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From the very first shot of his debut film, Sanshiro Sugata, director Akira Kurosawa is demonstrating his natural born talents as a visual artist. The film opens with the camera staring up into a cloudless sky before gradually tilting downward, a row of buildings rising up along the right and left edges of the frame.
In April 1952, Akira Kurosawa’s directorial debut, Sanshiro Sugata (1943), was re-released to Japanese theaters with a rather heart-wrenching disclaimer: “This film has been modified from its original version […] without consulting the director or the production staff. 1,845 feet of footage was cut in 1944, to comply with the government’s wartime entertainment policies. As much as we ...
Directed by Akira Kurosawa • 1943 • Japan Kurosawa's effortless debut is based on a novel by Tsuneo Tomita about the rivalry between judo and jujitsu. Starring Susumu Fujita as the title character, Sanshiro Sugata is a thrilling martial arts action tale, but it's also a moving story of moral education that's quintessential Kurosawa.
Sanshiro Sugata, Part Two. Directed by Akira Kurosawa • 1945 • Japan. Kurosawa's first film was such a success that the studio leaned on the director to make a sequel. The result is a hugely entertaining adventure, reuniting most of the major players from the original and featuring a two-part narrative in which Sanshiro first fights a pair ...
Jun 19, 2008 · Sanshiro Sugata has a compact energy and sense of form that establishes a cinematic intelligence far above the ordinary. It portrays, in an immature and limited fashion, the images, ideas, and emotions that will recur in complex and nuanced ways throughout Kurosawa’s career. Released when WWII was still raging, it was edited by nearly 20 ...
May 14, 2020 · At 51 minutes- again moving the camera around the head of his character- not a full 360 degree shot- but still impressive. Slow-motion fighting epic battle- blurred camera focus to simulate Sugata being knocked woozy. The field epic battle during a storm—gorgeous composition of the two battling in the foreground with the referee in eh background.
Sanshiro, a strong stubborn youth, comes to the city to apprentice at a jujitsu school. His first night, he sees Yano in action, a master of judo, a more spiritual art, and he begs to be Yano’s student. As the youth learns technique, he must also learn satori the calm acceptance of Nature’s law.
