The tradition of the lone anti-hero who rides into town and upsets the status quo with bloodshed and vengeance is one that shines bright in global consciousness. The model purports that one person with steel in hand (regardless of whether it’s a sword or a gun) can march into a town haunted by corruption and put things right with a righteous expenditure of carefully selected violence. Many consider the 1961 film Yojimbo to be the highest expression of this model, which is either inspired by the 1929 novel Red Harvest (itself vaguely adapted … [Read more...]