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Search 713 spoiler-free recommendations from 1916 to 2026. Filter by the night you want—not the list you’re supposed to finish.

Direct film viewShowing master rank #66 on its own—not above the ranking.
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Artwork
DirectorAll directors

Most represented · 6+ films

More recurring directors · 3–5 films54
All directors · surname A–Z438
ActorAll actors

Most represented actors

Big Three membership
Major award winners

1 selected film

Master Rank balances Greatness, Engagement, and Ease. Sort by Greatness for the artistic-canon view.

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View Yojimbo film page
Original poster artwork · Great Cinema Master List

Spoiler-free premise

A nameless ronin, or samurai with no master, enters a small village in feudal Japan where two rival businessmen are struggling for control of the local gambling trade.

Read expanded premiseLonger, still spoiler-free

A wandering samurai enters a town divided between two criminal factions and offers his services to both sides. By feeding each group selective information, he tries to profit from their rivalry while accelerating their mutual destruction.

Why it belongs

Mifune's watchful rōnin sets two corrupt factions against each other while Yojimbo makes strategy, weather, movement, and dark comedy inseparable.

Read expanded why it belongsThe fuller editorial case

Kurosawa stages the town's single dusty street as a tactical arena, deploying Toshiro Mifune's loose physicality, telephoto framing, wind, percussion, and darkly comic pauses to reinvent the samurai film as a cynical, spatially lucid Western.

Major award record

Metadata only · zero points in 40/40/20
Venice1 win1961 · official Venice 1961 awards ↗
Volpi Cup for Best Actor1961 · Toshiro Mifuneofficial Venice 1961 awards ↗

Totals include every recorded competitive win. Only Picture or top-film honors, Direction, Screenplay, and lead or supporting performances are named.

Good for
Date NightFilm Club
Descriptive guidance derived from rating, genre, runtime, mood, and GCML scores.

Institutional reference ranks

Sight & Sound—IMDb Top 250163AFI 100—
Reference metadata only · not part of the 40/40/20 score

Great Cinema Master List scores

Greatness9.3
Engagement9.4
Ease8.9

Japanese · Not Rated
Narrative Feature
Mood: Tense & Absorbing