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(More customer 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.
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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.
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