Sugata Sanshiro (1943)

User Rating:

6.9/10   

Director:

Akira Kurosawa

Writers:

Akira Kurosawa (writer)
Tsuneo Tomita (novel)

Release Date:

28 April 1974 (USA)

Genre:

Action | Adventure | Drama

Plot:

Sugata, a young man, struggles to learn the nuance and meaning of judo, and in doing so comes to learn something of the meaning of life.

Plot Keywords:

Judo | Jujitsu | Fight | Training | Police

Cast

Denjirô Ôkôchi	...	Shogoro Yano
Susumu Fujita	...	Sanshiro Sugata
Yukiko Todoroki	...	Sayo Murai
Ryunosuke Tsukigata	...	Gennosuke Higaki
Takashi Shimura	...	Hansuke Murai, Sayo's father
Ranko Hanai	...	Osumi Kodana
Sugisaku Aoyama	...	Tsunetami Iimura
Ichirô Sugai	...	Police Chief Mishima
Yoshio Kosugi	...	Master Saburo Kodama
Kokuten Kodo	...	Buddhist Priest
Michisaburo Segawa	...	Wada
Akitake Kôno	...	Yoshima Dan
Shôji Kiyokawa	...	Yujiro Toda
Kunio Mita	...	Kohei Tsuzaki
Akira Nakamura	...	Toranosuki Niiseki

Also Known As:

Judo Saga
Judo Story
Kurosawa's Judo Saga
Sanshiro Sugata (USA) (informal English title)

Runtime:

80 min | Japan:97 min (original version)

Country:

Japan

Language:

Japanese

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Australia:PG | Switzerland:16

Filming Locations:

Kyoto, Japan

Company:

Toho Company

Movie Connections:

Featured in Kurosawa: The Last Emperor (1999) (TV)

Excellent

This film was Kurasawa's big splash. The story based on the legends of Shiro Sakata, Jigoro Kano's (the founder of Kodokan Judo) bad boy is told with the art that only Kurasawa could muster. Fantastic camera work, tense and controlled action and done when Japan was losing the war. The film was competently remade in the early 60's with Mifune and Koyama. But, Koyama could not capture the simple intensity of Fujita in the original title role. A great monument to one of the greatest directors of all times, this film must be seen more than once to be thoroughly enjoyed.