ThiefHott Too much of everything

Nonureva Really Surprised!

Voxitype Good films always raise compelling questions, whether the format is fiction or documentary fact.

Invaderbank The film creates a perfect balance between action and depth of basic needs, in the midst of an infertile atmosphere.

Platypuschow Sugata Sanshirô is recognised as a cult classic, it spawned a sequel and more than one remake but I fail to see the mass appeal of this one.It tells the story of a man who finds himself through Judo. He trains and becomes a sensation but he finds conflicts between his passion and his heart.It's an odd little tale, light hearted compared to many of the early Tojo films but still has the recurring theme of honour above all else. In a modern age the concept being taken to this degree doesn't translate well, in fact it comes across really quite daft.The judo sequences are oddly over the top, the plot is thin and though it's hardly terrible I certainly don't "Get it".The Good:CharmingThe Bad:Certainly nicheMore over the top than you'd expectThings I Learnt From This Movie:Slow dancing is customary before a judo competition30ft throws are normal in JudoJudo bouts are often to the deathJudo duels are a thing

InjunNose "Sanshiro Sugata" is a martial arts film with a conscience. It falls a little flat in places, but is for the most part a solid debut from legendary Japanese director Akira Kurosawa. Kurosawa's approach to his craft, which later won him global renown with masterpieces like "Rashomon" and "The Seven Samurai", is already evident in this story of a young man who begins his journey as an awkward, uncertain student, becomes a bullying hellion, and finally assumes the status of a champion judoka who has learned to fight honorably. Susumu Fujita is convincingly green and inexperienced as Sugata, and Ryunosuke Tsukigata cuts an imposing figure as his arch-opponent, Higaki; their climactic confrontation on a windswept mountainside is one of the truly great moments in martial arts cinema. If you've watched and enjoyed Kurosawa's more famous films, check out "Sanshiro Sugata" to see where it all began. Seven and a half stars.

Hitchcoc We get to see what Akira Kurosawa could do with editing and with the framing of a camera. This story is fairly simple and yet presented with the all the Japanese ethos that we come to expect later. It occurred to me as I watched this that it was made while the Japanese were part of the Axis, having bombed Pearl Harbor just a couple years before. It involves the story of an arrogant young man who wants to be taught by a Judo master, but is so full of himself that he is unwilling to put in the effort or follow the instructions. He ends up in a pond where he spends the entire night in the swampy water until he makes up his mind to be a part of the master's school. Once he does this, he kills a man who challenges him and he becomes a legend. This brings out people who want to knock the pegs out from under him. Of course, there is one really bad guy, who is determined to fight him to the death. This is a bit fragmented since much of it was lost, but it holds together pretty well.

Benoît A. Racine (benoit-3) "Sugata Sanshirô" (1943) is a masterpiece that inspired countless sequels and imitations glorifying martial arts practitioners and their quest for inner and outer perfection. The 91-minute restored film we know today is still missing important scenes. Here is a short history of that censorship.According to a very interesting online article by Walter Klinger, the film was submitted to two distinct forms of censorship. First of all, during production, from government censors urging Kurosawa to make a film glorifying Japanese warriors and their spirit of devotion to "chuukou", i.e. "loyalty and devotion" understood as an infallible principle requiring absolute loyalty to one's superiors and blind obedience to orders (a principle that made Kamikaze pilots possible). In the pond scene, Sanshirô's master urges him to follow "chuukou" and after his nighttime revelation, Sanshirô bows obediently to his master.In the post-war period, all references to this principle were outlawed by the General Headquarters of the Supreme Commander for the Allied Forces (SCAF - the occupying Americans) as an anti-social remnant of Japanese feudalism which was perceived as the root cause of Japan's stubborn refusal to surrender. Not only was the "chuukou" word excised from that scene in mid-sentence (and never put back in, even in the "restored" version) but all subsequent editions of the novel the film was based on, even in animé or manga form or in film remakes and sequels, were also excised for the same reason, which means that the hero was reduced to finding "satori" in other more universal Zen sources or nuanced feelings, such as the love of his beloved, the realization of his own selfishness or respect for his master.As post-war young Japanese people weren't particularly fond of "chuukou" to begin with, especially as it concerned blind devotion to tradition and unconditional loyalty to one's parents (or employers), this was not seen as a major problem.The SCAF, however, also outlawed scenes of feudal loyalty, cruel violence and the "undemocratic idea of revenge", "feudal" commodities for which the Japanese public never really lost its tremendous appetite, and which eventually became the main themes of Yakuza, samurai and martial arts films. Furthermore, martial arts, including judo, with their stigma of "warrior's ways" and "blind obeisance", were also banned from government-sponsored settings like schools and police departments, until 1950, at the very time when they were conquering the rest of the civilized world, including America.