Product Details

• Actors: Denjirô Ôkôchi, Susumu Fujita, Yukiko Todoroki, Ryunosuke Tsukigata, Takashi Shimura
• Directors: Akira Kurosawa
• Writers: Akira Kurosawa, Tsuneo Tomita
• Producers: Keiji Matsuzaki
• Format: Black & White, NTSC
• Language: Japanese
• Subtitles: English
• Rating: NR (Not Rated)
• Number of tapes: 1
• Studio: Homevision
• VHS Release Date: June 13, 2000
• Run Time: 80 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• ASIN: 6304391900
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #12,368 in Video (See Bestsellers in Video)

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  #11 in	Video > Art House & International > Asian Cinema > Japan > Action & Adventure
  #13 in	Video > Sports > Martial Arts
  #30 in	Video > Art House & International > By Original Language > Japanese

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

Akira Kurosawa's extraordinary first feature concerns the genesis of the martial art, judo, in 1882. The film feels ancient, as though it were made long before the existence of cinema. Deceptively primitive and simple, it also has a starkly modern quality. Austere, mano a mano battle sequences shot in the shadow of night have a dreamlike aura. We are presented with one craggy, fearsome warrior's face after another. An eerie soundtrack adds another layer to the film's distinctive ancient/modern tone.

Sugata (the excellent Susumu Fujita) is an overeager young man anxious to learn the art of judo under the tutelage of great warrior Shogoro Yano (Denjiro Okochi). The formidable Yano feels that Sugata has betrayed the art by fighting brashly and frivolously: "Teaching judo to such a man is like giving a knife to a lunatic!" Mortified, Sugata shouts, "I can die!" and jumps into the canal, where he stays all night, stewing. (As always, there is a sly humor in Kurosawa's exploration of these weighty matters that sets his work apart.) Sugata then has his obligatory mythic epiphany: a beautiful water lily blooming at dawn inspires him to go on living and fighting, but now with a pure heart. (Can there be anything more quintessentially Japanese than this?) These scenes echo down through the years, all the way to George Lucas and the Star Wars movies: Sugata is Luke Skywalker; Yano is Yoda; judo is "the Force."

The film's stunning climax is a fight to the death between good and evil: Sugata versus Gennosuke Higaki (Ryunosuke Tsukigata--menace personified). There are few cinematic sequences more shockingly gorgeous than this: shot in black and white on a mountaintop in ghostly half-light, two men roll over and over in the tall, wind-whipped grass. It brings tears to the eyes. --Laura Mirsky

Product Description

Akira Kurosawa (Seven Samurai, Ikiru), perhaps the best known of all Japanese directors, made his extraordinary debut with this thrilling martial arts film. Though filming during World War II, Kurosawa avoided patriotic and propagandistic elements to create a judo saga as visually stunning as it is exciting. The story of Sanshiro Sugata, a talented yet headstrong judo student, chronicles the struggle to establish judo, rather than jujitsu, as Japan's premiere martial art. Wartime censors ordered many cuts, but could not destroy the power of Kurosawa's vision. With its strong emphasis on discipline, Sanshiro Sugata anticipates later Kurosawa masterpieces that focus on the difficult path to spiritual enlightenment. The violent yet beautiful showdown, shot on a windswept mountainside, set the standard for all Japanese action films to follow.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

14 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An impressive entry from Kurosawa, July 19, 1999

By	jilesmeacham (Vancouver, Canada) - See all my reviews

All of the artistic flair and sweeping imagery that defines the typical Kurosawa film is evident in this his inaugural film effort. How easy it would have been at the height of Japan's success in WWII to make a cliche ridden film slavishly paying homage to nationalism. Yet Kurosawa manages to make a film dedicated to martial arts with self restraint and humility as its theme. Quite a remarkable stance from a novice director. Japanese censors were not pleased and at times the results show in abrupt editing. Under US occupation the film was once more suppressed due to its martial content. Fortunately this film has survived due to Kurosawa's subsequent efforts. Man's inner turmoil juxtoposed against the forces of Nature have been staple images for Kurosawa and the final sequence of this film sets the standard. Susumu Fujita is superb in the lead role. Every bit as handsome as Toshiro Mifune, one can only lament that he did not feature in more films. A very interesting film from an intellectual POV. The fact that it is also a superb drama makes it all the more enjoyable.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Germination to a masterpiece, February 1, 2002

By	"f19f" (Singapore) - See all my reviews

See it - you won't be disappointed. Definitely a must see if you're a Kurosawa fan! Despite being his maiden film, Kurosawa's mastery clearly shines through. Indeed, there is even a certain purity in his artistry in this early effort.

As is the case with all his films, and maybe even more conscientiously so in this case, every scene, every shot is so exquisitely crafted, with so much sense and purpose: the camera staying on a scene a deliberate amount of time, the assiduous panning of the camera, the close-ups of the facial expressions - they were all so carefully crafted so as to create the subtlest of nuances. Even if you do not like the story, each scene is itself a visual piece of art.

The only problem is the not so smooth transitions between episodes, but that is just a small flaw in this highly enjoyable film. Even though this film was only Kurosawa's first full directorial effort, he already showed a technical skill far exceeding many others. I can only surmise that from there on, he honed his skills to perfection in `Rashomon' - the film which remains for me the best ever in technical and directorial artistry.

`Sugata Sanshiro' impresses and inspires me enough to write about it the day after seeing it. `Rashomon' too of course, but I never get to write about `Rashomon' because I do not think I can find the words to do justice to this marvellous masterpiece.

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Akira Kurosawa's first film, from 1943, December 16, 2002

By	Joe Sixpack -- Slipcue.com (...in Middle America) - See all my reviews (TOP 50 REVIEWER)

Martial arts films have come a long way since this curious historical drama, the first feature film directed by the up-and-coming Akira Kurosawa. Filmed and edited during wartime, it dramatizes the story of the late 19th Century development of judo as a breakaway form of the jiu-jitsu school of martial arts. Without the benefit of Hong Kong style wire-works or the flashy acrobatics of Bruce Lee, et al, the combat looks mostly like wrestling or sumo... Which, perhaps, back in the 1880s, it was. Takashi Shimura introduces his role as an older wise man, in custody over the spiritual growth of a younger firebrand; the plot has a bit of a Romeo and Juliet tone to it, as the young champion of judo falls in love with the daughter of a rival school's sensei. Fans who have seen Kurosawa's glorious later films will notice right away the relative lack of grace here, yet as a directorial debut this is pretty stunning and ably introduces the visual poetry and various themes that he would so ably explore in years to come. Also, military censors apparently mucked with the movie for various reasons, and interrupted the flow of the narrative (most notably in a couple of sequences deleted in their entirety and replaced by silent-movie style placards explaining the absent action, and in the ending, which seems rushed and inexplicable). Still, any Kurosawa fan will find this film quite rewarding.