Audience Rating: NR (Not Rated)
Binding: VHS Tape
EAN: 9786304391907
Format: Black & White, NTSC
ISBN: 6304391900
Label: Homevision
Languages: EnglishSubtitledJapaneseOriginal LanguageAnalog
Manufacturer: Homevision
Number Of Items: 1
Publisher: Homevision
Release Date: June 13, 2000
Running Time: 80 minutes
Studio: Homevision
Theatrical Release Date: April 28, 1974

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Editorial Review:

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

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.




Rating: - Akira Kurosawa's first film, from 1943
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. ... Read More

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Rating: - Germination to a masterpiece
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 ... Read More

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Rating: - Flashes of brilliance in an uneven film
"Sanshiro Sugata" tells the story of the rise of Judo, and the efforts of it's practitioners to replace the leading martial art, Jujitsu. There is a tournament, with the winner of the tournament hired to train the police force in martial arts. Young Sugata is determined to prove his worth, and to ensure that Judo is the recognized martial art of the police force.

Kurasowa's directorial debut is an uneven film to be sure. Judo is a martial art particularly unsuited to cinema. The ... Read More

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Rating: - An impressive entry from Kurosawa
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 ... Read More

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