Sanshiro Sugata

Infobox Film
name = Sanshiro Sugata

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caption =
director = Akira Kurosawa
producer = Keiji Matsuzaki
writer = Akira Kurosawa
Tomita Tsuneo
starring = Denjirô Ôkôchi
Susumu Fujita
Yukiko Todoroki
Takashi Shimura
music = Seiichi Suzuki
cinematography = Akira Mimura
distributor = Toho Company Ltd.
released = March 25, 1943
runtime = 97 minutes
country = Japan
language = Japanese
budget =
preceded_by =
followed_by = Sanshiro Sugata Part II
amg_id = 1:42825
imdb_id = 0036400
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nihongo|"Sanshiro Sugata"|姿三四郎|"Sugata Sanshirō"|aka "Judo Saga" was the directorial debut of the Oscar-winning Japanese film director Akira Kurosawa. It was first released in Japan on 25 March 1943 by Toho film studios, eventually being released in the United States on 28 April 1974 and is based on the novel of the same name by Tsuneo Tomita. It follows the story of Sanshiro, a strong stubborn youth, who travels into the city in order to learn Jujutsu. However, upon his arrival he discovers a new form of self-defence: Judo

Although not the most famous entry in Kurosawa's canon, the film is seen as an early example of Kurosawa's immediate grasp of the film-making process, and includes many of his directorial trademarks, such as the use of wipes. The film itself was quite influential at the time, and has been remade on no less than five occasions. It was successful enough to spawn a sequel, "Sanshiro Sugata Part II", which was released in 1945.

Production

Following 5 years of second unit director work on films such as "Uma" and "Roppa's Honeymoon", Kurosawa was finally given the go-ahead to direct his first film, even though he himself claimed that, in films like "Uma", "I had been so much in charge of production I had felt like the director". After hearing of a new novel from the writer Tomita Tsuneo, Kurosawa decided the project was for him and asked film producer Iwao Mori to buy the rights for him. According to renowned Kurosawa scholar Donald Ritchie, the reason Kurosawa was allowed to direct the film was because he had had two film scripts printed, including one of which had won the education minister's prize. However, his work was too far away from the government requirements for a wartime film. Tomita's novel, on the other hand, was considered "safe", dealing, as it did, with a Japanese subject such as the rivalry between judo and jujitsu, was a period piece, and was a popularist subject. Kurosawa deliberately went out to make a "movie-like movie", as he knew he would not be able to insert any particularly didactic qualities in the film.

Themes

The central theme of the film is the education and initiation of Sugata and the way in which, whilst learning the ways of Judo, he also learns about himself. The film's central scene concerning this theme is when, after being accosted by Yano for getting involved in a streetfight, Sugata leaps into the cold waters near Yano's temple and stays there in order to show his master his dedication, and the fact that he is neither afraid to live nor to die.

Cast

:Denjirô Ôkôchi… Shogoro Yano:Susumu Fujita… Sanshiro Sugata:Yukiko Todoroki… Sayo Murai:Ryunosuke Tsukigata… Gennosuke Higaki:Takashi Shimura… Hansuke Murai:Ranko Hanai… Osumi Kodana:Sugisaku Aoyama… Tsunetami Iimura:Ichirô Sugai… Police Chief Mishima:Yoshio Kosugi… Master Saburo Kodama:Kokuten Kodo… Buddhist Priest:Michisaburo Segawa… Wada:Akitake Kôno… Yoshima Dan:Shôji Kiyokawa… Yujiro Toda:Kunio Mita… Kohei Tsuzaki:Akira Nakamura… Toranosuki Niiseki:Eisaburo Sakauchi… Nemeto:Hajime Hikari… Torakichi

Edited Versions and DVD Releases

"Sanshiro Sugata" was originally released with a length of 97 minutes in Japan in 1943. However, on its post-war reissue in 1952 (by which time Kurosawa had become a world renowned director), it was issued as a shorter 80 minute version, which saw some changes to the film's structure as well as its running time [cite web | title=Sanshiro Sugata Alternate Versions| work=IMDB.com| url=http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0036400/alternateversions | accessdate=July 1st | accessyear=2007 ] .

Although available on DVD in China and Australia, Sanshiro Sugata is currently unavailable on the format in Europe and America, with there currently being no plans to release it. It can be found on auction sites such as ebay on its VHS format quite cheaply. It is also available to stream for free from the internet after a Japanese Court ruling in July 2006 that all films produced prior to 1953 were to be made available to the public domain [cite web | title=Japanese Court Rules Pre-1953 Movies In Public Domain| work=contract music| url=http://www.contactmusic.com/news.nsf/article/japanese%20court%20rules%20pre-1953%20movies%20in%20public%20domain_1002318 | accessyear=2007] .

Remakes

"Sanshiro Sugata" has been remade five times since it was initially released, although these versions are even harder to find in the west than the original. The 1955 and 1965 versions share the script of the original versions, whereas the subsequent three releases are all based on the novel rather than Kurosawa's screenplay.
* Sugata Sanshiro (1955) - Directed by Shigeo Tanaka
* Sugata Sanshiro (1965) - Directed by Seiichiro Uchikawa
* Ninkyô yawara ichidai [A Brave Generous Era] (1966) - Directed by Sadao Nakajima
* Sugata Sanshiro (1970) - Directed by Kunio Watanabe
* Sugata Sanshiro (1977) - Directed by Kihachi Okamoto

References

External links

*
* [http://www.allmovie.com/cg/avg.dll?p=avg&sql=1:42825 "Sanshiro Sugata"] at Allmovie.
* [http://atomized.org/2005/03/akira-kurosawa-sugata-sanshiro-judo-story/ Review of "Sanshiro Sugata"]
* " [http://www.jmdb.ne.jp/1943/bs000220.htm Sanshiro Sugata] " ja icon at the Japanese Movie Database