Sanshiro Sugata II

After Sanshiro Sugata, his debut, proved a popular hit, Kurosawa was pressured by Toho, his studio, into making a sequel. Sanshiro Sugata II was Kurosawa’s third feature as director; 1944’s The Most Beautiful (screening June 30) had been made in the meantime. The film is set in 1887, five years after the first movie, and opens with the judo-fighting hero, again played by Susumu Fujita, coming to the rescue of a Yokohama rickshaw boy who is being bullied by an American sailor. The hero’s continuing quest for martial-arts mastery and spiritual enlightenment later pits him against an American boxing champion. This little-seen work was not close to Kurosawa’s heart, but still entertains with many of his signature elements: visual panache, dazzling fight sequences, winning charm and humour. A climactic fight, set on a wintry mountainside in the midst of snowstorm, is an early instance of Kurosawa’s expressive use of weather. “The first Sugata managed to avoid all of the clichés of the wartime Japanese film; the second subscribes to most of them . . . It is the nearest that the director has ever come to the ordinary commercial Japanese films” (Donald Richie). B&W, 16mm, in Japanese with English subtitles. 83 mins.

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PROGRAM NOTE: We have been advised that the very rare 16mm screening prints of Sanshiro Sugata and Sanshiro Sugata II, imported from Japan, are in substandard condition. Therefore, all tickets to these screenings will be offered at the concession rate of $8 Single Film / $10 Double Bill.

Thank you for your understanding.