Man at Arms - "Swamp Things"
Yojimbo was so great this morning. I had always heard that A Fistful of Dollars was a total ripoff, but you can't know how total until you've seen them both. It's the same movie with swords instead of guns. And it even has one gun. I guess Sergio Leone just hoped no one would notice, or that when they did it would be way too late for anyone to care. He just wanted to make a cool movie and a little money; he had no idea what a legend he had created or that he had birthed an entire subgenre of westerns with his little ripped-off movie.
Clearly there never would have been spaghetti westerns if not for Akira Kurosawa and Yojimbo! Of course, there would be no Star Wars without Kurosawa's influence, either, and therefore possibly no summer blockbusters, so where would we be? Who could've known that one Japanese director with a fondness for samurais would have such a huge influence on Western filmmaking!
As I watched the film, I realized that the novel shaping in my head would be a lot better with more violence. I need more characters, because a few people gotta die. I really want it to be a western clashing with a story of city corruption, with the main character caught up in the middle.
Oh, here's the one sentence I gave Tara last night for what the book will be about (subject to change, of course): A scientist goes up against a dirty cop and a crooked politician to defend a rural landowner. We'll see how much that morphs as I go along.
Clearly there never would have been spaghetti westerns if not for Akira Kurosawa and Yojimbo! Of course, there would be no Star Wars without Kurosawa's influence, either, and therefore possibly no summer blockbusters, so where would we be? Who could've known that one Japanese director with a fondness for samurais would have such a huge influence on Western filmmaking!
As I watched the film, I realized that the novel shaping in my head would be a lot better with more violence. I need more characters, because a few people gotta die. I really want it to be a western clashing with a story of city corruption, with the main character caught up in the middle.
Oh, here's the one sentence I gave Tara last night for what the book will be about (subject to change, of course): A scientist goes up against a dirty cop and a crooked politician to defend a rural landowner. We'll see how much that morphs as I go along.
No comments:
Post a Comment