First Impressions: "True Romance" (1993) + "Yojimbo" (1961)

   Okay, today we're going to talk about two more movies that I watched on a whim: one that a friend recommended I bump up my waiting list and watch immediately, and then just another one that I've long been impatient to see.

   First, True Romance.
   When Clarence and his new wife, former call girl Alabama Whitman, unintentionally steal a suitcase full of cocaine from her pimp, they attempt to sell it in Hollywood. But the gangsters who own the drugs are on their trail.
   True Romance, to my knowledge, is one of only two movies that Quentin Tarantino has written but not directed. And this movie definitely spells "Tarantino" all over it, with its sardonic overall tone, its gleeful depiction of violence, and conversations on pretty trivial subjects. And boy is it awesome! :D
   One of my favourite scenes is when Christopher Walken is interrogating Dennis Hopper, because you never know if he's going to be diplomatic or turn violent. And, when Alabama is getting brutally beaten, I was actually laughing in that the guy had the sheer balls to beat a woman like he would anyone else!
   Sadly, though, the overall direction does let the film down quite a bit. In terms of acting and camera work, it all feels a bit too raw; it's not as polished as Tarantino would have made it.
   On a side note, the Drexl character really fascinates me. Maybe it's because I know it's Gary Oldman, but it just sounds like he's putting on an accent. Does the character talk like that just to fit in with his peers? I really want to know! :)
   Overall, if the movie had been a little less sloppy in its direction, I might rank it up there with the best of Tarantino.
   My rating: 75%.

   And secondly, Akira Kurosawa's classic Yojimbo.
   A wandering ronin comes across a town torn apart by two criminal gangs, and decides to end the town's trouble by playing them both against each other.
   Now, I'll be tackling this movie in perhaps a very different way. I saw A Fistful of Dollars (the spaghetti western remake) first, so I couldn't help comparing the two as I was watching it.
   In terms of story, A Fistful of Dollars follows Yojimbo almost beat for beat. The key difference is the attitude of each movie. Fistful of Dollars plays it with much more humanity: you sympathise more with the law-abiding Baxter family. But in Yojimbo, both sides are as corrupt as the other, so you can't help but agree with the samurai: the town would indeed be better off with both of them dead.
   The samurai himself is a fascinating character, too. He seems completely uninterested in almost everything unless it involves violence. I especially love the scene early on where he gets both clans on the brink of battle and he just sits back to watch! :D
   By a certain point, the proceedings were just different enough for me to start to appreciate Yojimbo in its own right – helped all the more by the fact that I felt as if I'd settled into the town environment.
   Overall, this is an excellent tale of bringing balance to a savage community, and I certainly look forward to seeing it again when I don't have Fistful of Dollars on the mind.
   My rating: 80%.