Shugata Sanshiro
Judo Saga
1945
directed by
Akira Kurosawa
Kurosawa's first movie, and so successful that in 1955 Shigeo Tanaka directed a remake, edited by Kurosawa.
Obviously heavily influenced by Eiji Yoshikawa's novel series Musashi, which also has been filmed for Toho by Hiroshi Inagaki (1959). As I love that book, no hardship. A great movie that never fails to entertain and grip. Very powerful script, clever editing and lots of other outstanding Kurosawa qualities — a first movie and a masterpiece. Mark, his occasional superstition is already there, if much less obviously so than in some of his later works. Takashi Shimura's role in his first Kurosawa film is great, what did you expect?
What you get to see is a made from a dupe negative; this is because the Americans burned the original after WWII
here's the story. (It's a fine dupe, though; Toho was originally set up by PCL labs.)
Watch out for these scenes:
— The youngster getting his first real Judo lesson, spending the night in a pond
— the what Billy Wilder would call "cute-meets" on very long outdoor stairs
— the decisive fight with master Shimura
— the final confrontation scene, with the strong wind an ingredient; will come back in many of his movies.
Kurosawa made a sequel Zoku Sugata Sanshiro in 1945, but he did not care for it much
most people tend to agree with him.
Produced by Toho Co. Ltd.
Japan 1943
82 minutes, B/W, Academy screen
| Credits: |
Cast: |
||
| producer screenplay after the novel by photographed art director music by editors |
Keiji Matsuzaki Akira Kurosawa Tsueneo Tomita Akira Mimura Masao Totsuka Seichi Suzuki Toshio Goto Akira Kurosawa |
SUGATA SHOGOROYANO, his teacher HANSUKE MURAI SAYO, his daughter SABURO MOMMA the jujitsu teacher OSUMI, his daughter GENNOSUKE HIGAKI YOSHIMA DAN YUJIRO TODA KOHEI TSUZAKI TORANOSUKI NIISEKI TSUNETAMI IIMURA PRIEST POLICE CHIEF |
Susumu Fujita Denjiro Okoohi Takashi Shimura Yukiko Todoroki Yoshio Kosugi Ranko Hanai Ryunosuke Tsukigata Aritake Kono Soshi Kiyokawa Kunio Mita Akira Nakamura Sugisaku Aoyama Kuninori Kodo Ichiro Sugai |
| Sanshiro Sugata (The Judo Saga) |
| The nascent cinematic style of Akira Kurosawa is evident in this, his first outing as director. A 19th-century jujitsu student is engrossed by the disciplines of judo, culminating in a heated engagement with his beloved's father. Susumu Fujita, Denjiro Okochi star. |
| VHS In Japanese with English subtitles. |
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