MovieChat Forums > Sugata Sanshirô (1974) Discussion > half an hour in and I just don't know wh...

half an hour in and I just don't know whether to bother going on

posted 16 years ago by cherold
4 replies | jump to latest

If this were not a Kurosawa movie, and it did not have a bunch of rave reviews, I would have no difficulty giving up on this movie right now. It's really dull, with bland characters whose motivations I don't entirely understand (which can happen with Japanese films; I simply don't understand the culture well enough to understand some things that are givens in Japan). There are some clever things (the shoe-through-the-seasons bit), but also some dull ones (the endless opening judo scene). And I have zero interest in what's going on.

But maybe it gets better? It's Kurosawa; it must have some worthwhile stuff in it. And according to wikipedia it's an influential movie that has been remade countless times (suggesting that sooner or later something interesting must happen in it.

On the other hand, even later in his career Kurosawa did manage to make a few duds, so this may well be one of them.

Do the people who love this movie love it from the beginning? Because if so I might as well give up now.

[–] anas1025 15 years ago

not actualy from the beggining. first 10 to 20 mins were very dull, but the films gets better. i liked the movie, artistically it's really awesome, and you can see kurosawa's touch in it, but it's not one of his greatest.

i am an aikido practitioner, and i like japanese culture to a certain extent. so i dont know if all this participated in me liking the movie or not, but helped understand some stuff that are taken for granted in japan, maybe thats the reason i liked it a lot.

anyway not because it's a martial arts movie u think u will see some flashy moves like what u see today ( i am looking at you Jason Bourne and Quantum of solace), it's 1943 dont forget.

take care and enjoy watching it.

[–] vampyrebat666 14 years ago

Don't bother then.

I liked the movie, but I liked it in the way you might like looking at an artifact from another culture, something that was made a long time ago and far away. On top of that I'm a total martial arts nerd, so I couldn't help but love this. But if you've never spent any time in a dojo and you're not interested in Japanese culture you probably won't find anything to like about this film. The story is very simple, the pacing is very slow, and the fight scenes look ridiculous by modern standards. So there you have it. I liked it, but I can certainly see that most people wouldn't find it entertaining.

P.S. I've just realized you posted your comment almost a year ago, but since I've already typed out my response I'll post it anyway. So did you end up watching the rest of the film? What did you think of it?

[–] sco7t 14 years ago

I was lucky to see both parts of this film story tonite at the MFA in Houston, Sugata Sanshiro '43 and then Zoku Sugata Sanshiro '45. We saw 16mm prints that were pretty scratchy in places. The only really dark scene was the opening of the fight in the snow in the second part, but the contrast clicked in a little later. The darkness was not really a detriment. Lots of beauty in this film, from the dojo protocol to the temple prayer, Sayo's reaction shot, and the really great music throughout. Set in 1878-1888 there are lots of English clothes and bowler hats, a couple opium pipes, and a boatload of American sailors. The second film seemed more inside the studio while the first was often outdoors (the windy final scene was fantastic). Plenty of Kurosawa humor and signature touches, like the dogs, the rain, problems with rickshaws, the train, light and shadows, domesticity, perfect frame composition, mobile camera. At 33, Kurosawa really had it together for his first feature film and its later sequel. It was sad to see the westernized martial arts characters taking on the habit of cigarette smoking along with the tweed suits and bowler hats; in for a penny, in for a pound. Oh, the humanity! What about those Higaki brothers!

[–] 14 years ago

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