4.3 - SUGATA SANSHIRO (1943) and Perspective
The next in our series of martial arts films — and the first ‘talkie’ — is 1943’s SUGATA SANSHIRO, the debut of our old friend Akira Kurosawa. After differing initial reviews — appropriate, given this week’s theme — we talk about everything from sports films to the MCU.
Next Week
Our martial arts film from the 1950s, in this decade-by-decade journey through the genre, is 1959’s SAMURAI SAGA.
This Week’s Media
SAS: WHO DARES WINS (2019): Ant Middleton, Jason Fox, Shaun Dooley
THE FINAL GIRLS (2015): Todd Strauss-Schulson, Taissa Farmiga, Malin Åkerman
Recommendations
THE HIDDEN FORTRESS (1958): Akira Kurosawa, Toshiro Mifune, Misa Uehara
FANTASIA (1940): James Algar, Leopold Stokowski, Deems Taylor
THE MIGHTY DUCKS (1992): Steven Herek, Emilio Estevez, Joss Ackland
THE ASSASSIN (2015): Hsiao-Hsien Hou, Qi Shu, Chen Chang
Footnotes
Firstly, apologies for the mistakes in Sam’s introduction with respect to judo Dans, the origin of the biographical story, etc.; things are cleared up in these two articles:
Sanshiro Sugata and Tomita Tsunejirō. For more on sports films, see here. This book is also good. Finally, on respect in Japanese society, read more here.