Sanshiro Sugata

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Joaquin U @Joaquin1 1d Entertaining. The glimpses of this legendary director’s craftsmanship are already present in his first work as the main creative. The Japanese government censored the film, resulting in a disjointed story that, although watchable, lacks rhythm and emotion. The censorship also stripped the characters of depth. Basically, it’s mostly interesting from a historical point of view. See more Virgo V @vision 04/05/2025 Sanshiro Sugata (Judo Saga) is a 1943 Japanese martial arts drama film and the directorial debut of the Japanese film director Akira Kurosawa. The film is based on the novel of the same name written by Tsuneo Tomita, the son of prominent judoka Tsunejirō Tomita, published in 1942. It follows the story of Sanshiro, a talented though willful youth, who travels to the city in order to learn Jujutsu. However, upon his arrival he discovers a new form of self-defence: Judo. The main character is based on Saigō Shirō. The film was eventually released in the United States on April 28th, 1974. The film itself was quite influential at the time and has been remade on no fewer than five occasions, although these versions are even harder to find in the west than the original. It spawned a sequel, Sanshiro Sugata Part II, which was released in 1945 and was also directed by Kurosawa. Vision wrote: " You gotta understand humanity to understand judo. Kurosawa knew this. For a first, well done. Second, don't look for any fancy martial arts, this is an aggressive sport. Seiichi Suzuki's captivating music always plays it's part. Ryūnosuke Tsukigata does an amazing job convincing us as the first Japanese villain in cinema. Four fries for the production, directing, acting and cinematography." See more Will G @Wgoodeve 03/03/2025 A great film about Judo and Jiu-jitsus. This is Akira Kurosawa’s first film. The architecture was neat in this film. The acting and cinematography was good. Didn’t like this one as much as “Seven Samurai”. See more william d @acsdoug 04/11/2022 There's a disclaimer at the beginning stating that the wartime government cut over 1800 feet of film from the original version and it shows. There is very little plot or character development. Plus, I really don't care about the whole "judo vs. jujitsu" contretemps. Still, the film is entertaining enough and it bears Kurosawa's impeccable direction. See more Ęxçëşș M @ExcessMale 03/22/2021 This has a fairly standard and predictable story told within the confines of mid 19th century Japan. Aside from the obvious technical limitations the film isn't nearly as captivating as Kurosawa's later projects but is still a mostly carefully shot martial arts period piece with some palpable characterization between the 2 leads. See more 09/16/2018 A (almost) sports film with uncommon grace and a full, proud heart and an eye for the things that move and astound. See more Read all reviews

Sanshiro Sugata

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