"the worst of Kurosawa's black-and-white samurai films"

Written By: Caraculiambro

I'm not sure why Kurosawa is so invariably highly-regarded: was it because he didn't have much competition? He made a couple of great samurai films, but after seeing several of them, they get to be a bit repetitive.

If you're going to watch several of them, I would save this one for last: it's probably the worst of that lot. Hammy acting, a confused script, obtrusive score, campy directing, and an uneven tone make this a forgettable outing. Unconvincing combat scenes and no real memorable scenes at all, other than the "footstool." In fact, most of the action of this film takes place indoors, a bad sign for a samurai film.

Characterization is also cackhanded: the only reason Sanjuro seems different from everybody is because Mifune is the only one using method acting.

"Just as fun the second time around"

Written By: Robert Buchanan

Exceptionally shot, played, scored and staged, Kurosawa's follow-up to his hit comedic actioner "Yojimbo" is every bit as good as its predecessor, and far better photographed. Reprising his role as the nameless, slovenly, chin-scratching master swordsman, Mifune is in fine, ferocious form - as is Nakadai as yet another of so many imposing villains. The supporting cast is terrific, as well: veterans Takashi Shimura and Kamatari Fujiwara ham it up delightfully as a pair of witless antagonists, Yuzo Kayama exudes bold charisma in the Upstanding Young Man role he was typecast for and Takako Irie imparts genteel wisdom as a court matron. As lightweight chanbara comes, this is as good as it gets - a cunningly plotted, calculatedly proportionate mix of high action and fresh comedy. A few unlikely plot twists are nicely offset by humorous contrivances, and the film's many surprises are sure to keep even those uninitiated to the genre guessing and involved until its final duel - among the briefest and bloodiest to be seen in any jidaigeki.

This Criterion disc has most of what you'd expect from a release of that vaunted distributor: pristine audiovisual quality, theatrical trailers, a good featurette, attractive menus and a commentary track that's sure to put even the most devoted cineast into a coma.

I can't possibly overstate the excellence of this edition. Even though "Sanjuro" was greenlit by Toho to further capitalize on the runaway success of "Yojimbo" only a year later, the studio furnished Kurosawa with better equipment and more shooting time, and he took full advantage of these assets to produce one of his most visually stimulating black & white features. The balanced contrast of the anamorphic picture has been perfectly preserved in this excellent transfer from a first-rate print; none of those crucial dark scenes are over- or underexposed. It sounds great, too - both the Dolby Digital 1.0 mono and Dolby Digital 3.0 stereo audio (re-recorded from the muscular Perspecta Stereo soundtrack) are almost perfectly transparent.

I'm of the opinion that the vast majority of those precious few engaging audio commentaries are voiced by members of the movie's principal cast and crew. Film historian Stephen Prince voiced the track for this disc, which did nothing to change this opinion. Criterion pioneered the commentary track with their Laserdisc edition of "King Kong" in 1984; unfortunately, their usual practice of commissioning historians to record them usually yields pretty bland results. Prince is a much better orator than most of his ilk and he has a wealth of information to convey. Unfortunately, his perspective and knowledge are better suited to a textual medium and without any direct involvement with the movie's production, his insights just aren't terribly interesting.

Many of Criterion's Kurosawa DVDs feature corresponding episodes from the Toho retrospective series, "Akira Kurosawa: It Is Wonderful to Create." The "Sanjuro" entry on this disc is a nice treat, and relates stories pertaining to the film's production by means of narration and interviews with Nakadai, DP Takao Saito and many other cast and crew members. It's a charming (if overtly reverential) presentation, the highlight of which is a recounting by Nakadai and others of how the famous final duel was shot.

One of the two theatrical trailers is full-length and the other a teaser; both utilize footage shot between takes to exploit Kurosawa's celebrity and the success of "Yojimbo." The stills gallery consists of photos of Kurosawa on set, and it's nice to look at.

Framed by film stills and publicity shots, and underlaid with late Edo-period damask patterns, the menus of this disc (like those of the "Yojimbo" DVD) are elegant and wholly accessible. Chapter selections are available for the film, the featurette and even the commentary track. Available either in this individual edition or bundled with "Yojimbo", this is a big step up from the middling late-'90s release and especially the Home Vision VHS edition. For Kurosawa fans, chanbara enthusiasts and anyone who just enjoys exciting, funny stories well told, this is well worth its high price.

"Yojimbo Part 2"

Written By: Dr. James Gardner

Akira Kurosawa and Toshiro Mifune were the John Ford/John Wayne of Japanese cinema, only more so. While it's possible to talk about other western directors (Henry Hawks, William Wyler) and other western actors (Jimmy Stewart, Gary Cooper, Clint Eastwood), it's nearly impossible to list any other samurai luminaries apart from Kurosawa and Mifune, which accounts for why, since their death, the genre has become moribund.

Together they made more than a dozen films, the most famous of which are "Rashomon" (1950), "The Seven Samurai" (1954), "Throne of Blood" (1957), "Hidden Fortress" (1958), and "Yojimbo" (1961).

- "Rashomon" won the Golden Lion at Venice and an Honorary Oscar and was remade in 1964 as "The Outrage".

- "The Seven Samurai" won the Silver Lion at Venice and was nominated for two Oscars, won a British Oscar for Mifune, and was remade as "The Magnificent Seven" (1960).

- "Throne of Blood" was the Japanese Macbeth. It was nominated for the Golden Lion in Venice and won acting and direction awards in Japan.

- "Hidden Fortress" won awards for Kurosawa in Berlin and was used by George Lucas in scripting the first Star Wars film (now known as Episode IV).

- "Yojimbo", my favorite Kurosawa/Mifune film, was Oscar nominated and won awards for Mifune in Japan and at Venice, where Kurosawa was nominated for a Golden Lion (he lost to "Last Year at Marienbad"). It was remade in 1964 as a western ("A Fistful of Dollars" with Clint Eastwood), again in 1984 as science fiction ("Warrior and the Sorceress" with David Carradine), and in 1996 as a gangster flick ("Last Man Standing" with Bruce Willis).

"Sanjuro" followed "Yojimbo" and Mifune reprises his performance as the wandering ronin who is, to say the least, a bit gruff in appearance and manner. It is much lighter in tone than Yojimbo, which was heavy and dark. Indeed, one gets the impression that this is a comedy with action, and many scenes are played to comedic advantage.

The film's title comes from an invention made by Mifune, the samurai who has no name. When asked, he looks outside and sees a camellia tree, and adopts the name "30 year old Camellia" - the 30 being a reference to his usual request for 30 ryo for payment of services. Mifune acknowledges the incongruity when he follows this with the remark that he looks more like 40. In fact, he uses this same naming strategy in the prior film, "Yojimbo"

As with most Kurosawa films, the focus is on Mifune. Even when the dialogue is elsewhere, the camera follows Mifune, giving you some idea of the power of his acting skills. Mifune made more than 150 films, most of them Japanese, but he also made several films in Hollywood, the most famous of which were "Hell in the Pacific" (1968) with Lee Marvin, "Red Sun" (1971) with Charles Bronson, "Midway" (1976) as Admiral Yamamoto, and "The Challenge" (1982) with Scott Glenn. He also appeared in the TV mini-series "Shogun" (1980) as Lord Toranaga. Mifune won Volpi Cup awards in Venice for his work on "Yojimbo" (1961) and "Red Beard" (1965), was Emmy nominated for his role in "Shogun" and won many awards in Japan.

If you're not familiar with samurai films, you will be amazed by Mifune's speed and skill. One of the scenes involves Mifune locking himself in a room and killing more than a dozen soldiers (a similar scene came from Yojimbo). In total, nearly 30 people are dispatched in the film. Mifune's style is the classic Japanese "tateyaku" - the heroic loner.

Like John Ford, Akira Kurosawa had a repertoire company, and several of his mainstays appear here. The great Takashi Shimura appears as one of the conspirators. His crooked face is recognizable to fans even if his name escapes them. Shimura was the good doctor in the original "Godzilla" (1954) and the clerk in "Seven Samurai" (1954) and appeared in more Kurosawa movies than any other actor (19), including Mifune (16).

Tatsuya Nakadai plays the rival ronin with whom Mifune has the climatic duel at the end of the film. Nakadai was second only to Mifune as a leading actor in the samurai genre, and after Mifune and Kurosawa had a disagreement during "Red Beard" (1965), Nakadai continued to work with Kurosawa and appeared in "Kagemusha" (1980) and "Ran" (1985). He remained a good friend with Mifune even though Mifune remained upset with Kurosawa. Their final "shoot out" is one of the few times that you'll see this type of contest on film. The explosion of blood is actually a mixture of chocolate syrup and carbonated water under 30 pounds of pressure, a formula the obsessive Kurosawa concocted. The scene was done in a single take.

While it's possible to go right to "Sanjuro" as your first Samurai movie, I'd recommend seeing "Yojimbo" first. But even before I started the wandering ronin trilogy, I'd start with "Seven Samurai".

"Kurosawa's best"

Written By: Donald T. Carmichael

I go back and forth in my head on which Kurosawa film is his masterpiece. Probably this one. It's his most lyrical samurai flick, and his funniest. Mifune is the mad bomb. He's loud, aggressive, boisterous and rude. Kills ten people all by himself. He's like the epitome of male aggression. And then you contrast him with the two women in the film, who are gentle, passive, quiet and nice. Even when they are fleeing to save their lives, they refuse to be anything but gentle, passive, quiet and nice. And it completely disarms Mifune. He doesn't know what to say to them.

Japan fascinates because it's one of the most aggressive societies on the earth, and at the same time it is the most respectful of all the feminine virtues. I don't think I've ever seen a movie where the differences between our two sexes is so vast. It's beautiful, really. And our code is water lilies floating down the stream.


Taylor


My Absolutely Insane Attempt To Rank All Cinema

"sanjuro"

Written By: Mr. Nicholas J. Scudamore

The usual high standard of tranfer and support materials from this superb publishing house. An important film, droll and dark by turns, and Mifune clearly delighted to be working again on a character he had earlier created for hs mentor Kurasawa.