I just finished watching “Sugata Sanshiro,” Akira Kurosawa’s first film.
Being his first picture, it’s definitely rough around the edges, but it still has all the trademarks of the early Kurosawa, including Takashi Shimura
Let me preface this by stating that the DVD is terrible (this is the Mei-Ah release). Do not buy this disc under any circumstances. Absolutely nothing was done to make this a pleasant viewing experience. The print is badly damaged and suffers from scratches throughought, along with several tears and damage to the emulsion. The B/W balance is completely screwed; I don’t think there was any grading done on the transfer whatsoever. Most of the film is unbearably dark, but where there are light tones, they’re blown way out, making most detail invisible. It has a hard 3:2 pulldown, so you’ll get interlacing if you watch it on a progressive-scan monitor.
But the single worst thing about this DVD is the subtitles. They were translated from Japanese to Chinese, and then into English. “Judo” is translated as “Karate.” A “fight to the death” becomes a “fight for life.” “Sanshiro,” the subject of the film, has his name translated as “Chee.” It makes it extremely difficult to follow the story.
The story is generic at best, revolving around the development of Sanshiro as he trains to become a Judo master. It’s full of clichés: Sanshiro becomes romantically involved with the daughter of the man he must duel – Higaki, the student of his opponent, wants revenge – infighting will bring down Judo, and so forth. While this may (may) have been fresh at the time, it doesn’t stand up after 60 years of Hollywood Formula movies. The action scenes are laughable. Higaki is flat, a stock villain.
And yet, Kurosawa’s fim rises above it’s cookie-cutter script. Even at this early stage, Kurosawa knows exactly what he wants, and accomplishes it with finesse. But it feels like there’s something missing from this film, and it’s not just Toshiro Mifune.
There’s an almost claustophobic feel when compared to Kurosawa’s other films. It seems trapped in two dimensions, with the camera never leaving the ground, and only rarely shooting up or down. The times when it does come into play are significant, though. The first is when Sanshiro clutches to a log in a pond to prove that he is ready to die to his master. It seems as if the log is reaching skyward to greatness, and he thinks he can ride it there.
The second is during the end. Just before the climactic battle, the camera points skyward at the clouds, while wind howls on the soundtrack. It feels as if Kurosawa himself has a longing for something more.