Sanshiro Sugata


Sanshiro Sugata is a 1943 Japanese martial arts drama film written and directed by Akira Kurosawa, his feature directorial debut. It follows the story of the title character, played by Susumu Fujita, a talented though willful youth who learns discipline and martial prowess through his study of judo. The film is based on the 1942 novel by Tsuneo Tomita, which is a roman à clef of prominent judoka Shirō Saigō and the Kodokan–Totsuka rivalry.
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, weather patterns as reflections of character moods, and use of slow motion.
First released in Japan on March 25, 1943 by Toho, it did not see a significant international release due to the ongoing Second World War. It was eventually released in the United States on April 28, 1974. It spawned a sequel, Sanshiro Sugata Part II, in 1945 and was also directed by Kurosawa. The film itself was quite influential at the time, and has been remade on no fewer than five occasions.

Plot

In 1882 Tokyo, Sanshiro Sugata is a talented though willful youth who wishes to become a jujutsu master by becoming a student at one of the city's martial arts schools. His first attempts to find a suitable instructor fail, until he finds an accomplished master, Shogoro Yano from the Shudokan Judo dojo, who he sees successfully defending himself against a group of jujutsu bullies near a river. Initially, Sanshiro is physically capable, but he lacks poise or reflection concerning his self-control and demeanor, even getting into fights at a village festival. His master believes him to be talented but lacking in discipline, describing teaching him judo as "like giving a knife to a madman". After being told about his lack of care about life, Sanshiro jumps into a lotus pond to prove his strength and loyalty. Clinging to a stake in the pond, he stays the whole day and night before he sees the opening of a lotus blossom and finds self-realization. Leaping out of the pond, he goes to Yano to ask for his forgiveness. He starts to appreciate that there is more to his life and to his art than simple muscle and brawl and soon becomes a leading student in his dojo.
The city is looking to employ one of the dojos to guide the training of its local police force, and the Shudokan becomes a leading candidate along with its rival, a Ryōi Shintō-ryū dojo led by Hansuke Murai. He first faces Saburo Kodama, who had earlier tried to attack Shogoro by the river. The ensuing match leads to Kodama's death, after a move by Sanshiro crashes him into a corner. In a scheduled competition between the two schools, Sanshiro is chosen to represent the Shudokan in a public match against Murai himself to determine which is best to train the local police in the martial arts. The scheduled bout gets off to a slow start, but Sanshiro soon comes into his own and begins executing devastating throws which cause internal physical damage to his opponent. Although Murai tries to stand every time, energized by the thought of his daughter Sayo, he is forced to give up after the third time he is violently sent to the ground by Sanshiro.
After the match, Sanshiro makes friends with his defeated opponent and is attracted to his daughter Sayo, who is a local beauty. Another Shintō-ryū master, Higaki, competes with Sanshiro for her affections. When he challenges Sanshiro to a duel to the death, Sanshiro accepts and defeats him, inflicting permanent crippling damage to Higaki. After emerging victorious from his duel, Sanshiro prepares for his next assignment in Yokohama and is escorted on the local train by Sayo. He promises to return to her after he finishes his journey.

Cast

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. However, the resident monk chides him for this self-serving display, and he emerges from the pond a humbler man after witnessing the blooming of a lotus blossom, a Buddhist symbol of purity.
Paul Anderer emphasized Kurosawa's attention to the character of Gennosuke Higaki in the film. Higaki, created by Tsuneo Tomita for the novel and inspired by real life jujutsu master Mataemon Tanabe, is the film's central villain. Anderer stated:

Production

Following five years of second unit director work on films such as Uma and Roppa's Honeymoon, Akira 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 in an advertisement, Kurosawa decided the project was for him and asked film producer Iwao Mori to buy the rights for him. Kurosawa, having been told that Toho would not be able to buy the rights until it was published, eagerly awaited its release, to the point where he stalked bookstores night and day until he found a copy; he quickly read the book and wrote a screenplay for it. Despite his enthusiasm, Masahiro Makino was first asked to direct, but he declined.
According to Japanese cinema scholar Donald Richie, 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 martial rivalry between judo and jujitsu; being a period piece; and having a popular 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.

Censorship and alternate versions

When he went to the board of censors, the film passed on the basis of recommendation by Yasujiro Ozu, who called it an important artistic achievement despite other voices claiming it was too "British-American". After the initial release, Japanese censors reportedly trimmed the film by 17 minutes. Some of this footage was later recovered and added to a DVD release, and the original script with the missing material still exists; intertitles are included in the release that describe what occurred in the missing parts. The 1952 re-release opens with :

Subsequent media

Sequel

A sequel film, Sanshiro Sugata Part II, was released in 1945. Akira Kurosawa wrote and directed, and most of the principal cast reprised their roles. The film was intended primarily as propaganda for the Second World War, and features Sanshiro facing off against villainous American and European fighters.

Film 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.
, an advertising character created by Sega to advertise the Sega Saturn video game console, is a parody of Sanshiro Sugata.