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Sanjuro

Sanjuro (1963)

May. 07,1963
|
8
|
NR
| Drama Action Comedy

Toshiro Mifune swaggers and snarls to brilliant comic effect in Kurosawa's tightly paced, beautifully composed "Sanjuro." In this companion piece and sequel to "Yojimbo," 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.

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Evengyny
1963/05/07

Thanks for the memories!

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ShangLuda
1963/05/08

Admirable film.

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Pacionsbo
1963/05/09

Absolutely Fantastic

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Invaderbank
1963/05/10

The film creates a perfect balance between action and depth of basic needs, in the midst of an infertile atmosphere.

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George Roots (GeorgeRoots)
1963/05/11

Originally its own thing, but due to the success of Kurosawa's "Yojimbo" (1961) the script was reworked to feature the return of "Kuwabatake Sanjuro" (Toshiro Mifune). With that in mind, "Sanjuro" is a pleasant follow up to his adventures and contains enough substance to also stand as its own thing.Nine young Samurai believe that their lord has fallen under corruption, after one of his superintendents claim to have caught him tearing up a petition against organised crime. Out of the dark corner of the room appears a resting Ronin (Toshiro Mifune), who overheard the story and suggests something otherwise. Though insulted, it appears the wandering Ronin was correct as he decides to aid them in finding their missing lord, while they still have doubts about their new companion who gives them his name "Tsubaki Sanjūrō" (Camellia thirty-year-old man).Given its origins, it holds up surprisingly well. Toshiro Mifune is up against Tatsuya Nakadi (Again), and Nakadai disappears into his stern henchmen effortlessly whilst Mifune returns with all the quirks of this gruff character. The absence of harsh weather from other Kurosawa pictures in noticeable, yet hiding around the compound and the many streams of water present is all captured beautifully.Final Verdict: The style had already been done (The main title music is the exact same theme of "Yojimbo" with different instruments), but "Sanjuro" easily entertains throughout its 1 hour 30 minutes. 9/10.

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Chris Silver
1963/05/12

Sanjuro (椿三十郎)- Japan 1961This is number 9 on the list.Sanjuro. The Samurai. Sanjûrô Tsubaki. 三十郎椿. I don't know if those are the correct Japanese characters but, I don't speak Japanese. Having said that, this movie is so great. I love, absolutely 100% adore the director-actor partnership of Kurosawa and Mifune. So many places they have proved time and time again that they only make movie magic. This film is fantastic. There is nothing I could see that is wrong or incorrect. The movie is just, Woah. The cinematography is pure, PURE Kurosawa, no one could do this story, no one could capture the words of the actors or even the slightest 'scratch-of-the-neck' of Sanjuro like Kurosawa does. I would usually say "I applaud" but for this certain movie, I bow to you Akira Kurosawa. The story lacks nothing. I have always wondered why people say so much of Akira Kurosawa's influence can be seen in Spaghetti Westerns and other westerns. This movie showed me. Long and intricate shots of only the faces of those worrying, or the final standoff fight scene. slow paced action but fast paced wit made this movie awesome.Mifune won a place in my heart with this movie. Sanjuro has unbreakable wit and clever thoughts though he may not seem to be the pure 'samurai' that is implied. I am ending this review saying that usually people may think that the use of subtitles us harsh and they don't like it. Or that subtitles take away from the jokes that the characters make. But the subtitles of Kurosawa's movies add to the movie for me. Not knowing Japanese, having to read the subtitles as they pass makes me pay even closer attention to the film. While with a movie in English, I could be folding laundry and just listening to the story as it happens. With any Kurosawa film, I claim that would be impossible.SilverRating: (and the highest yet) 8/10.

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Kong Ho Meng
1963/05/13

Sanjuro, which is also in a way a sequel to Yojimbo, is quite different from his usual films because not only it packs exciting comedy but it has more intelligence than what you would expect from a classic B&W film. This is because Sanjuro is basically a cat-and-mouse mindgame.Unlike Yojimbo where only the main character controls the chessboard and the rest just followed like robots to the sequence of events, Sanjuro allows the main players (friend or foe) space to control the game and outwit each other. The funny moments were golden, especially the Lady, the confused guard who was locked and the scene with the flowers. Best of all, the greatest gem is the battle sequence between 2 master samurai right at the end. I actually came to like this more than Yojimbo because it seems to be an enhanced version in certain respects.

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WakenPayne
1963/05/14

As far as sequels go this is not as good as the predecessor Yojimbo. For a fact I only wanted to see this because I watched Yojimbo and wanted to see this. I managed to find it and then sit down and watch it.The basic plot is that 9 young samurai are rebelling against a superintendent who kidnapped the lead Samurai's uncle. Who should help them but the nameless samurai that is more skilled than all of them who comes to their aid.As far as movies go this is worth the watch, it's not as good but it's Good in it's own right.

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