80. Film Review #5: Akira Kurosawa: ZOKU SUGATA SANSHIRO (Judo Saga II) (1945) (Part Two)
A detailed analysis of the above film. Part Two.
Cut to Tin and Yuen Kuo ascending some stairs.
Tin: "How are you brother?"
Cut to Gennosuke Higaki (Ryunosuke Tsukigata), covered in bed, obviously ill. "Where are you going? Full of anger." Cut to Tin and Yuen.
Tin: "Tokyo scene, is this one good? Unlike a village man..."
Tin walks over to a mirror and admires himself. Cut to Higaki in bed, pained. "Yuen. Your sickness will happen if going out at night." He sits up in bed to look at what Yuen is doing. He is holding something. It says, "Miss Siu" on it. It seems to be a bolt of kimono fabric. Yuen wraps himself in the fabric. Higaki rises from his bed, looking upset. Yuen admires the fabric.
Higaki: "Yuen, stop!" He grabs something on the little table nearby and hurls it at Yuen. Yuen ducks and it smashes against something. Higaki slumps back down. Yuen continues to admire the fabric which has spilled over Higaki's bed (the camera follows its path) and over to the right at Tin's feet. As the camera makes this movement, Higaki says:
"Go back. Go back."
Tin: "I don't go. Not going back before I defeat Saam." He begins to roll up the fabric as he speaks...
Higaki: "Please go back."
Tin: "What is wrong to beat the enemies? I don't see your intention. He beat you and get your lover."
Higaki rises up from bed. "Shut up!"
Cut to Tin who begins to laugh -- close-up: the laughter is demonic. Fade to black.
Fade up on Yano, sitting above Sugata and the other students...
[Another tough section, as far as translation goes...]
"No compensation, who's beaten?"
A student: "Including Tin, four black holders."
Another: "The younger left after being defeated."
Yano laughs. "Is karate. To karate. We are not complete."
Sugata: "We'll win."
Yano: "It's hard to say. Karate will take the control."
Close up on Sugata: "Karate will win." [the word "judo" is in this sentence. This makes me nearly certain the subtitles are lacking more than just subtle translation problems!]...Close up on Yano. He looks up. Cut to rickshaw boy at the opposite door.
"Thanks. I have to go." He bows.
Sugata: "Don't use that way. Someone will block it."
Cut to same view from behind the tree branches from above as before. Yano, Sugata and another student are walking down the path. A scream is heard.
Yano: "Shit. It's too late." They rush down the alley. They come to the boy's rickshaw. Sugata sees him first and runs to him, although the camera stays on Yano and the other student.
"Tai, you," cries Sugata.
Cut to the rickshaw boy -- Tai -- with a white sling around his arm and a bloodied head. Pan to the trio walking beside him -- Yano chuckles and says, "Your techniques are useful now."
Cut to a Yano student, calling out. Sugata greets him at a door: "Be calm, he just falls asleep." Cut to opposite point of view -- inside the room looking out towards the door -- the student outside the door; Sugata standing to the right, but inside the room; the injured Tai, all bandaged up in the bottom left to center of the frame, and the other two students on the right.
Cut back to the student still out in the hall. He pulls Sugata out of the room. "Kuo has come."
Sugata: "Two together?"
Student: "It's Yuen."
Cut to the door where a man in a bowler hat, both hands on top of an umbrella, upon which he leans.
Cut to another room. Apparently it was not Yuen at all, but Higaki at the door. The camera pulls back to reveal Sugata with him (as usual, they are separated by an inanimate object, a large bowl in this case, to complete the filmic geometry!)
Higaki: "I lost to karate and I am being sick. But I feel proud of the spirit."
Sugata: "You can still work. You must fight for the Japanese art."
Higaki: "The God won't allow me to do this. Neither people. But I like the spirit of karate. Remain in the history of Japanese karate..."
Sugata: "...Must remain in the history." A small pause.
Higaki: "How is Mr. Chin?"
Sugata: "He's well, thank you."
Higaki: "It's so good of you...about your brother. They have gone to do exercise in the hill to prepare for the fight. Both are my brothers I don't hate them. But they don't know how to be a man. Tin is a snake. He has got my worst former disadvantage." Close-up. "Yuen is sick. Really sick. Happening since he's a child. Being cruel before happening. Please get rid of him. Don't fight with them. I am not saying for them. I am for your sake. No, it's for the Japanese Arts..."
Higaki begins to cough violently. Cut to a side angle -- Sugata has moved to Higaki's left and is rubbing his back; we see Sugata head-on from this angle...
In the distance, children are singing the "Sugata" song again. "Thanks," says Higaki as his cough subsides. Sugata stops rubbing his back. He sits, listening to the children sing...unlike Sugata I, the song is "translated" here:
"Saam is coming.
Don't touch him..." (cut to a longer shot -- the bowl in the near foreground with Higaki behind it and Sugata to the right...)
"Don't get closer, hurry to run.
You'll have a pain if you come across him..."
Higaki removes something and hands it to Sugata. "It's the secret of Kuo Stream...you were born to fight."
Sugata: "Let me say again..."
Higaki: "...for the Japanese Arts you are more important."
Sugata: "Thanks." And he bows.
Higaki rises to his feet. Sugata as well, and he grabs Higaki. "Are you going?"
Higaki: "Yes."
Sugata: "I see you off. Luckily, there is a car." Close-up on Higaki and Sugata: "I used to be a driver" (referring to events in Sugata I).
Cut to the rickshaw. Sugata is getting Higaki all tucked in. "Sorry," says Higaki.
"Are you cold?"
"No worries."
"Put down the cover"
"No, I want to see the scene..." Close-up on Higaki and Sugata. "...I may have no chance to see again." Sugata bows his head slightly. At that instant, the children start singing the song again:
"Saam is coming.
Don't touch him.
Don't get close, hurry to run..." (Sugata has picked up the handles of the rickshaw and turned it around...)
"...You'll have a pain if you come across him..."
Suddenly Sayo is right there in Sugata's face! [what a coincidence!] She looks at Sugata. Then at Higaki. Higaki's eyes close in pain. "Brother Chee. Please. Please put down the cover. I feel cold."
Sugata puts down the handles. Cut to side view, showing Higaki slumped forward. Sugata walks to the back of the rickshaw. We see the cover come down over Higaki. Cut to Sayo, head bowed -- sad. Cut to Sugata buttoning up the cover. He glances back towards Sayo, then quickly finishes the buttoning. Cut to side view of covered rickshaw, Higaki barely visible through the window of the cover. The rickshaw has been picked up into moving position. It goes off, left, the camera lingers on Sayo for a moment.
Cut to a frontal view of Sugata, pulling the rickshaw. His eyes seem nearly vacant in cold confusion. Fade to black.
[A strange, purposeless {in my opinion} scene follows...]
A lamp sits in the center of the room, with Sugata in front of it (and the bright lighting makes seeing Sugata's face nearly impossible). He rises (lighting much better) and begins to practice his moves. This goes on for a long time. Towards the end of this sequence, he moves far out of the circle of light (presumably cast by the small lantern) into the dark rear of the room, and can be barely seen. His last move causes him to fall awkwardly, nearly completely unlit, near a rear wall. It is almost ludicrous, in a way I'm certain Kurosawa never intended...
Cut to Sugata against a wall corner, with no lighting problems. He is breathing heavily. "How?" sounds on off-camera voice. Three Yano students surround the seated Sugata. He takes a paper out of his pocket and hands it to one of the students, who unfolds it. Someone reads it out loud:
"Book to fight. To fight at the Hill on 15th December. Two of us are waiting. Please don't forget. Tin and Yuen Kuo."
The camera pans down to Sugata. "Are you going?" someone asks.
"I'd rather be kicked out of the Station," someone else says.
Sugata: "I must break three rules." He points up towards the sign on the wall, which we see in two quick cuts (the entire sign and then the single character on the far right of the sign)...
"I have drunk wines here," he continues, "and I don't want to escape."
"I broke two rules," says another student. "What is the other one?"
Sugata rises to his feet. Close-up. "Break it by the way: 'Who have a show in the public will be kicked out'." Cut to a big festive public arena. Closer shot on band members playing. Translator Po walks into the frame, wearing a checkered suit. He holds up his hat and stops the band. (The following is shot at ring level, with the rope stretching across the frame, and literally cutting Po in half!)
"This is the main event today. Japan-America friendly fight: boxing to karate. American champion, William Star..." Star enters the ring. Po continues:
"He's the giant of 80 kg. The power of his fist can break bricks and bend iron board." At this, the showman Po bends his hat in dramatic fashion, getting a few laughs and a whistle. "Is an iron man. His nake name [nickname] is Killer...the challenger is a genius in Japanese karate. But his name can't be released."
"Saam Chee," comes the cheer from someone in the crowd. Another yells his name. And several more. Sugata rubs his head and Po continues:
"The reward is 1000 dollars. It's incredible fight. Wind comes before the rain..."
"About to start..." someone yells.
Po: "Stop introducing here." He bows.
Cut to a group of cheering American sailors [mainly non-Japanese group of extras. However, the sailor who is (more or less) the second from the left in the second row is clearly Oriental. The sailor who fought Sugata in the first scene is visible, approximately in the center of the frame.]
Cut to a similar group of cheering Japanese. Closer on the Americans. Closer on the Japanese. The Americans again. Then Po, who sits down on a chair and crosses his legs. He glances up towards the ring.
Cut to Sugata, from behind. He turns his head.
Cut to a long shot of the ring. From left to right: the American, the referee and Sugata. The ref walks away and the two fighters meet at the center of the ring.
Cut to close-up, from behind Star's right shoulder, facing Sugata. Sugata evades three punches from Star. Cut to a close-up of five or six of the American sailors. The one who Sugata threw in the water is on the left.
Cut to Star, throwing a punch. Cut to Sugata, where we see the punch miss its intended target. Quick cutting from Star, to Sugata, to Star and back to Sugata. Sugata smiles broadly. Back to Star, who swings hard with his left. Very quick cut to a POV behind Star's right shoulder. We can see Sugata grabbing Star's boxing glove. Cut to a medium shot with Star and Sugata, left and right, Sugata with a firm grip on the boxing glove. Star attempts five or six right hooks while his other hand is being held, but they do not touch Sugata. Finally, Sugata tries to trip Star. Cut to a young Japanese boy, his hands cupping his mouth, yelling his encouragement to Sugata...
Cut to a long shot. We can see the entire ring. Sugata still has Star's left hand firmly in his grasp, and is now spinning Star around the ring. Star is still trying to connect with his right. Now some extremely quick cutting:
From behind Sugata's right shoulder, he is blocking Star's right-handed punch (just a few frames)...
Extreme close-up on Star's profile. Sugata's hand is beginning to wrap itself around Star's throat (again, not many frames)...
A shot of Star's boxing boot. Sugata's leg comes down and seems to upend Star's (very short cut)...
Quick cut showing Sugata throwing Star through the air...
From a ring corner -- Star is landing hardly, Sugata in the middle of the ring...
Cut to the American sailors, moving back from the corner, and looking disappointed (the cheering stops....)
Cut back to Star, prone, and Sugata at ring center. Cut to a long shot, taking in ring and spectators. Cut to Japanese boys, rising. Cut to close-up on Star, from above. His trainers and cornermen are yelling at him: "C'mon. Get up."
Star tries several times to get up. He finally slumps down for good. Cut to non-Japanese girl, cheering; cut to Po, lifting up his glasses; cut to a non-Japanese man, shaking his fist; to Po; to the sailors; back to Po; the sailors; now to Star, beginning to stir; back to the sailors, cheering him on; back to Star, pulling himself up on the ropes; back to the sailors; back to Star, now standing, but he slumps over the ropes; three quick reaction shots from a man, a woman, another man; then from ring level, the camera pans up on the slumped Star. It reaches his head and he suddenly jerks himself to a standing position and steadies himself on the ropes. He begins to walk to the other side of the ring. He finally comes to Sugata, standing still, looking straight ahead. Star walks right up to him, teeters for a moment, then falls down for good [this is reminiscent of Higaki's fight with Sugata in the last scene of Sugata I].
Total silence. Cut to the sailors; cut to the Japanese boys; cut to the band members; cut to the referee and Po; cut to a shot of Star; taken from behind his prone body; cut to Po again; cut to one of Star's handlers with a towel around his neck, a young boy. He looks at the referee and Po and shrugs his shoulders. The referee and Po look at each other and do the same. Long-shot from back of arena, as referee walks towards Sugata. Close on Sugata and referee. Comic scene. The referee tries to raise Sugata's hand in the traditional boxing-style, to announce him the winner. Sugata is reluctant to let the referee grab his hand (even though he himself had witnessed this action previously) and pulls away violently three times before the man is able to grab Sugata's hand and raise it.
Cut to long shot. Cheering, hats being thrown in the air. Various cuts to various angles on the crowd, mostly very close on the cheering young boys. The camera finally returns to Sugata, looking forlorn and disgusted. Suddenly a wad of bills is placed before his face. Po comes into view. Sugata is reluctant to accept the money. Po insists. Cut to Star being carried out by his handlers. Sugata comes over and places the wad of bills on Star's lifeless body. He leaves. Cut to Sugata and Po -- Po is gesturing wildly and trying to get Sugata to take the money -- Sugata pushes him aside -- Po continues to try to persuade him to take the money -- Sugata finally picks Po up at the waist, turns him 180 degrees, sets him down, and walks away. Po looks dazed. He makes a motion towards Sugata with his hat and stick. The band, interpreting his movements as a downbeat, begins to play. He is spooked. [This is meant to be comic.]
Po puts on his hat and takes it off again. Cut to a long shot of Sugata leaving the arena. People are clustered about. A man is trying to get his attention. Close up on Kwan and Sugata.
Kwan: "Brother Chee, thank you...Do you forget me? I am Kwan who was defeated by Star."
The camera switches positions and is now looking at Sugata over Kwan's right shoulder. Kwan looks humbled; Sugata embarrassed. He looks beyond Kwan. Cut to close-up of Star being carried out, the wad of money on his stomach. Sugata takes back the money; first in the same close-up; then we see the action from a longer shot. Kwan rushes over.
"I come to apologize. Brother Chee. Please forgive my words." He begins to slump down. Sugata grabs him and brings him to his feet. He hands him the money. Kwan looks at the money. He looks at Sugata.
Suddenly, a throng of Sugata's supporters begin to dance through the hall. One row reaches Sugata and Kwan and as Sugata runs to escape them, another row appears...he puts his hands together as if to say -- don't hurt me! -- and escapes...
We see Kwan holding the money, as Sugata's fans rush about.
Cut to a wooden nameplate resting by a fire. Close on Sugata. "Master. I leave the Station tonight. I put down the board myself." The camera remains on Sugata, although someone else speaks:
Priest: "You mean to get rid of the Station? This say is not good."
Sugata: "I don't want to be kicked out so I put down the name board myself."
Priest: "What did I do wrong?"
Sugata: "I have braken the rules [Yep. He braked 'em all]. To have a fight with foreigners. They don't know Japanese Arts. I can ignore or teach them. I think I should teach them..." he concludes affirmatively.
Priest: "Oh? Just for this... (the camera now on the priest in profile) ...you are stupid! You are stupid to the rules."
Sugata (off camera): "Rules are rules."
Priest: "You are for the Arts. You heart hasn't broken the rules. The truth doesn't bothered by the rules. Saam! You go to put back the name board."
Sugata (off camera): "No way."
Priest: "Put back if you feel understanding. It's OK to put back after 10 to 20 years."
The shot changes to what will become a kind of Kurosawa signature shot. Two human beings divided in a frame (usually by an inanimate object) [I've pointed out several other examples before this point, as well]. The priest is towards the rear of the frame on the left; a big post in the foreground takes up the center and Sugata is on the right. A lamp is above his head.
Priest: "I am tired. You go back." Switch to close-up on Sugata...
Sugata: "Let me stay here tonight. I want to think."
Priest: "You just can fall asleep."
Sugata: "It's good if I can sleep. I can't sleep recently."
Priest: "Why?"
Sugata: "The enemies always appear."
Priest: "Isn't that fight finished?"
Sugata: "No, it's the next opponents."
Priest: "Want to fight again."
Sugata: "It's karate. Although I learn kung fu, sweep the floor, clean the corridor, take the water, chop the wood, make meals -- do it all the time -- I still can't sleep." Cut to priest.
Priest: "Good. I think with you."
Cut to an area by a door with white flowers painted on a wall. The priest enters and sits before the wall, in profile. A moment later Sugata enters and sits the same, in foreground.
Sugata: "Sorry. I cook for you tomorrow morning. There is a secret in cooking."
Priest: "Don't make noise," he screams. Sugata is still.
"You must look at those who tackle you -- until he disappears. Understand?"
Close on Sugata. He is staring straight ahead, trying achieve satori. The "Sugata" theme begins.
Angle change to behind the two, a fire burning.
A gorgeous dissolve has Sugata (and the fire) disappearing from their former positions, and dissolving into Sugata prone on the floor. The priest never changes.
The music tells us it is morning (trilling flute) and we change angles to a prone, sleeping Sugata, shot from above, his arms outstretched as he sleeps...his eyes open; his head turns. He sits up with a start.
"I still can't do that," he says, bowing his head quickly. He turns to look at the priest. He stares. He moves closer. Cut to opposite angle, Sugata on the left staring at the sleeping priest on the right, in profile. The priest moves his mouth, as if to indicate he had always been awake. Sugata smiles -- perhaps because he is relieved the priest did not attain satori when he could not; or perhaps because he is amused by what he knows is a deception on the part of the priest; or both; or neither...
Close-up on Sugata -- huge smile on his face. Cut to Sayo talking to someone we can't see, in a series of quick cuts, shot at different angles...
"Left for a long time."
"About a year"
"Two years"
"Three years."
Sugata fills the frame. The camera pulls back, revealing Sayo on the left. Sugata speaks:
"In fact I went to fight..."
Sayo: "No worries. You will win."
Sugata: "Skosh (but)..." Close-up on Sayo...
Sayo: "No. You must win."
Cut to long shot of all this. Sugata scurries away towards the camera. She bows, he bows back and turns to leave.
Cut to an even longer shot. They repeat the process.
Cut to a path. Sugata is running towards the camera. Sayo is now very far away, but we can still see her when she bows, again. Close on Sugata. A smile begins to form on his face. He turns back towards Sayo, smiling broadly, and he bows again and exits the frame on the right...
Something black and out of focus. I do not know what it is. Sugata is singing and trudging up and down (camera angle looking up at Sugata) against a white sky. The wind is howling.
"You are back," says a nasty voice. Sugata turns to look. We now see he is standing in a field of snow. A silhouetted figure approaches.
"Alone?" asks Sugata.
"Yuen is not coming," says Tin.
"Why?"
"The sickness happens again." Medium shot on Yuen, then closer.
Tin from over Sugata's left shoulder (entirely black against the white snow): "You are having good luck."
Now opposite, facing Sugata over Tin's left shoulder: "However..."
Now close up on Tin, poorly lit: "....going to hell after trying the karate." Tin begins to howl.
Cut to Sugata. Cut to Yuen. Sugata to Yuen to Sugata...
To Tin, assuming his karate stance -- although the shot is so poorly lit you can barely see him...
A much better lit long-shot showing Sugata and Tin -- silhouettes against the white snow...
Sugata removes his shoes. The wind howls. Tin howls. They change positions. Tin advances on Sugata. Sugata advances on Tin. Tin lunges at Sugata, but misses and falls. Sugata, too, is flipped, but quickly on his feet. Tin is now on the left and Sugata on the right. Tin continue to howl and change positions.
From below the fighters, on an embankment. Somebody throws somebody else and they both begin to tumble down the hill. Cut to Yuen. Cut to the two fighters falling down the hill. New angle from this new level. Tin howls and yaps as they circle each other. Finally, they grab each other. Sugata is thrown against some snow. It looks quite comfortable, actually. Tin takes his stance. At some point he has grabbed Sugata's right arm with his left. Sugata breaks the grip, and in some of the worst fight-scene acting you'll ever see, Sugata eventually throws Tin to the ground. He rises, yelping like a wounded cat.
Cut to Sugata, backing up, out of frame right, with his arm outstretched; Tin's trembling left hand and Tin following into the frame. As Tin leaves the frame right, we are left with his right hand, raised and trembling, ready to strike.
In the worth the price of admission department, Tin strikes out at Sugata -- and misses. But we see Tin's hand moving by a tree, and then we see (and hear) the tree falling (in slow motion).
A near duplication of this bringing Tin's right hand into the frame occurs. This time his hand swipes by Sugata's face -- once, twice, three times -- just missing...
Many trading cuts of Sugata and Tin -- Tin shrieking and posturing; Sugata calm and slow-moving --
Finally, a close up on Tin -- bad teeth, ugly face -- and a loud yell, which echoes through the
(cut) village and
(cut) Yuen joins in, as well...
The two fighters are now seen in extreme long shot, occupying only a slice of the far left of the frame. Close on Tin, Sugata, then Tin again. They grapple (terribly choreographed)...
Back to that gorgeous long shot again. Sugata throws him down a snowy hill. The annoying howling finally ceases!
Close-up on Yuen, much snow in his hair. He looks sad. His brother lost.
Cut to another close-up of Yuen, inside somewhere, his back to a wall. The camera pulls back. Tin is lying down (obviously injured). As the camera pulls back all the way, we see Sugata, attending to some cooking. He pulls a lid off a pot. "Finished cooking."
Close-up on Tin. He closes his eyes.
Back to Sugata. He is ladling some food into a bowl. He takes it over to Tin. "Feel the energy after eating." Tin shakes his head. "Don't eat," says Sugata. "Are you having a fever?" he asks, feeling his forehead. "I give you some cold water." The camera pans leftwards to Yuen. Close-up. The bowl of food is right under his nose. Cut to Sugata. "You also don't eat."
The camera pulls back. Sugata puts the bowl between the brothers. "I put it here." He dips a towel into the water, wrings it out, folds it up, and puts it on Tin's forehead. He puts another layer of clothing on top of Tin. He goes back to the pot and puts some food into a bowl for himself. He beings to eat. Cut to Yuen. He is just staring ahead. [This is the beginning of the excellent "scary music" section that runs through this scene...mostly soft trills in the strings.] Dissolve to closer shot; dissolve to extreme close-up; dissolve back to longer shot -- Yuen is still staring; Sugata is slumped over. Cut to front view of Sugata. He awakens -- looks around -- and slumps back down to sleep. Dissolve to medium angle of Sugata sleeping; dissolve to close-up.
More Kurosawa genius here in this extraordinarily mediocre film!
A leftward pan begins. We arrive at Tin -- towel on forehead, but his eyes are wide open (the trilling strings reinforce this already scary image). The pan continues upward now -- to Yuen who is still staring. Long hold on Yuen. His right hand begins to move ever so slowly.
Cut to close-up of his hand. It is right next to the bowl of food Sugata had put out. The hand moves over the bowl into the hidden straw where he pulls out....a hatchet! The camera follows the hatchet as the hand which holds it moves near Tin's head. Then the camera pans to the right to reveal Tin (his eyes are still wide open!) and stops on the sleeping Sugata. The camera pulls back to reveal all three, but quickly cuts to another close-up of Sugata, followed by the leftward pan to Tin -- the hatchet is right above his head. Pan up as Yuen is raising the hatchet (and looking down at the sleeping Sugata). We follow the hatchet as Yuen is holding it high above his head, ready to strike...
Cut to close-up of Sugata from above. Angelic music. "You must win," we hear from the voice of Sayo. Sugata breaks into a sleeping smile. Cut to the hatchet. Suddenly, Yuen's grip on it is loosened (although it does not fall out of his hand). We follow the hatchet as Yuen slowly brings it down, over Tin's head (he is watching closely) and finally lets it plop down onto the straw...Yuen turns around and seems to be crying...cut to Tin who is turning his head towards Yuen, then closes his eyes as he turns towards Sugata. Long close-up on Sugata.
Dissolve to a still-sleeping Sugata in very low light. In fact, just a strip of light is seen at first. Sugata begins to awaken. We hear the sound of sipping. Pan left as we see Sugata, smiling, Tin, eyes still open, and finally to Yuen, who is sipping and eating the food Sugata had left the night before. The camera begins to pull back. "It's cold. I heat it up now." Sugata leans down to Tin. "You also can eat. I go to bring some water." He exits.
The camera turns to frame Yuen and Tin. Tin turns to Yuen: "Lost..."
"Lost..." Yuen replies, smiling for the first time.
Cut to Sugata, outside, washing his face. He begins to smile an irrepressible smile as the music builds up to the Sugata theme. He is smiling broadly. A major chord. Fade to black. End credits (no subtitles) on black.
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SOURCES:
Stephen Prince: "The Warrior's Camera: The Cinema of Akira Kurosawa," (Princeton University Press (1991/1999) [SP]
Donald Richie: "The Films of Akira Kurosawa," University of California Press (1998) [DR]
James Goodwin: "Akira Kurosawa and Intertextual Cinema," The John Hopkins University Press (1994) [JG]
Stuart Galbraith IV: "The Emperor and the Wolf: The Lives and Films of Akira Kurosawa and Toshiro Mifune," Faber and Faber (2001) [SG]
Akira Kurosawa: "Something Like an Autobiography," Vintage Books (1983) [AK]
There are no wipes in this film.
Cut to Tin and Yuen Kuo ascending some stairs.
Tin: "How are you brother?"
Cut to Gennosuke Higaki (Ryunosuke Tsukigata), covered in bed, obviously ill. "Where are you going? Full of anger." Cut to Tin and Yuen.
Tin: "Tokyo scene, is this one good? Unlike a village man..."
Tin walks over to a mirror and admires himself. Cut to Higaki in bed, pained. "Yuen. Your sickness will happen if going out at night." He sits up in bed to look at what Yuen is doing. He is holding something. It says, "Miss Siu" on it. It seems to be a bolt of kimono fabric. Yuen wraps himself in the fabric. Higaki rises from his bed, looking upset. Yuen admires the fabric.
Higaki: "Yuen, stop!" He grabs something on the little table nearby and hurls it at Yuen. Yuen ducks and it smashes against something. Higaki slumps back down. Yuen continues to admire the fabric which has spilled over Higaki's bed (the camera follows its path) and over to the right at Tin's feet. As the camera makes this movement, Higaki says:
"Go back. Go back."
Tin: "I don't go. Not going back before I defeat Saam." He begins to roll up the fabric as he speaks...
Higaki: "Please go back."
Tin: "What is wrong to beat the enemies? I don't see your intention. He beat you and get your lover."
Higaki rises up from bed. "Shut up!"
Cut to Tin who begins to laugh -- close-up: the laughter is demonic. Fade to black.
Fade up on Yano, sitting above Sugata and the other students...
[Another tough section, as far as translation goes...]
"No compensation, who's beaten?"
A student: "Including Tin, four black holders."
Another: "The younger left after being defeated."
Yano laughs. "Is karate. To karate. We are not complete."
Sugata: "We'll win."
Yano: "It's hard to say. Karate will take the control."
Close up on Sugata: "Karate will win." [the word "judo" is in this sentence. This makes me nearly certain the subtitles are lacking more than just subtle translation problems!]...Close up on Yano. He looks up. Cut to rickshaw boy at the opposite door.
"Thanks. I have to go." He bows.
Sugata: "Don't use that way. Someone will block it."
Cut to same view from behind the tree branches from above as before. Yano, Sugata and another student are walking down the path. A scream is heard.
Yano: "Shit. It's too late." They rush down the alley. They come to the boy's rickshaw. Sugata sees him first and runs to him, although the camera stays on Yano and the other student.
"Tai, you," cries Sugata.
Cut to the rickshaw boy -- Tai -- with a white sling around his arm and a bloodied head. Pan to the trio walking beside him -- Yano chuckles and says, "Your techniques are useful now."
Cut to a Yano student, calling out. Sugata greets him at a door: "Be calm, he just falls asleep." Cut to opposite point of view -- inside the room looking out towards the door -- the student outside the door; Sugata standing to the right, but inside the room; the injured Tai, all bandaged up in the bottom left to center of the frame, and the other two students on the right.
Cut back to the student still out in the hall. He pulls Sugata out of the room. "Kuo has come."
Sugata: "Two together?"
Student: "It's Yuen."
Cut to the door where a man in a bowler hat, both hands on top of an umbrella, upon which he leans.
Cut to another room. Apparently it was not Yuen at all, but Higaki at the door. The camera pulls back to reveal Sugata with him (as usual, they are separated by an inanimate object, a large bowl in this case, to complete the filmic geometry!)
Higaki: "I lost to karate and I am being sick. But I feel proud of the spirit."
Sugata: "You can still work. You must fight for the Japanese art."
Higaki: "The God won't allow me to do this. Neither people. But I like the spirit of karate. Remain in the history of Japanese karate..."
Sugata: "...Must remain in the history." A small pause.
Higaki: "How is Mr. Chin?"
Sugata: "He's well, thank you."
Higaki: "It's so good of you...about your brother. They have gone to do exercise in the hill to prepare for the fight. Both are my brothers I don't hate them. But they don't know how to be a man. Tin is a snake. He has got my worst former disadvantage." Close-up. "Yuen is sick. Really sick. Happening since he's a child. Being cruel before happening. Please get rid of him. Don't fight with them. I am not saying for them. I am for your sake. No, it's for the Japanese Arts..."
Higaki begins to cough violently. Cut to a side angle -- Sugata has moved to Higaki's left and is rubbing his back; we see Sugata head-on from this angle...
In the distance, children are singing the "Sugata" song again. "Thanks," says Higaki as his cough subsides. Sugata stops rubbing his back. He sits, listening to the children sing...unlike Sugata I, the song is "translated" here:
"Saam is coming.
Don't touch him..." (cut to a longer shot -- the bowl in the near foreground with Higaki behind it and Sugata to the right...)
"Don't get closer, hurry to run.
You'll have a pain if you come across him..."
Higaki removes something and hands it to Sugata. "It's the secret of Kuo Stream...you were born to fight."
Sugata: "Let me say again..."
Higaki: "...for the Japanese Arts you are more important."
Sugata: "Thanks." And he bows.
Higaki rises to his feet. Sugata as well, and he grabs Higaki. "Are you going?"
Higaki: "Yes."
Sugata: "I see you off. Luckily, there is a car." Close-up on Higaki and Sugata: "I used to be a driver" (referring to events in Sugata I).
Cut to the rickshaw. Sugata is getting Higaki all tucked in. "Sorry," says Higaki.
"Are you cold?"
"No worries."
"Put down the cover"
"No, I want to see the scene..." Close-up on Higaki and Sugata. "...I may have no chance to see again." Sugata bows his head slightly. At that instant, the children start singing the song again:
"Saam is coming.
Don't touch him.
Don't get close, hurry to run..." (Sugata has picked up the handles of the rickshaw and turned it around...)
"...You'll have a pain if you come across him..."
Suddenly Sayo is right there in Sugata's face! [what a coincidence!] She looks at Sugata. Then at Higaki. Higaki's eyes close in pain. "Brother Chee. Please. Please put down the cover. I feel cold."
Sugata puts down the handles. Cut to side view, showing Higaki slumped forward. Sugata walks to the back of the rickshaw. We see the cover come down over Higaki. Cut to Sayo, head bowed -- sad. Cut to Sugata buttoning up the cover. He glances back towards Sayo, then quickly finishes the buttoning. Cut to side view of covered rickshaw, Higaki barely visible through the window of the cover. The rickshaw has been picked up into moving position. It goes off, left, the camera lingers on Sayo for a moment.
Cut to a frontal view of Sugata, pulling the rickshaw. His eyes seem nearly vacant in cold confusion. Fade to black.
[A strange, purposeless {in my opinion} scene follows...]
A lamp sits in the center of the room, with Sugata in front of it (and the bright lighting makes seeing Sugata's face nearly impossible). He rises (lighting much better) and begins to practice his moves. This goes on for a long time. Towards the end of this sequence, he moves far out of the circle of light (presumably cast by the small lantern) into the dark rear of the room, and can be barely seen. His last move causes him to fall awkwardly, nearly completely unlit, near a rear wall. It is almost ludicrous, in a way I'm certain Kurosawa never intended...
Cut to Sugata against a wall corner, with no lighting problems. He is breathing heavily. "How?" sounds on off-camera voice. Three Yano students surround the seated Sugata. He takes a paper out of his pocket and hands it to one of the students, who unfolds it. Someone reads it out loud:
"Book to fight. To fight at the Hill on 15th December. Two of us are waiting. Please don't forget. Tin and Yuen Kuo."
The camera pans down to Sugata. "Are you going?" someone asks.
"I'd rather be kicked out of the Station," someone else says.
Sugata: "I must break three rules." He points up towards the sign on the wall, which we see in two quick cuts (the entire sign and then the single character on the far right of the sign)...
"I have drunk wines here," he continues, "and I don't want to escape."
"I broke two rules," says another student. "What is the other one?"
Sugata rises to his feet. Close-up. "Break it by the way: 'Who have a show in the public will be kicked out'." Cut to a big festive public arena. Closer shot on band members playing. Translator Po walks into the frame, wearing a checkered suit. He holds up his hat and stops the band. (The following is shot at ring level, with the rope stretching across the frame, and literally cutting Po in half!)
"This is the main event today. Japan-America friendly fight: boxing to karate. American champion, William Star..." Star enters the ring. Po continues:
"He's the giant of 80 kg. The power of his fist can break bricks and bend iron board." At this, the showman Po bends his hat in dramatic fashion, getting a few laughs and a whistle. "Is an iron man. His nake name [nickname] is Killer...the challenger is a genius in Japanese karate. But his name can't be released."
"Saam Chee," comes the cheer from someone in the crowd. Another yells his name. And several more. Sugata rubs his head and Po continues:
"The reward is 1000 dollars. It's incredible fight. Wind comes before the rain..."
"About to start..." someone yells.
Po: "Stop introducing here." He bows.
Cut to a group of cheering American sailors [mainly non-Japanese group of extras. However, the sailor who is (more or less) the second from the left in the second row is clearly Oriental. The sailor who fought Sugata in the first scene is visible, approximately in the center of the frame.]
Cut to a similar group of cheering Japanese. Closer on the Americans. Closer on the Japanese. The Americans again. Then Po, who sits down on a chair and crosses his legs. He glances up towards the ring.
Cut to Sugata, from behind. He turns his head.
Cut to a long shot of the ring. From left to right: the American, the referee and Sugata. The ref walks away and the two fighters meet at the center of the ring.
Cut to close-up, from behind Star's right shoulder, facing Sugata. Sugata evades three punches from Star. Cut to a close-up of five or six of the American sailors. The one who Sugata threw in the water is on the left.
Cut to Star, throwing a punch. Cut to Sugata, where we see the punch miss its intended target. Quick cutting from Star, to Sugata, to Star and back to Sugata. Sugata smiles broadly. Back to Star, who swings hard with his left. Very quick cut to a POV behind Star's right shoulder. We can see Sugata grabbing Star's boxing glove. Cut to a medium shot with Star and Sugata, left and right, Sugata with a firm grip on the boxing glove. Star attempts five or six right hooks while his other hand is being held, but they do not touch Sugata. Finally, Sugata tries to trip Star. Cut to a young Japanese boy, his hands cupping his mouth, yelling his encouragement to Sugata...
Cut to a long shot. We can see the entire ring. Sugata still has Star's left hand firmly in his grasp, and is now spinning Star around the ring. Star is still trying to connect with his right. Now some extremely quick cutting:
From behind Sugata's right shoulder, he is blocking Star's right-handed punch (just a few frames)...
Extreme close-up on Star's profile. Sugata's hand is beginning to wrap itself around Star's throat (again, not many frames)...
A shot of Star's boxing boot. Sugata's leg comes down and seems to upend Star's (very short cut)...
Quick cut showing Sugata throwing Star through the air...
From a ring corner -- Star is landing hardly, Sugata in the middle of the ring...
Cut to the American sailors, moving back from the corner, and looking disappointed (the cheering stops....)
Cut back to Star, prone, and Sugata at ring center. Cut to a long shot, taking in ring and spectators. Cut to Japanese boys, rising. Cut to close-up on Star, from above. His trainers and cornermen are yelling at him: "C'mon. Get up."
Star tries several times to get up. He finally slumps down for good. Cut to non-Japanese girl, cheering; cut to Po, lifting up his glasses; cut to a non-Japanese man, shaking his fist; to Po; to the sailors; back to Po; the sailors; now to Star, beginning to stir; back to the sailors, cheering him on; back to Star, pulling himself up on the ropes; back to the sailors; back to Star, now standing, but he slumps over the ropes; three quick reaction shots from a man, a woman, another man; then from ring level, the camera pans up on the slumped Star. It reaches his head and he suddenly jerks himself to a standing position and steadies himself on the ropes. He begins to walk to the other side of the ring. He finally comes to Sugata, standing still, looking straight ahead. Star walks right up to him, teeters for a moment, then falls down for good [this is reminiscent of Higaki's fight with Sugata in the last scene of Sugata I].
Total silence. Cut to the sailors; cut to the Japanese boys; cut to the band members; cut to the referee and Po; cut to a shot of Star; taken from behind his prone body; cut to Po again; cut to one of Star's handlers with a towel around his neck, a young boy. He looks at the referee and Po and shrugs his shoulders. The referee and Po look at each other and do the same. Long-shot from back of arena, as referee walks towards Sugata. Close on Sugata and referee. Comic scene. The referee tries to raise Sugata's hand in the traditional boxing-style, to announce him the winner. Sugata is reluctant to let the referee grab his hand (even though he himself had witnessed this action previously) and pulls away violently three times before the man is able to grab Sugata's hand and raise it.
Cut to long shot. Cheering, hats being thrown in the air. Various cuts to various angles on the crowd, mostly very close on the cheering young boys. The camera finally returns to Sugata, looking forlorn and disgusted. Suddenly a wad of bills is placed before his face. Po comes into view. Sugata is reluctant to accept the money. Po insists. Cut to Star being carried out by his handlers. Sugata comes over and places the wad of bills on Star's lifeless body. He leaves. Cut to Sugata and Po -- Po is gesturing wildly and trying to get Sugata to take the money -- Sugata pushes him aside -- Po continues to try to persuade him to take the money -- Sugata finally picks Po up at the waist, turns him 180 degrees, sets him down, and walks away. Po looks dazed. He makes a motion towards Sugata with his hat and stick. The band, interpreting his movements as a downbeat, begins to play. He is spooked. [This is meant to be comic.]
Po puts on his hat and takes it off again. Cut to a long shot of Sugata leaving the arena. People are clustered about. A man is trying to get his attention. Close up on Kwan and Sugata.
Kwan: "Brother Chee, thank you...Do you forget me? I am Kwan who was defeated by Star."
The camera switches positions and is now looking at Sugata over Kwan's right shoulder. Kwan looks humbled; Sugata embarrassed. He looks beyond Kwan. Cut to close-up of Star being carried out, the wad of money on his stomach. Sugata takes back the money; first in the same close-up; then we see the action from a longer shot. Kwan rushes over.
"I come to apologize. Brother Chee. Please forgive my words." He begins to slump down. Sugata grabs him and brings him to his feet. He hands him the money. Kwan looks at the money. He looks at Sugata.
Suddenly, a throng of Sugata's supporters begin to dance through the hall. One row reaches Sugata and Kwan and as Sugata runs to escape them, another row appears...he puts his hands together as if to say -- don't hurt me! -- and escapes...
We see Kwan holding the money, as Sugata's fans rush about.
Cut to a wooden nameplate resting by a fire. Close on Sugata. "Master. I leave the Station tonight. I put down the board myself." The camera remains on Sugata, although someone else speaks:
Priest: "You mean to get rid of the Station? This say is not good."
Sugata: "I don't want to be kicked out so I put down the name board myself."
Priest: "What did I do wrong?"
Sugata: "I have braken the rules [Yep. He braked 'em all]. To have a fight with foreigners. They don't know Japanese Arts. I can ignore or teach them. I think I should teach them..." he concludes affirmatively.
Priest: "Oh? Just for this... (the camera now on the priest in profile) ...you are stupid! You are stupid to the rules."
Sugata (off camera): "Rules are rules."
Priest: "You are for the Arts. You heart hasn't broken the rules. The truth doesn't bothered by the rules. Saam! You go to put back the name board."
Sugata (off camera): "No way."
Priest: "Put back if you feel understanding. It's OK to put back after 10 to 20 years."
The shot changes to what will become a kind of Kurosawa signature shot. Two human beings divided in a frame (usually by an inanimate object) [I've pointed out several other examples before this point, as well]. The priest is towards the rear of the frame on the left; a big post in the foreground takes up the center and Sugata is on the right. A lamp is above his head.
Priest: "I am tired. You go back." Switch to close-up on Sugata...
Sugata: "Let me stay here tonight. I want to think."
Priest: "You just can fall asleep."
Sugata: "It's good if I can sleep. I can't sleep recently."
Priest: "Why?"
Sugata: "The enemies always appear."
Priest: "Isn't that fight finished?"
Sugata: "No, it's the next opponents."
Priest: "Want to fight again."
Sugata: "It's karate. Although I learn kung fu, sweep the floor, clean the corridor, take the water, chop the wood, make meals -- do it all the time -- I still can't sleep." Cut to priest.
Priest: "Good. I think with you."
Cut to an area by a door with white flowers painted on a wall. The priest enters and sits before the wall, in profile. A moment later Sugata enters and sits the same, in foreground.
Sugata: "Sorry. I cook for you tomorrow morning. There is a secret in cooking."
Priest: "Don't make noise," he screams. Sugata is still.
"You must look at those who tackle you -- until he disappears. Understand?"
Close on Sugata. He is staring straight ahead, trying achieve satori. The "Sugata" theme begins.
Angle change to behind the two, a fire burning.
A gorgeous dissolve has Sugata (and the fire) disappearing from their former positions, and dissolving into Sugata prone on the floor. The priest never changes.
The music tells us it is morning (trilling flute) and we change angles to a prone, sleeping Sugata, shot from above, his arms outstretched as he sleeps...his eyes open; his head turns. He sits up with a start.
"I still can't do that," he says, bowing his head quickly. He turns to look at the priest. He stares. He moves closer. Cut to opposite angle, Sugata on the left staring at the sleeping priest on the right, in profile. The priest moves his mouth, as if to indicate he had always been awake. Sugata smiles -- perhaps because he is relieved the priest did not attain satori when he could not; or perhaps because he is amused by what he knows is a deception on the part of the priest; or both; or neither...
Close-up on Sugata -- huge smile on his face. Cut to Sayo talking to someone we can't see, in a series of quick cuts, shot at different angles...
"Left for a long time."
"About a year"
"Two years"
"Three years."
Sugata fills the frame. The camera pulls back, revealing Sayo on the left. Sugata speaks:
"In fact I went to fight..."
Sayo: "No worries. You will win."
Sugata: "Skosh (but)..." Close-up on Sayo...
Sayo: "No. You must win."
Cut to long shot of all this. Sugata scurries away towards the camera. She bows, he bows back and turns to leave.
Cut to an even longer shot. They repeat the process.
Cut to a path. Sugata is running towards the camera. Sayo is now very far away, but we can still see her when she bows, again. Close on Sugata. A smile begins to form on his face. He turns back towards Sayo, smiling broadly, and he bows again and exits the frame on the right...
Something black and out of focus. I do not know what it is. Sugata is singing and trudging up and down (camera angle looking up at Sugata) against a white sky. The wind is howling.
"You are back," says a nasty voice. Sugata turns to look. We now see he is standing in a field of snow. A silhouetted figure approaches.
"Alone?" asks Sugata.
"Yuen is not coming," says Tin.
"Why?"
"The sickness happens again." Medium shot on Yuen, then closer.
Tin from over Sugata's left shoulder (entirely black against the white snow): "You are having good luck."
Now opposite, facing Sugata over Tin's left shoulder: "However..."
Now close up on Tin, poorly lit: "....going to hell after trying the karate." Tin begins to howl.
Cut to Sugata. Cut to Yuen. Sugata to Yuen to Sugata...
To Tin, assuming his karate stance -- although the shot is so poorly lit you can barely see him...
A much better lit long-shot showing Sugata and Tin -- silhouettes against the white snow...
Sugata removes his shoes. The wind howls. Tin howls. They change positions. Tin advances on Sugata. Sugata advances on Tin. Tin lunges at Sugata, but misses and falls. Sugata, too, is flipped, but quickly on his feet. Tin is now on the left and Sugata on the right. Tin continue to howl and change positions.
From below the fighters, on an embankment. Somebody throws somebody else and they both begin to tumble down the hill. Cut to Yuen. Cut to the two fighters falling down the hill. New angle from this new level. Tin howls and yaps as they circle each other. Finally, they grab each other. Sugata is thrown against some snow. It looks quite comfortable, actually. Tin takes his stance. At some point he has grabbed Sugata's right arm with his left. Sugata breaks the grip, and in some of the worst fight-scene acting you'll ever see, Sugata eventually throws Tin to the ground. He rises, yelping like a wounded cat.
Cut to Sugata, backing up, out of frame right, with his arm outstretched; Tin's trembling left hand and Tin following into the frame. As Tin leaves the frame right, we are left with his right hand, raised and trembling, ready to strike.
In the worth the price of admission department, Tin strikes out at Sugata -- and misses. But we see Tin's hand moving by a tree, and then we see (and hear) the tree falling (in slow motion).
A near duplication of this bringing Tin's right hand into the frame occurs. This time his hand swipes by Sugata's face -- once, twice, three times -- just missing...
Many trading cuts of Sugata and Tin -- Tin shrieking and posturing; Sugata calm and slow-moving --
Finally, a close up on Tin -- bad teeth, ugly face -- and a loud yell, which echoes through the
(cut) village and
(cut) Yuen joins in, as well...
The two fighters are now seen in extreme long shot, occupying only a slice of the far left of the frame. Close on Tin, Sugata, then Tin again. They grapple (terribly choreographed)...
Back to that gorgeous long shot again. Sugata throws him down a snowy hill. The annoying howling finally ceases!
Close-up on Yuen, much snow in his hair. He looks sad. His brother lost.
Cut to another close-up of Yuen, inside somewhere, his back to a wall. The camera pulls back. Tin is lying down (obviously injured). As the camera pulls back all the way, we see Sugata, attending to some cooking. He pulls a lid off a pot. "Finished cooking."
Close-up on Tin. He closes his eyes.
Back to Sugata. He is ladling some food into a bowl. He takes it over to Tin. "Feel the energy after eating." Tin shakes his head. "Don't eat," says Sugata. "Are you having a fever?" he asks, feeling his forehead. "I give you some cold water." The camera pans leftwards to Yuen. Close-up. The bowl of food is right under his nose. Cut to Sugata. "You also don't eat."
The camera pulls back. Sugata puts the bowl between the brothers. "I put it here." He dips a towel into the water, wrings it out, folds it up, and puts it on Tin's forehead. He puts another layer of clothing on top of Tin. He goes back to the pot and puts some food into a bowl for himself. He beings to eat. Cut to Yuen. He is just staring ahead. [This is the beginning of the excellent "scary music" section that runs through this scene...mostly soft trills in the strings.] Dissolve to closer shot; dissolve to extreme close-up; dissolve back to longer shot -- Yuen is still staring; Sugata is slumped over. Cut to front view of Sugata. He awakens -- looks around -- and slumps back down to sleep. Dissolve to medium angle of Sugata sleeping; dissolve to close-up.
More Kurosawa genius here in this extraordinarily mediocre film!
A leftward pan begins. We arrive at Tin -- towel on forehead, but his eyes are wide open (the trilling strings reinforce this already scary image). The pan continues upward now -- to Yuen who is still staring. Long hold on Yuen. His right hand begins to move ever so slowly.
Cut to close-up of his hand. It is right next to the bowl of food Sugata had put out. The hand moves over the bowl into the hidden straw where he pulls out....a hatchet! The camera follows the hatchet as the hand which holds it moves near Tin's head. Then the camera pans to the right to reveal Tin (his eyes are still wide open!) and stops on the sleeping Sugata. The camera pulls back to reveal all three, but quickly cuts to another close-up of Sugata, followed by the leftward pan to Tin -- the hatchet is right above his head. Pan up as Yuen is raising the hatchet (and looking down at the sleeping Sugata). We follow the hatchet as Yuen is holding it high above his head, ready to strike...
Cut to close-up of Sugata from above. Angelic music. "You must win," we hear from the voice of Sayo. Sugata breaks into a sleeping smile. Cut to the hatchet. Suddenly, Yuen's grip on it is loosened (although it does not fall out of his hand). We follow the hatchet as Yuen slowly brings it down, over Tin's head (he is watching closely) and finally lets it plop down onto the straw...Yuen turns around and seems to be crying...cut to Tin who is turning his head towards Yuen, then closes his eyes as he turns towards Sugata. Long close-up on Sugata.
Dissolve to a still-sleeping Sugata in very low light. In fact, just a strip of light is seen at first. Sugata begins to awaken. We hear the sound of sipping. Pan left as we see Sugata, smiling, Tin, eyes still open, and finally to Yuen, who is sipping and eating the food Sugata had left the night before. The camera begins to pull back. "It's cold. I heat it up now." Sugata leans down to Tin. "You also can eat. I go to bring some water." He exits.
The camera turns to frame Yuen and Tin. Tin turns to Yuen: "Lost..."
"Lost..." Yuen replies, smiling for the first time.
Cut to Sugata, outside, washing his face. He begins to smile an irrepressible smile as the music builds up to the Sugata theme. He is smiling broadly. A major chord. Fade to black. End credits (no subtitles) on black.
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SOURCES:
Stephen Prince: "The Warrior's Camera: The Cinema of Akira Kurosawa," (Princeton University Press (1991/1999) [SP]
Donald Richie: "The Films of Akira Kurosawa," University of California Press (1998) [DR]
James Goodwin: "Akira Kurosawa and Intertextual Cinema," The John Hopkins University Press (1994) [JG]
Stuart Galbraith IV: "The Emperor and the Wolf: The Lives and Films of Akira Kurosawa and Toshiro Mifune," Faber and Faber (2001) [SG]
Akira Kurosawa: "Something Like an Autobiography," Vintage Books (1983) [AK]
There are no wipes in this film.
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