Sanjuro (1962)

A crafty samurai helps a young man and his fellow clansmen save his uncle, who has been framed and imprisoned by a corrupt superintendent.

Director:

Akira Kurosawa

Writers:

Ryûzô Kikushima (screenplay), Hideo Oguni (screenplay)

Stars:

Toshirô Mifune, Tatsuya Nakadai, Keiju Kobayashi

1 win.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Toshirô Mifune	...	Sanjûrô Tsubaki / The Samurai
Tatsuya Nakadai	...	Hanbei Muroto
Keiju Kobayashi	...	The Spy
Yûzô Kayama	...	Iori Izaka
Reiko Dan	...	Chidori, Mutsuta's daughter
Takashi Shimura	...	Kurofuji
Kamatari Fujiwara	...	Takebayashi
Takako Irie	...	Mutsuta's wife
Masao Shimizu	...	Kikui
Yûnosuke Itô	...	Mutsuta, the Chamberlain
Akira Kubo	...	Samurai
Hiroshi Tachikawa	...	Samurai
Yoshio Tsuchiya	...	Samurai
Kunie Tanaka	...	Samurai
Tatsuyoshi Ehara	...	Samurai

Storyline

A wandering samurai, Sanjuro, is drawn into local politics. The Superintendent of a clan is plotting to take over the clan by implicating the Chamberlain in corrupt activities (activities the Superintendent is actually responsible for). Part of the plan involves killing off the Chamberlain's staff and, in protecting them, Sanjuro sides with them. The supporters are massively outnumbered so it will require all of Sanjuro's cunning and swordcraft to ensure the Superintendent does not succeed in his evil plan.

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Plot Keywords:

samurai | warrior | sword fight | corruption | clan | 

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Taglines:

Akira Kurosawa's Powerful and Newest Japanese Masterpiece

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Genres:

Action | Comedy | Crime | Drama | Thriller

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Certificate:

Tous publics

Did You Know?

Trivia

The music played over the opening title is the main theme from Le garde du corps (1961).

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Goofs

The three enemies who surrender are kept in a room with chicken wire / poultry mesh stretched across the door. This was invented in England in 1844 and did not exist in the era or place depicted in the film.

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Quotes

Sanjûrô Tsubaki: We can't move like this! We look like a centipede!

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Connections

Spoofed in Avatar, le dernier maître de l'air: Nightmares and Daydreams (2007)

User Reviews

One of Kurosawa's most polished movies

Tsubaki Sanjuro is, unfortunately, not so widely seen abroad (= outside Japan) as Yojinbo, probably because it was not copied as a western. In Japan, however, Tsubaki Sanjuro is not less popular than Yojinbo. Not a few Japanese actually prefer the former to the latter, and it's easy to see why: It is stylistically more polished and smarter than Yojimbo and Mifune is 'cooler' as well - he shows a brilliant leadership and every Mifune fan would be really delighted to see how his young, naive disciples run after him like chicks following the mother duck.

And while Yojinbo's female main character, Orin, is an evil and crafty woman, Lady Mutsuta in Tsubaki Sanjuro is 'irritatingly light-hearted'. But she has a deep insight into Sanjuro's personality and understands him far better than his male disciples. An excellent character, and, in fact, she is the only person in Tsubaki Sanjuro AND Yojinbo to whom Sanjuro/Mifune speaks in a polite form (in Japanese).

Tsubaki Sanjuro is, so to speak, a 'concentrate' of Kurosawa's cinematography and one sees in it every aspect of his greatness in a very compact form. Therefore no one could remake this movie.

Details

Country:

Japan

Language:

Japanese

Release Date:

7 June 1972 (France)

Also Known As:

Sanjuro

Filming Locations:

Toho Studios, Tokyo, Japan

Box Office

Opening Weekend USA:

$15,942, 28 July 2002

Gross USA:

$46,808

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$55,528

Company Credits

Production Co:

Toho Company, Kurosawa Production Co.

Technical Specs

Runtime:

96 min

Sound Mix:

Perspecta Stereo (Westrex Recording System)

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1