Kurosawa's first feature. It is an action film but not of the samurai genre. Nevertheless we can already notice Kurosawa's outstanding use of editing techniques that give an amazing sense of movement and speed to the judo fight sequences. He will later develop these techniques to greater effects in more famous films such as Seven Samurai, Throne of Blood and Yojimbo.
Two sequences are particularly remarkable. The first one occurs at the beginning of the film. Members of a rival jujitsu school, which Sanshiro had joined that night, ambush Yano, the founder of Judo. Even though outnumbered, Yano manages to throw all his opponents in the river nearby. Whereas the camera focusing on the gang pans continuously and is almost always in motion, the shots of Yano waiting for them to attack are always static. This contrast in shots suggests Yano's fighting skill superiority as well as a greater physical and mental control of himself. Sugata is impressed and rapidly helps Yano to pull the rickshaw left abandoned by its owner. For this, he gets rid of his geta shoes. They leave but the camera is fixed on the shoes. We see them getting worn out (bystanders kick them, a dog bites them, rain & snow fall on them). Eventually we see one of the shoes stuck on a grille. The next sequence starts with a crane shot of a narrow street where Sugata is seen surrounded by a threatening crowd. He moves frantically backs and forwards throwing people to the ground. He is now a judo master. We have not seen his training, but the shoes sequence has provided a metaphor of this achievement, suggesting that Sugata has been through a painful and tough training. Even though he is learned the judo techniques he has not achieved the mastery of Yano. He lacks the restraint and coolness of Yano. His fighting resembles that of the members of the jujitsu gang who had attacked his master previously. The next sequence shows Yano telling him that he lacks control over his emotions, he has achieved some a physical skill but not a spiritual one. The next sequence I would like to talk about occurs at the end of the film. Sugata is seen having dinner with Hansuke Murai, played by Shimura Takashi and whom Sugata had previously defeated in combat, and his daughter Sayo who is very fond of Sugata. The dinner is interrupted by the abrupt appearance of Gennosuke Higaki, a jujitsu fighter wearing western clothes and smoking cigarettes, who challenges Sugata to a duel to death. Higaki's entrance is accompanied by wind. Wind is used as a metaphor for the threatening West. This motif will be later used in Yojimbo for the arrival of Tatsuya Nakadai carrying a revolver to the town (a sign of Western power). This is the only suggestion made in the film pointing at Japan being at war, even though it was made for war propaganda. The scene then moves to the actual duel, which takes place on a hillside. The wind is still blowing and clouds are seen passing really fast above their heads. Kurosawa's use of weather to complement the feelings of the characters is outstanding and will become of his trademarks later in his career.
Two sequences are particularly remarkable. The first one occurs at the beginning of the film. Members of a rival jujitsu school, which Sanshiro had joined that night, ambush Yano, the founder of Judo. Even though outnumbered, Yano manages to throw all his opponents in the river nearby. Whereas the camera focusing on the gang pans continuously and is almost always in motion, the shots of Yano waiting for them to attack are always static. This contrast in shots suggests Yano's fighting skill superiority as well as a greater physical and mental control of himself. Sugata is impressed and rapidly helps Yano to pull the rickshaw left abandoned by its owner. For this, he gets rid of his geta shoes. They leave but the camera is fixed on the shoes. We see them getting worn out (bystanders kick them, a dog bites them, rain & snow fall on them). Eventually we see one of the shoes stuck on a grille. The next sequence starts with a crane shot of a narrow street where Sugata is seen surrounded by a threatening crowd. He moves frantically backs and forwards throwing people to the ground. He is now a judo master. We have not seen his training, but the shoes sequence has provided a metaphor of this achievement, suggesting that Sugata has been through a painful and tough training. Even though he is learned the judo techniques he has not achieved the mastery of Yano. He lacks the restraint and coolness of Yano. His fighting resembles that of the members of the jujitsu gang who had attacked his master previously. The next sequence shows Yano telling him that he lacks control over his emotions, he has achieved some a physical skill but not a spiritual one. The next sequence I would like to talk about occurs at the end of the film. Sugata is seen having dinner with Hansuke Murai, played by Shimura Takashi and whom Sugata had previously defeated in combat, and his daughter Sayo who is very fond of Sugata. The dinner is interrupted by the abrupt appearance of Gennosuke Higaki, a jujitsu fighter wearing western clothes and smoking cigarettes, who challenges Sugata to a duel to death. Higaki's entrance is accompanied by wind. Wind is used as a metaphor for the threatening West. This motif will be later used in Yojimbo for the arrival of Tatsuya Nakadai carrying a revolver to the town (a sign of Western power). This is the only suggestion made in the film pointing at Japan being at war, even though it was made for war propaganda. The scene then moves to the actual duel, which takes place on a hillside. The wind is still blowing and clouds are seen passing really fast above their heads. Kurosawa's use of weather to complement the feelings of the characters is outstanding and will become of his trademarks later in his career.