivals, fighting bandits, embodying stoicism and self-reliance, and aspiring to self-discipline, often while struggling with their inner demons.

(i.e. the anti-hero/loner with an individual moral code that often requires the use of violence)

The similarities between the idealized forms of the Bushido code and the Code of the West are undeniable, as well- Placing honor and duty above all, protecting the weak, killing only when required but unflinchingly doing so when it is, valuing equally intelligence, Heroic Resolve, and physical ability.

The fact that they're both iconic warrior-types of their respective nations.

Film Remakes Examples

Samurai Western (1961) (1964) Last Man Standing (1996)/gangster (1954) (1960) Battle Beyond the Stars (1980)/scifi (1962) For a Few Dollars More (1965) Adventures of Zatoichi (1964) Blindman (1971)

Film Genres Blends

The Silent Stranger (1968) The Five Man Army (1969) Today We Kill, Tomorrow We Die! (1968) Red Sun (1971) Killer's Mission (1969) Sukiyaki Western Django (2007) Requiem for a Gringo (1968) Blind Fury ( 1989) Ronin (1998) Six-String Samurai (1998) Ghost Dog: The Way of the Samurai (1999) The Last Samurai (2003)