No it does not. That is a canard. I have read Red Harvest. It possible takes a few pieces from the book. Here is parts of a conversation I wrote on the topic (I eventually need to edit it and make an essay of it so excuse some of the messiness of it):Markgway wrote:Yojimbo, Fistful of Dollars, and Last Man Standing all rip off Dashiell Hammett's Red Harvest (which I've not read) so I'm not too worried about the similarities. Originality is overrated.
I haven't seen any other Kurosawa films, but there's a season on TV, so that might change soon.
I have read it stated that this film was a remake or at least an adaptation of Hammett's Red Harvest and I've occasionally mentioned this as well. This seems to have caused a dichotomy amongst certain critics where some mentioned in this source:
and others like Donald Richie does not even mention it in The Films of Akira Kurosawa (3rd Edition) and Alain Silver's THE SAMURAI FILM (EXPANDED AND REVISED EDITION) refutes it and is mentioned here:For decades, American film critics such as Manny Farber and Andrew Sarris have assumed that Yojimbo was, in fact, an uncredited version of Red Harvest--"a bowdlerized version," wrote Farber in an oft-quoted 1966 essay, "The Decline of the Actor." In The Samurai Films of Akira Kurosawa, David Desser states categorically that Yojimbo "is an adaptation of Dashiell Hammett's Red Harvest" and that "the basic situation that motivates the plot in Yojimbo is adapted from Hammett's Red Harvest."
When I receive that book I will quote that passage here. I had always wondered why Richie never mentions the relationship between Red Harvest and Yojimbo. I have even had conversations from people who state that the similarities of this film to the book were as similar as A Fistful of Dollars to this film.Even the footnotes can be fascinating. On page 314 Silver offers up a mini essay that disputes the notion that YOJIMBO is unofficially based on Hammett's RED HARVEST. Noting that there are narrative similarities, Silver traces the critical history of the belief and asserts that the connection is bogus.
My feelings is that one should never assume (assumption is the mother of all fuck-ups) anything. There is so much felonious information out there (this reminds me of when people state that Reservoir Dogs is a complete rip-off of City on Fire where really only the last part of City on Fire is used in that film). I think here is another one. After reading Red Harvest I can easily state that Yojimbo is nowhere near a remake of the book and I seriously doubt it is an adaptation as well. Is there influence? Quite possible, but to state that this movie is anywhere near Red Harvest as A Fistful of Dollars is to Yojimbo is just plain wrong.
There are definitely similarities to the book but even those are not that exact. We have a no-named stranger come into town (hired in the book; random choice in the movie) and is caught in-between different sides and tries to play them against each other. The book actually has more than two main sides (it gets more and more complicated toward the end) while Yojimbo focused on a split in town. Other than that the protagonist drinks in both films and there is a sheriff type figure in both films there isn't that much more similar.
Some other thoughts:
Sanjuro in the movie is much more stronger than the Continental Op character.
There is no female fatale in the film like Dinah Brand in the book.
The film feels like a western translated into a chambara movie while the book feels completely like a hard-boiled detective story.
I really do not recognize any of the situations that take place in the book in the film.
The same goes for the characters.
The Continental Op detective has help from associates and fears his boss. He is also much more talkative than Sanjuro.
The amount of betrayals and different sides in the book is almost overdone.
There is no serious injury or serious workover to the Continental Op character like what happens to Sanjuro.
There is no showdown(s) in the book like what happens in the movie (of course this gives the movie a western feeling while the book is very much ambush oriented in dealing with the opposite sides).
Now I am not knocking the book. It is a fun read that is easily worthwhile for any fans of pulp fiction. The dialog is awesome and will easily remind you of the film adaptations of other Hammett's novels like The Maltese Falcon and The Thin Man. It does overdo the "aha" situation where almost all murders are performed by people you do not expect and he even has false suspects several times throughout the book.
Here is an interesting link discussing both The Glass Key and Red Harvest in relation to Yojimbo: Yojimbo: All Things Dashiell Hammett Make sure you read the comments which has more info dealing with Red Harvest. One scene in Yojimbo that is similar to Red Harvest I forgot that is mentioned in the comments is mentioned here (the first one the last comment mentions I feel is not really similar enough; this scene is almost mentioned by another commentator in that thread as well):
Though I have to mention that being familiar with a book and having your film being a remake or adaptation is two completely different things (this is response to one of the posters in that thread). This movie, to me, is clearly not an adaptation of the book, but as I said before it could have some inspiration from the book. Coincidences in both literature and cinema is nothing new. Proving them to be an influence is still a bit difficult unless we have proof.The other is when Reno cuts down the four remaining men of Pete the Finn’s gang, including Pete, after implicitly promising them safe passage in return for coming out of the building where they’re holed up. (Chapter XXV, Whiskeytown.) (See NoelCT's earlier post for a quote.) This is reminiscent of the scene near the end of the movie when Seibei, Orin, and their son surrender only to be cut down by Ushitora’s gang.
