is a 1962
Japanese
Japanese may refer to:
* Something from or related to Japan, an island country in East Asia
* Japanese language, spoken mainly in Japan
* Japanese people, the ethnic group that identifies with Japan through ancestry or culture
** Japanese diaspor ...
''
jidaigeki
is a genre of film, television, and theatre in Japan. Literally meaning "historical drama, period dramas", it refers to stories that take place before the Meiji Restoration of 1868.
''Jidaigeki'' show the lives of the samurai, farmers, crafts ...
'' film directed, co-written and edited by
Akira Kurosawa
was a Japanese filmmaker who List of works by Akira Kurosawa, directed 30 feature films in a career spanning six decades. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest and most influential filmmakers in the History of film, history of cinema ...
, starring
Toshiro Mifune
was a Japanese actor and producer. The recipient of numerous awards and accolades over a lengthy career, he is widely considered one of the greatest actors of all time. He often played hypermasculine characters and was noted for his commandin ...
. It is a sequel to Kurosawa's 1961 ''
Yojimbo
is a 1961 Japanese samurai film directed by Akira Kurosawa, who also co-wrote the screenplay and was one of the producers. The film stars Toshiro Mifune, Tatsuya Nakadai, Yoko Tsukasa, Isuzu Yamada, Daisuke Katō, Takashi Shimura, Kamat ...
''.
Originally an adaptation of the
Shūgorō Yamamoto
, better known by the pen name of , was a Japanese people, Japanese novelist and short story, short-story writer active during the Shōwa period of Japan. He was noted for his popular literature, and is known to have published works under at leas ...
novel ''Hibi Heian'', the script was altered following the success of the previous year's ''Yojimbo'' to incorporate the lead character of that film.
Plot
Nine young
samurai
The samurai () were members of the warrior class in Japan. They were originally provincial warriors who came from wealthy landowning families who could afford to train their men to be mounted archers. In the 8th century AD, the imperial court d ...
believe that the lord chamberlain, Mutsuta, is corrupt after he tore up their petition against fraud at court. One of them tells the superintendent Kikui of this and he agrees to intervene. As the nine meet secretly to discuss this at a shrine, a
rōnin
In feudal Japan to early modern Japan (1185–1868), a ''rōnin'' ( ; , , 'drifter' or 'wandering man', ) was a samurai who had no lord or master and in some cases, had also severed all links with his family or clan. A samurai became a ''rō ...
overhears and cautions them against trusting the superintendent. While at first they do not believe him, he saves them from an ambush. But as their rescuer is about to leave, he realises that Mutsuta and his family must now be in danger and decides to stay and help.
By the time the samurai get to Mutsuta's house, the chamberlain has been abducted and his wife and daughter are held prisoner there. Following the rōnin's suggestion, a servant from the house gets the guards drunk, allowing the samurai to free the women. Then the group hide in a house next door to the superintendent's compound. When Mutsuta's wife asks the rōnin his name, he looks out of the window at the surrounding
camellia
''Camellia'' (pronounced or ) is a genus of flowering plants in the family Theaceae. They are found in tropical and subtropical areas in East Asia, eastern and South Asia, southern Asia, from the Himalayas east to Japan and Indonesia. There are ...
trees and says it is , literally "thirty-year-old camellia". The lady then criticises "Sanjuro" for killing too frequently and insists that "the best sword is kept in its sheath."
Sanjuro decides to get closer to the corrupt officials and joins their henchman Hanbei, who had previously offered him a job after the ambush at the shrine. Although the samurai distrustfully decide to keep watch on him, Sanjuro realises he is being followed as he walks along with Hanbei, and their shadows are easily captured and bound. Made to believe that a much larger group may be involved, Hanbei leaves to request reinforcements. Sanjuro then frees the four captured samurai, although having to kill all their guards. He tells the four to leave him tied up, then explains to Hanbei on his return that he did not wish to die in a cause in which he had no stake.
The chamberlain's whereabouts are not discovered until the next day, when Mutsuta's wife and daughter find a piece of the torn petition in the small stream that flows from the superintendent's compound past their hideout. Since an attack on the officials is impossible with the compound full of armed men, Sanjuro hatches a plan to get the army away by reporting to Hanbei that he saw the rebels at a temple where he was sleeping. Meanwhile he has told his group of samurai that he will send the signal to attack by floating large numbers of camellias down the stream.
The first part of the plan works, with the superintendent's forces rushing off to the temple; however, Hanbei becomes suspicious after catching Sanjuro trying to drop the camellias into the stream and ties him up. Just as Hanbei is preparing to kill him, the remaining corrupt officials realise that Sanjuro has tricked them—his description of the temple was incorrect. They convince Hanbei not to waste any further time and instead catch up with the superintendent's forces and have them return as soon as possible. However, Sanjuro tricks the officials into giving the signal for the samurai to come to the rescue. Hanbei returns to find he has been made a fool of once again.
Mutsuta is restored to his position and the superintendent commits
hara-kiri
, also known as , is a form of Japanese ritualistic suicide by disembowelment. It was originally reserved for samurai in their code of honor, but was also practiced by other Japanese people during the Shōwa era (particularly officers near t ...
, much to the chamberlain's regret, as he wished to avoid a public scandal. As his family and the loyal samurai are celebrating, they discover that Sanjuro has slipped away. The samurai race off to find Sanjuro and Hanbei about to duel.
Sanjuro is reluctant to fight and tries to dissuade Hanbei, but Hanbei is furious at his loss of dignity and declares he can only find peace by killing Sanjuro. Hanbei draws his sword, but the faster Sanjuro kills him. When the young samurai cheer his victory, Sanjuro becomes angry, stating that Hanbei was just like him: "a sword unsheathed". Also warning that he will kill them if they follow him. His admirers can only kneel and bow as he walks away.
Cast
Production
The story is primarily based on
Shūgorō Yamamoto
, better known by the pen name of , was a Japanese people, Japanese novelist and short story, short-story writer active during the Shōwa period of Japan. He was noted for his popular literature, and is known to have published works under at leas ...
's short story . Originally ''Sanjuro'' was to be a straight adaptation of the story. After the success of ''
Yojimbo
is a 1961 Japanese samurai film directed by Akira Kurosawa, who also co-wrote the screenplay and was one of the producers. The film stars Toshiro Mifune, Tatsuya Nakadai, Yoko Tsukasa, Isuzu Yamada, Daisuke Katō, Takashi Shimura, Kamat ...
'' the studio decided to resurrect its popular
antihero
An antihero (sometimes spelled as anti-hero or two words anti hero) or anti-heroine is a character in a narrative (in literature, film, TV, etc.) who may lack some conventional heroic qualities and attributes, such as idealism and morality. Al ...
, and Kurosawa reimagined the script accordingly. But despite a certain element of continuity, the eventual film turned out to be more than just a sequel to ''Yojimbo'' for the hero goes on to develop in character from the swashbuckling original.
He is, as before, a masterless samurai who preserves his anonymity by the same means. When asked his name in ''Yojimbo'' he looks outside and names himself mulberry (''Kuwabatake''); in ''Sanjuro'' he chooses a camellia (''Tsubaki''). In both cases he gives ''Sanjūrō'' (thirty-year-old) as his given name, although in both films he admits to being closer to forty. Having the ''ronin'' take the name of a local plant rather than a great house or clan reflects a populist turn in contemporary samurai movies. A crucial difference between ''Yojimbo'' and ''Sanjuro'', however, is that there is little connection to the
Western genre
The Western is a genre of fiction typically set in the American frontier (commonly referred to as the "Old West" or the "Wild West") between the California Gold Rush of 1849 and the closing of the frontier in 1890, and commonly associated wit ...
in the sequel. The original was set in an out-of-the-way border town where the hero deals ruthlessly with local thugs, while in ''Sanjuro'' the action centres on a Japanese feudal power struggle in a clan fortress town. There the hero realises that Hanbei, his main opponent, is a man much like himself: a social outsider (an "unsheathed sword" in the words of the chamberlain’s wife) free to pick his own side in a conflict. The difference between them is only in the motives behind their choice.
There is also a greater element of social comedy, with the seasoned fighter constantly hampered by the failure of the young men whom he chooses to help to grasp the reality of the situation. But while he is their superior in tactics, the lady he has just rescued confounds him by insisting that he restrain himself, since killing people is a bad habit. Although there has to be some killing, largely as result of the inept actions of his young allies, the only truly violent moment comes at the very end in the duel between Sanjuro and Hanbei. From this he walks away in a fury because his young admirers are still unable to read human nature and understand the significance of what has just happened.
Release
''Sanjuro'' was released on January 1, 1962 in Japan where it was distributed by
Toho
is a Japanese entertainment company that primarily engages in producing and distributing films and exhibiting stage plays. It is headquartered in Chiyoda, Tokyo, and is one of the core companies of the Osaka-based Hankyu Hanshin Toho Group. ...
. The film was also released in the same year in the United States.
Box office
''Sanjuro'' was Toho's highest-grossing film in 1962, coming second place for the highest grossing Japanese productions in 1962. It earned in
distributor rentals
A box office or ticket office is a place where tickets are sold to the public for admission to an event. Patrons may perform the transaction at a countertop, through a hole in a wall or window, or at a wicket. By extension, the term is freque ...
at the Japanese box office in 1962, exceeding ''
King Kong vs. Godzilla
is a 1962 Japanese ''kaiju'' film directed by Ishirō Honda, with special effects by Eiji Tsuburaya. Produced and distributed by Toho Co., Ltd, it is the third film in both the ''Godzilla'' and ''King Kong'' franchises, as well as the first T ...
'',
which had sold tickets in Japan that year.
Reception
The film has been positively received by critics. It holds a 100% rating on the review aggregator
Rotten Tomatoes
Rotten Tomatoes is an American review aggregator, review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee ...
based on 23 reviews, with a
weighted average
The weighted arithmetic mean is similar to an ordinary arithmetic mean (the most common type of average), except that instead of each of the data points contributing equally to the final average, some data points contribute more than others. The ...
of 8.38/10. The site's consensus reads: "Technically impressive and superbly acted, ''Sanjuro'' is a funny, action-packed samurai adventure featuring outstanding cinematography and a charismatic performance from Toshiro Mifune". In 2009 the film was voted at No. 59 on the list of ''The Greatest Japanese Films of All Time'' by Japanese film magazine
Kinema Junpo
, commonly called , is Japan's oldest film magazine and began publication in July 1919. It was first published three times a month, using the Japanese ''Jun'' (旬) system of dividing months into three parts, but the postwar ''Kinema Junpō'' ha ...
.
Legacy
Mifune's sword fighting in the film was used in an extensive illustrated example of "samurai virtuosity with his sword" in ''This Is Kendo'', a 1989
kendo
is a modern Japanese martial art, descended from kenjutsu (one of the old Japanese martial arts, swordsmanship), that uses bamboo swords ( shinai) as well as protective armor ( bōgu). It began as samurai warriors' customary swordsmanship ex ...
manual published in English.
Remake
The film was remade as ''Tsubaki Sanjuro'' in 2007 by
Yoshimitsu Morita
was a Japanese film director. He was known for his versatility, having directed satires, melodramas, crime thrillers, and pinku films. His most acclaimed films include The Family Game (1983), Sorekara (1985), Haru (1996), and Lost Parad ...
and starring
Yūji Oda
is a Japanese actor and singer. He is one of Japan's 11 most popular male entertainers, according to an NHK survey taken in 2004. In one survey, he was the second most popular actor after Takuya Kimura in Japan during the Heisei era (1989-2019) ...
in the title role.
References
Sources
*
*
External links
*
''Sanjuro: Return of the Ronin''an essay by
Michael Sragow
Michael Sragow (born June 26, 1952) is an American film critic and columnist who has written for ''The Orange County Register'', ''The Baltimore Sun'', ''Film Comment'', the ''San Francisco Examiner'', ''The New Times'', ''The New Yorker'' (where ...
at the
Criterion Collection
The Criterion Collection, Inc. (or simply Criterion) is an American home-video distribution company that focuses on licensing, restoring and distributing "important classic and contemporary films". A "sister company" of arthouse film distributo ...
*
Sanjuro' at the
Japanese Movie Database
The , more commonly known as simply JMDb, is an online database of information about Japanese movies, actors, and production crew personnel. It is similar to the Internet Movie Database but lists only those films initially released in Japan. Y. ...
*
{{Authority control
1962 films
Japanese black-and-white films
Japanese sequel films
Films directed by Akira Kurosawa
1960s Japanese-language films
Jidaigeki films
1960s samurai films
Toho films
Films with screenplays by Akira Kurosawa
Films with screenplays by Ryuzo Kikushima
Films produced by Ryūzō Kikushima
Films produced by Tomoyuki Tanaka
Films scored by Masaru Sato
1960s Japanese films
Films based on works by Shūgorō Yamamoto