Sanjuro

Akira Kurosawa

Japan

1962

96 minutes

Black and White

2.35:1

Japanese

53

Synopsis

Toshiro Mifune swaggers and snarls to brilliant comic effect in Akira Kurosawa’s tightly paced, beautifully composed Sanjuro. In this sly companion piece to Yojimbo, the jaded samurai Sanjuro helps an idealistic group of young warriors weed out their clan’s evil influences, and in the process turns their image of a “proper” samurai on its ear. Less brazen in tone than its predecessor but just as engaging, this classic character’s return is a masterpiece in its own right, now presented in a new high-definition digital transfer.

Cast

SanjuroToshiro Mifune
Hanbei MorotoTatsuya Nakadai
Kimura the SpyKeiju Kobayashi
Iiro IzakaYuzo Kayama
ChidoriReiko Dan
KurofujiTakashi Shimura
TakebayashiKamatari Fujiwara
Mutsuta’s wifeTakako Irie
MutsutaYunosuke Ito
KikuiMasao Shimizu

Credits

DirectorAkira Kurosawa
ProducerTomoyuki Tanaka and Ryuzo Kikushima
ScreenplayRyuzo Kikushima, Akira Kurosawa and Hideo Oguni
From the novel byShugoro Yamamoto
CinematographyFukuzo Koizumi and Takao Saitô
Production DesignYoshiro Muraki
MusicMasaru Sato

Disc Features

  • All-new, restored high-definition digital transfer
  • Optional Dolby Digital 3.0 soundtrack, preserving the original Perspecta simulated-stereo effects
  • Audio commentary by film historian and Kurosawa scholar Stephen Prince
  • A 35-minute documentary on the making of Sanjuro, created as part of the Toho Masterworks series Akira Kurosawa: It Is Wonderful to Create
  • Theatrical trailer and teaser
  • Stills gallery of behind-the-scenes photos
  • New and improved English subtitle translation
  • PLUS: A booklet featuring an essay by critic Michael Sragow and notes and statements from Kurosawa and his cast and crew

From the Current

Sanjuro

by Michael Sragow Jan 22, 2007

In the Kurosawa movie family tree, Sanjuro (1962) is the sassy kid brother to Yojimbo, and like many light-hearted younger siblings, it’s underrated. After Yojimbo achieved blockbuster status in 1961, Kurosawa took a story he’d already developed about a semi-strong but wily...

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Available Editions

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8 Dec 2009

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