Sanshiro Sugata

Sanshiro Sugata (also known as Sugata Sanshiro) was Akira Kurosawa's first film as a director, a 'safe' sports film made during WWII-era Japan that was so popular amongst the war-impoverished populace that it led to an immediate sequel and gave Kurosawa's early career a rather healthy boost. The director had already worked in films for five years, handling advanced second unit directing duties on several movies, and he threw himself into Sanshiro Sugata with an ethusiasm for populist filmmaking that he would seldom embrace again (especially once he was given the freedom to choose and mould his own projects at his own pace). The result is one heck of an entertaining film, a template for many sports and martial arts movies to come.

The title character is a rather eager young man who becomes a student of judo in the year 1882 (the choice of a pre-imperialist setting sidesteps any issues pertaining to Japan's involvement in the war at the time of the film's production). The film follows Sugata's journey from inexperience to headstrong arrogance, and beyond this to a truer understanding of the Judo code. Through learning about judo Sugata also becomes a better man, beats the bad guy, gets the girl, and rocks out on a hilltop. The counterpart to this character development is a rivalry between the schools of judo and jujitsu, setting up a Rocky-like story of sportsmanship and belief in oneself that culminates in a mixed-martial arts tournament where the combatants vie for the honour of teaching their particular martial art to the police.

I have to admit that I knew next to nothing about judo prior to watching this film. The object of judo and jujitsu is to grab, trip and throw your opponent, making it much more akin to something like greco-roman wrestling as opposed to more popular Asian martial arts. The central theme of this film is to highlight the very essence of martial arts like judo, placing an emphasis on peace and humanity over the use of such skills in a lighthearted or callous manner, and Sugata's transformation from worm to tiger also involves a much-needed lesson in humility that allows the viewer to root for this underdog all the way through.

It's quite amazing that this is really Kurosawa's first film as a director. From the ambitious opening tracking shot through a 19th century Japanese street through to the use of vertical wipes and revolutionary slow motion, the director displays more than a steady hand in dynamic storytelling. He uses some really inventive transitions, such as a dramatic and sudden wipe to a scene that shows a man thrown crashing into a wall, or consciously focusing on a small and seemingly irrelevant detail to depict the passage of time (such as a montage that depicts the fate of Sugata's shoes after he discards them for a chance to train with a legendary judo master). He quickly and assuredly moves through plotpoints in such a bold and exciting way, prefiguring modern directors like Quentin Tarantino with a seminal potency. I particularly loved the way Kurosawa only portrays significant portions of the narrative... in Sanshiro Sugata he simply skips over anything that isn't interesting or important, using intertitles and dramatic jumps in time to show the highlights of Sugata's rise to prominence.

Susumu Fujita is great as Sugata, he brings a vulnerability and childlike eagerness to a character that might've otherwise seemed too cocky. The contrast between Sugata and his nemesis couldn't have been more plain, and Higaki (Ryunosuke Tsukigata) is identifiable as the 'bad guy' almost immediately. We know he's bad news when he ashes his cigarette onto a flower, and the showdown on the windswept hillside feels like one of the great unseen moments of cinema history. I can't praise this film enough, for me it's every bit as perfect as Kurosawa's famous samurai adventures like Seven Samurai and The Hidden Fortress, and a rare show of the director's ability to entertain in the most crowd-pleasing way. It's a film full of heart, action and a myriad of memorable moments.

DIRECTOR: Akira Kurosawa
WRITER/SOURCE: Akira Kurosawa, based on a novel by Tsuneo Tumita.
KEY ACTORS: Susumu Fujita, Ryonosuke Tsukigata, Denjiro Okochi, Takashi Shimura, Yukiko Todoroki.

RELATED TEXTS
- The novel Sanshiro Sugata by Tsuneo Tumita. Tumita was the son of a real-life judo legend.
- This film was followed by a sequel, Sanshiro Sugata II, made two years later and also written and directed by Akira Kurosawa.
- Five other film versions have been made of this story. The first two (made in 1955 and 1965) were based on Kurosawa's film, whereas the latter three (made in 1966, 1970 and 1977) were all based directly on the novel.
- To my knowledge there have only been two other films about judo made: Throw Down (a Hong Kong film made in 2004 by Johnnie To) and Redbelt (based on Brazilian jujitsu).