Review – Sanshiro Sugata 2

This is the movie I was afraid the first one would be. The print I saw was terrible, which is okay because the movie itself was no great shakes. Our judo champion hero violates the sacred rules of the dojo by fighting for money against an American boxer and accepting without permission a challenge from a couple of karate expert jerks. Though set in 1887, this was made in 1944. The resulting anti-American propaganda – particularly the sailor who mumbles like Popeye until Sugata throws him off a dock – is stiff and silly. Kurosawa later openly admitted that he had no interest in making this movie, and it shows. Mildly amusing