Written by Akira Kurosawa, Tsuneo Tomita (novel)
Starring Susumu Fujita, Takashi Shimura, Ryunosuke Tsukigata
Only my third movie into this thing and Ziggy Jr. picks my first Kurosawa. And a couple of Kurosawa’s earliest movies as a director at that. Not Seven Samurai or Throne of Blood or Yojimbo or Rashomon or Red Beard or Ikiru. Sanshiro Sugata aka Judo Saga. Since there are two parts and the movies are fairly short, I might as well cover them both.
Akira Kurosawa is my favorite director. His peak period is from 1950 to 1965, from Rashomon to Red Beard. He directed thirteen films during that span. All are emotionally gripping and technically terrific films. A small number of these films have notable flaws, but the majority of them are classics.
The Sanshiro Sugata films, released in 1943 and 1945, are Kurosawa’s first and third films as a director. It wasn’t until his seventh film, 1948’s Drunken Angel, that Kurosawa himself felt he was becoming the kind of director he wanted to be.
So far I’ve said nothing much about the movies I am supposed to be writing about. This is only my second time watching them, so I’m not overly familiar with either part. So far, I’m finding the first one compelling enough. The action scenes are awkwardly staged, something which Kurosawa would improve upon tremendously by the time he made Seven Samurai.
Thankfully the rest of the storytelling is solid. It’s a pretty straightforward hero’s journey, from a nobody new in town who goes through trials to become the champion who gets the girl. There’s a villain with a memorable look to him. And some of the scenes and little touches are lovely. It’s clear what Toho studios saw in the young Kurosawa.
It’s also worth noting that Takashi Shimura, veteran actor who would appear in twenty of Kurosawa’s thirty films, was there right from the start. Though it was Toshiro Mifune who would come along a few years later and dominate Kurosawa’s classic period, the always reliable Shimura was excellent in support and even better in his leading roles in Ikiru and Seven Samurai.
Susumu Fujita, the lead actor in both Sanshiro Sugata films, has an affable quality but lacks the fire of Kurosawa’s later leading men, Mifune and Tatsuya Nakadai. Because of this and the fact that the story is so well-worn, and also because Kurosawa’s style had not yet developed, the films don’t make as much impression today as they did upon their original release. The first part was a hit for Toho. The second part is not only the lesser film in terms of story and craftsmanship, but had the misfortune of being released at a time when Japan was pretty ravaged by the effects of World War II.
Sanshiro Sugata is a modest success as a great director’s first film. Its sequel lacks most of the original film’s charm, and frankly is a disappointing continuation. Ultimately the audience for both films is limited to Kurosawa completists.
Interesting Facts
-- Akira Kurosawa was considered to be the Japanese John Ford. He did have great respect for Ford’s films and learned a few things from him. But Kurosawa generally preferred to be known as the Japanese Rita Hayworth, for reasons that have never been made entirely clear.
-- Susumu Fujita, who appeared in several of Kurosawa’s early films, was largely absent during the director’s peak period. This was not because of any kind of creative fallout, but because Fujita led a secret Japanese task force to find and rescue Japanese P.O.W.’s who had been left on foreign soil after WWII. These heroic efforts gave him a reputation as the Japanese Rambo.
-- Takashi Shimura was the Japanese Buddy Holly. Go figure.
