A Fistful of Dollars (Sergio Leone, 1964)
Adapted from: Yojimbo (Akira Kurosawa, Japan, 1961)
Yojimbo is yet another Akira Kurosawa’s masterpiece that got a second life in Hollywood. The 1961 samurai film centres around a crafty ronin who comes to a town divided by two criminal gangs. He decides to play them against each other to free the secluded town, highlighting the violence and corruption that dominated Japan during the 1860s. What’s more, nearly all the elements of a Western film make an appearance: gangs, deserted streets, terrified inhabitants, taverns, and corrupted men of power, to name a few. Italian director Sergio Leone saw the potential of turning it upside down (well, not completely) into a Western and his remake successfully launched the Spaghetti Western genre (a term coining Westerns produced and directed by Italians).
Starring Clint Eastwood in his first leading role, A Fistful of Dollars is about how a wandering gunfighter plays two rival families against each other in a town torn apart by greed, pride, and revenge. It’s followed by the sequels For a Few Dollars More (1965) and The Good, the Bad and the Ugly (1966). However, since it’s an unofficial and unlicensed remake of Yojimbo, Leone was actually led into a series of legal proceedings after the film’s release.