Unforgiven (2013) The Samurai Remake Of the Greatest Western
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- Опубліковано 11 бер 2021
- The very best westerns were indeed remakes of classic Japanese Samurai movies, most notably yojimbo being remade into a fist full of dollars and seven samurai into the magnificent seven. Here we actually get the reverse. Sang-il Lee takes the award winning Clint Eastwood classic western, "Unforgiven" and remakes it giving it a Japanese setting with samurai. Sounds like what us samurai fans always wanted right?
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This was an awesome movie! I watched this on Japanese cable. Hokkaido during the Meiji is a great setting. The Meiji period is a favorite of mine. Hokkaido is much different than mainland Japan. Ainu culture is making a resurgence little by little. For those visiting Hokkaido the first time, visit Sapporo and branch out.
This movie does what a remake and reimagining should. It does its own thing with what is there while still respecting where it came from. While Munny and Junpei are very different people (Munney being an outlaw motivated by greed and selfish desire, and Junpei being on the losing side of essentially japan's civil war as it modernized) they both are haunted men trying to tell themselves they are not the killers they were before, yet are being asked to kill again for a cause that, while potentially selfishly motivated, is in service of redressing an injustice.
I love the remake for what it is. It shows that turbulent period in Japan's history when the era of the samurai ended, which happens to coincide with America's post civil war period. So even in that, there is a similar enough time frame that the 'western samurai' descriptor honestly works quite well.
Most of all, though, this movie has heart. Something that many cash grab sequels and remakes that then blame the audience when they tank due to being souless grabs for the original audience's money while also trying to court new audiences by insulting the fans of the originals.
I loved this movie. This was a very fervent time in Japanese history that involved my family history. My father grew up reading samurai stories and now in his old age, he is revisiting those same stories. I told him I rented Unforgiven and he immediately watched it.
This is sincerely the most underrated Remake ever Made. The ending improves upon the previous Unforgiven which is truly saying something. Unforgiven is an Amazing film.
I'm so glad the remake is finally getting popular
Just watched this last night and was blown away. Seriously an underrated Japanese movie of recent. The cinematography is incredible
I wish your videos got more views, this deserves a proper audience for a review
Thank you
how did not not of this movie!
Yojimbo= fistful of dollars
Unforgiven = Hokkaido
Certified classics ❤🎉🎉
I never knew this existed until today.Thank the algorithm. I'll return to watch your review after I hunt this movie down and watch it!
It's a great samurai western
Oh hell yeah glad i was able to put you on this sleeper of a movie remake. Both movies are great and both have enough differences to stand side by side in equal greatness in my opinion. Awsome review man.
Awesome find!
So glad you introduce us to these films! I would never hear of this one! I’m a longtime samurai fan ! 70 yrs. Old 😂
Im sure you know of many great ones that I have missed 😁
Big Ken is a Legend
As someone who loves both westerns and samurai movies almost equally, I find it pretty cool that the western got a taste of its own medicine. A good comparison would be The Hidden Fortress and Star Wars. It's almost impossible to talk about The Hidden Fortress without talking about Star Wars, even though they're actually pretty different and The Hidden Fortress stands up on its own just fine. I got a lot less Star Wars vibes and more transporting gold vibes to be honest.
Speaking of westerns and samurai movies, Yojimbo is next on my list of Akira Kurosawa films to watch. I'll probably like it more than A Fistful of Dollars, even if it's connected to my favorite movie of all time, The Good, the Bad and the Ugly. I doubt I will be biased since A Fistful of Dollars is actually my least favorite out Sergio Leone's main films (believe it or not) and it's still pretty good.
Taste of its own medicine? You do know Kurosawa was a fan of westerns right? He based the story of Yojimbo on a crime noir novel and its cinematography on westerns.
I love your channel man, keep it up!
Thank you!
To be fair (and other people may have mentioned this downthread), Kurosawa was borrowing thematically from American Westerns when making his 'samurai westerns'. Not in the sense of remaking anything, but still there are reasons why they translated well into the westerns of the 60s.
Yojimbo have two remakes: A fistful of dollars of 1964 and Last Man Standing of 1996 with Bruce Willis and directed by Walter Hill. The 3 of them Masterpieces
Your channel is going to explode!! 👍👍
Thank you I hope so lol
This seems like a really good movie I'll give it a shot for sure
I’ve been trying to see this or get a hold of this since I read about it…
I'm really surprised not more people watched this! It was well made! You're really good with analysis. I pretty much agree with everything you said.
I think on a technical level this movie actually might be better than the original. The cinematography is honestly breathtaking, and the score while noticeably less subtle and sentimental than the original is really captivating. It fits in with the more tragic theme of this movie. I think as a whole the movie deliberately makes itself more unpleasant, with harsher imagery and more haunting music. I think that might have to do with a lot of things behind the scenes. The original seems very personal for Clint, and while it wasn't written BY him, the idea of an ex gunslinger in his twilight years probably sung to Eastwood on a somewhat personal level, which is why there's a decidedly more hopeful tone to it all. I also think the heightened tragedy may be applicable to Japan's personal cultural outlook since I imagine the early Meiji years aren't as fondly remembered as our Wild West era is.
I think it's almost impossible to hold a candle to the original but this movie really does do a good job and its pretty commendable that its even comparable to the original. I'd have loved more differences but overall the movie is quite stellar on its own terms and pretty good even when compared to the original.
Sorry for the ramble lmao I like talking about movies. GJ on the video and here's to you hopefully exploding in popularity in the future!!
Agreed on a technical level it is better and I find the location more interesting as not many movies are filmed in that region.
Both films are great in their own way. I can't get over how some reviewers said it's a shot for shot remake. Simply not true.
Anyway Thanks for watching my vid and for being a fan of great cinema 👍
0:17 Don’t forget Rashomon into The Outrage.
Could not help but correct you regarding Ken Watanabe's last name. Long 'a' s. I worked on The Last Samurai film in Japan, LA and New Zealand. A fantastic experience for Cast and Crew that produced an excellent pic as well.
Your read on this film makes me want to see it!
First it was the 7 Samurai followed by the Magnificent 7. After 50 years I still watch 7 Samurai. If I have another 20, Clint Eastwood Unforgiven will be 50 by then. Nothing beats an Original.
I haven't seen any comments about how Watanabe played Kuribayashi in Eastwood's "Letters from Iwo Jima". I'm not surprised that there would be some effort on his part to pay homage to Eastwood's "Unforgiven".
Beware the wrath of a man seeking peace
Lots of great Westerns.....Stagecoach, My Darling Clementine, The Good The Bad and The Ugly, Shane, Unforgiven, High Noon, The Shootist but my all time favorite has always been The Wild Bunch.
Great review. I think of this film the same way I thought of both A Fist Full of Dollars and Magnificent Seven in comparison to their original counterpart: Not as good, but great films nonetheless. I have to say, though, Ken Watanabe is definitely one of the greatest actors working today, period.
That's a great way to look at it!
Whaaat ??? 2013 !?????? Daammnnn i miss this one Film😭😂.. thank you for uploading this
Haha Never too late to watch it.
@@bushidoblues9302 Whats the Japanese movie name please?
@@cristinelgheorghiu5294 unforgiven
Not just Spaghetti Western to Samurai Films, some American horror flicks were also adapted from Japanese supernatural thriller. For example : The Grudge is the Western remake of Ju-On. The only part which changed was the lead character that is played by white people while they still kept Kayako Saeki as the villain ghost girl
Check out my Best J-horror movies vid.
Ken watanabe is a great actor…
Correction: A Fistful of Dollars is NOT a remake of Yojimbo!
Both movies are based on the same short story "Red Harvest" by Dashiell Hammet which actually takes place in the 1930s US. ;)
In general I don't care about alternate versions of the same material like with "Red Harvest" or "Who goes there" by John W. Campell filmed twice as "The Thing". I love both versions since they are quite different and both movies are figured out independently.
However, despite the great production of the japanese version of "Unforgiven" something was missing for me, or soemthing was off. Couldn't definately say what but guess it's the fact that the movie tries to please both the Japanese and Western audience by having a japanese surface but a western interior. It is something I recognised in recent years that Hollywood tries to "infiltrate" the eastern cinema with decoy movies like "Crouching Tiger, Hiddeen Dragon", the most laugheble Oskar for best foreign language movie ever. It's a farce!
Everything of "CT, HD" is american: the director, the writer, the editor, the production studio. This american film was simply made in China but it's still an american movie. As someone who watches Eastern cinema for more then 30 years you instantly recognised that. So Hollywood gave themselfs an Oskar for best foreign movie.
The same can be said with Japanese cinema. Looking back at all the pathethic remakes of incredible Japanese horror movies like Ju-On, Ringu, Kairo and even Godzilla, the next step for Hollywood is to do the same as with Chinese movies: produce american movies with a japanese look.
"Unforgiven Japan" is not a bad movie but one hell of a wasted chance.
Watanabe= What Ta Nah Beh. Your saying it What Tona beh
Is there a blu ray version of this available?
There's a steel book UK version but it doesn't look easy to find. Even though this is only a DVD the quality is pretty good.
samuraidvd.com/unforgiven/
john wayne movies in zhongwen are awesome.
In terms of our desire to "root" for a character within a fictional framework the Watanabe persona of Jubei is actually a far more admirable and interesting an individual than the one played by Eastwood for at least two reasons. Of course this has nothing to do with the quality of the film but Eastwood's character is a mean, despicable, drunken criminal totally corrupt until changed by the influences of his good wife. By contrast, even though the Watanabe character has certain common traits, such as using alcohol to dull his pain of coping with his violent action he does so for very different reasons, Jubei was not a criminal. Jubei was made an outlaw by being on the losing side of one of the most significant political struggles in Japanese history that was instrumental in changing Japan from being the feudal state it had been for a thousand years into a modern representative type of government they have now . Jubei could just as easily have been declared a hero if the side he supported had won the war. Justified or not Jubei suffers from the guilt of his actions, which is certainty the sign of having a conscience. One pattern that is similar for both characters is they are known for being terrifying to friends and enemies alike and like the Eastwood character the Watanabe character was civilized by his contact with a woman who provided a sense of stability and meaning. While both character suffer enormous grief at the loss of a wife in the case of Will Munny he is forever trying to live up to his memory of her. The difference is Jubei's violence was in service to his nation not an expression of greed and selfishness. The other significant difference between the two characters is the effects that the fight had on them defines them as different kinds of men. During the final showdown when the Watanabe character explodes with revenge at the torture and murder of his friend in the course of the fight Jubei is shot and stabbed multiple times. These injuries do not stop him but seem to fuel greater anger. Even at a lull in the fight, where there are bodies and body parts scattered everywhere, with Jubei bleeding and looking like he was ready to collapse at any moment from his wounds, even then he is so terrifies the surviving soldiers that they abandon their weapons and flee in fear for their lives. Jubei's provokes fear in others because he appears unstoppable no matter what is done to him. One significant difference in the story is that the gang of soldiers who play the role of bad guys in the Japanese film were not inept and cowards as portrayed in the Eastwood film. In spite of many of the soldiers being young, afraid, and clearly lacking combat experience they put up a good fight often losing themselves to overwhelming emotions. For all these reasons, surrounded and outnumbered, having been shot, stabbed, and sliced, the Watanabe character survives the impossible by a level of determination unmatched by his opponents just when a lesser man might have been tempted to surrender. Bravery and combat skills are measured by the degree of danger posed by our adversary. Winning a boxing match against a professional MMA fighter is far more significant than beating up an overweight untrained drunken bully. The Watanabe character overcomes far greater obstacles because (1) he is not a gun fighter who could finish the fight instantly, and (2) even if he was that would have not have worked since he walks into a room surrounded on all sides by more than 12 men. Jubei is so focused on revenge with the villan that he never makes plans to escape. This comparison is not at all between Eastwood or Watanabe as actors even though I think they are equal in performing their craft. I like Eastwood, he is an extraordinarily good at what he does, and I have watched him in 50 different roles but he possesses no mystique for me. All of that is irrelevant because I am setting aside the various elements of the film and only talking about the qualities of the character they play. I happen to prefer a character who overcomes greater obstacles in film in the same way I admire such people in real life. In the usual sense the Japanese version of Unforgiven is not a remake but a unique film with enough differences in characters, settings, and culture that it stands on its own merits. The film should be seen by anyone who admires a good story.
Ummm Dave....
You know that Will Muny was the last of a breed. Like Josey Wales. Or Robin Hood. The govt was encroaching on 'western civilization' in America the same way in Japan. Thats why the stories mesh so well.
@@maineiacial I like the Eastwood film but the films have different motivations. We are talking about the characters and the reasons to like them which does not say anything about the quality of the film. I like many films with characters I don't like (different kinds of likes for different reasons) but your description does not fit to me. Jubei is in a situation very similar to Josey Wales and Robin hood but there is no comparison between why these three individuals do what they do and Will Muny. When I compare them Jubei is not a criminal who killed women and children. Jubei was a hero in a civil war who defended his nation on the side that lost. Jubei was in a situation he had no control over and was the victim of fate, just like Wales and Robin Hood. By the way, the war in this film is from Japanese history and the same actor (Ken Watanabe) was in in the film The Last Samurai with Tom Cruise. Watanabe's character was on the same side in the same war as Jubei. In that film the Watanabe character is treated as noble (likely due to social status) and is defending the people of the village where Cruise stayed. We can compare Kuribayashi (played by Ken Watanabe) with those on the other side of the war in The Last Samurai who are the greedy bad guys.
In terms of skill, level of violence, and unpredictability Muny and Jubei are portrayed as the same kind of person in the eyes of those who knew them in their previous lives. Like Muny Jubei is saved by his wife. Unlike Muny's life of crime Jubei become a crazy alcoholic because of the killing that happened during the war. In the final conflict except for the character (Ichizo) who killed his friend Kingo (and the saloon owner who displayed Kingo's body) Jubei is responding in self defense. He warns the soldiers to stay out of his way and when "they" stop attacking him he lets go those who remain. Unlike Muny, during the fight Jubei is shot and stabbed multiple times and is still terrifying. In fact, some of the deputies that Muny kills are treated not as real people but as clowns and with disdain. Compare the gun fight in Jose Wales where Josey describes who he shot first and why with the excited way that Muny is questioned by the writer. By comparison these were children up against a professional gun fighter. Its like whats left of the neighborhood kids after playing football with a cousin on vacation from his day job with Dallas Cowboys. In the end Jubei gives the money, his home, and the possibility of a new life to the whore who was cut and the boy who was with him (the Ainu who the Japanese were trying to wipe out) with only one request, take care of his children. Jubei got justice for his friend (or revenge depending on how you look at it) and radically changed for the better the lives of these other two characters at the expense of himself. The last image we see of Jubei is him escaping into the mountains. Muny runs with the booty and lives the good life in business (the last we hear of him) pretending to be someone else.
Good and Evil is dependant on perception. The cat and the canary will explain that.
@@maineiacial Sure evil it is a matter of perception until that moment when we are the one on our knees before the gun, the knife, or the chain saw. Just be aware that every time we imagine our self above the consequences we ought remember that at any moment we can easily be the canary. Not to mention that the situation of the cat and the canary explains nothing. Except for Disney cartoons the possibility of negotiation is neigh impossible for the canary before the cat. For human being learning do unto others as you would have them do unto you is the lesson when we realize that no one can forever be above that moment when we will be vulnerable.
Skip to 1:30
Whats the name of this Japanese movie being compared to Unforgiven?
Its called Unforgiven just like the Clint Eastwood movie.
Type in Unforgiven 2013, it should pop up easier.
I wish it was in English
How come no one ever mentions, when talking about Yojimbo, that it's an adaptation of an American novel "Red Harvest" by Dashiel Hammet? Should you watch both movies? Yes, but you should also read the book too. You know, if you're into that whole reading thing ;-)
Unforgiven was filmed in Alberta Canada
Open Range with Robert Duvall and Kevin Costner was also filmed there.
Yojimbo was Kurasawa's tribute to westerns. Sergio Leon went a bit far paying tribute to Kurasawa and got sued for it.
What was the name of the Japanese movie? Link? Maybe I missed it all, but I watched this video twice. I can't read Japenese.
Unforgiven
What Is the name of the Japanese Movie?
Unforgiven
So _Stagecoach, High Noon, The Searchers, Fort Apache, The Good The Bad And The Ugly, Once Upon A Time In The West, Butch Cassidy And The Sundance Kid_ and _Shane_ were all remakes of samurai movies? You know, don't you, that Akira Kurosawa stated that he based the plot of _Yojimbo_ on a western he'd seen? You realize, I hope, how much influence Dashiell Hammet's story _Red Harvest_ had on _Yojimbo?_ And there were multiple movies made on _Red Harvest's_ plot since the early 30s.
Maybe in film criticism or history books "the most famous westerns are based on samurai movies," but in real life--actual history--while there is a lot of borrowing back and forth, it's just not true.
good artists copy, the great ones steal.
Wyoming? You.mean Alberta
It was filmed in Alberta but is supposed to take place in the 1800s in the fictional town of big whiskey, Wyoming.
But have you seen the good the bad and the wierd
One of my favorites! Just bought the blu ray a few days ago actually
I t should not be surprising that most will see the original Eastwood vehicle as superior. Just as said with Yojimbo, Seven Samurai, as the original, is also superior to the Magnificent Seven. Magnificent is a slickly packaged 60s Western which glosses over many of the characters in deference to the main actors, Brynner and McQueen. Samurai a longer and more deliberate film is a character study into each of the Seven. It is a much darker and probably realistic look at the class difference between the hired fighters, Ronin, and farmers.
Even Kurosawa liked The Magnificent Seven. So no.
@@MrCarpen7er 😆So no? No what, I didn't say Kurosawa or anyone else didn't like The Magnificent Seven. I said it was the superior project and gave examples why.
Glen Ford>Akira Kurosawa>Sergei Leone>Clint Eastwood>Ken Watanabe
Unforgiven either Eastwood or Watanabe are superb.
Nonsense, this is the first remake I felt was better than the original.
Why not return to the kids? Culture?
Pretty much
I've always found Eastwood's film visually dull... it hardly compares to Lee's work.
I saw the original immediately after having seen the samurai version. The original seemed bland in comparison. Hollywood proving itself to be McDonald's, compared to Kobe beef.
Once upon a time in the West and Pale Rider are better than Unforgiven. I wouldn’t even put it in Top 5. It’s a good film but it’s not the greatest western ever made.
I contest that claim that japan spawned the cowboy film, it's actually in reverse, the first cowboy film pre dates the first samurai film and that's the great train robbery, not to mention Japan's film industry was heavily censored and this limited the amount of films you could make vs flag waving fests for propaganda reasons.
In fact Sergio Leone received an angry letter from the director of yojimbo claiming he ript off his film, in reality yojimbo is based off a book by the name of red harvest that's about a detective hired by an industrialist to go take out to mafia groups who he ends up turning on each other and then watches them destroy themselves and picks off the left overs.
Sound familiar? Its because it was written by Dashiell Hammett who was one of the many corner stones in the formation of what would be called Film Noir.
I'm sorry but NO! Unforgiven is a great Western movie but by no means the greatest. The greatest western movie is, always has been and always will be "The good, the bad and the ugly". And I would watch the shit out of a samurai remake of that movie.
I agree the good the bad the ugly is my favorite. Never gets old. Good idea! it would make a great samurai flick
@@bushidoblues9302 I do believe A Fist Full Of Dollars was a remake of a Japanese movie starring Toshiro Mifune.
Morgan Freeman isn’t a great actor?