Sanjuro Blu-ray

Sanjuro

 (1962)

Sanjuro Blu-ray delivers great video and superb audio in this excellent Blu-ray release
In Kurosawa’s 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.

For more about Sanjuro and the Sanjuro Blu-ray release, see the Sanjuro Blu-ray Review

Starring: Toshirô Mifune, Tatsuya Nakadai
Director: Akira Kurosawa

Sanjuro Blu-ray Review

Reviewed by Dr. Svet Atanasov, March 4, 2010

Akira Kurosawa's "Sanjuro" (1962) arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Criterion. The supplemental features on the disc include an exclusive audio commentary with film historian Stephen Price; a thirty-five-minute documentary about the making of "Sanjuro"; theatrical trailer; and more. The Blu-ray disc also arrives with a 20-page illustrated booklet, containing a statement by Akira Kurosawa that appeared in the 1999 book The Films of Akira Kurosawa, by Donald Richie; Michael Sragow's essay "Return of the Ronin"; and comments from notable Kurosawa collaborators that appeared first in the 2002 Toho SDVD release of Sanjuro. With optional English subtitles. Region-A "locked".

The best sword is kept in his sheath.

After the unprecedented success of Yojimbo at the box office in Japan, Toho approached Akira Kurosawa with a request for a sequel. Initially, the film was going to be an adaptation of a novel by Shugoro Yamamoto titled Peaceful Days and featuring a not so skillful with his sword samurai named Hirano, but Kurosawa rewrote the script and brought back the charismatic Sanjuro. Toshiro Mifune was again asked to play Sanjuro, though this time around his last name was changed from Kuwabatake to Tsubaki.

In the original script, Hirano was placed in the middle of an internal battle for power at his clan. Also, he was only to react to the turbulent events around him, not direct them. In the new script, Kurosawa made Sanjuro a confident man well aware of his opponents' moves. And as it was the case in Yojimbo, Sanjuro was again very impressive with his sword.

There are some key differences, however, between Yojimbo and Sanjuro. In Yojimbo the story takes place in a godforsaken small town that has virtually collapsed because of the battle for dominance between two rivaling gangs. When Sanjuro arrives in the town, the damage is already done and the only thing he could do is punish those who are responsible for it.

Things are very different in Sanjuro. In and around the shrine where most of the film takes place, there is a sense of order that is completely missing in Yojimbo. Here, respect and loyalty still mean something. The men Sanjuro fights are also as noble as he is.

This is not to say, however, that Kurosawa isn't as critical in Sanjuro as he is in Yojimbo. While Sanjuro is the quieter and more intimate of the two films, and a lot of the humor in it is far more straightforward, Kurosawa's jabs at traditionalism here are at times far more effective than his jabs at Japanese capitalism in Yojimbo. Some of the most entertaining scenes in Sanjuro, for example, are the ones where the samurai unceremoniously scolds the young warriors he sides with for their blind loyalty and readiness to sacrifice their lives in the name of questionable ideals.

There are also some key differences in the manner in which Sanjuro is filmed by Kurosawa. In Yojimbo he is a man that exudes power and respect, even when he makes it perfectly clear that money is what makes him happy. In Sanjuro, he is smarter than his opponents but his presence is not as commanding. There is one specific scene, for instance, where he loses a small argument with the wife of the man he is trying to save – discussing camellias of all things – where he looks downright foolish. It is Kurosawa's way of making it clear that no one is perfect.

Visually, both Yojimbo and Sanjuro look stunning, though in different ways. Yojimbo has some remarkable panoramic vistas radiating a strong epic feel. It is also the more modern – at least as far as the then-current state of Japanese cinema is concerned – looking film. Sanjuro has a more traditional look, even though there are still a number of the same tightly framed shots in it that Kurosawa favored in Yojimbo.

Similar to Yojimbo, Sanjuro also benefits from a very strong music score courtesy of legendary composer Masaru Sato. Blending traditional Japanese tunes with colorful Jazz elements, Sato's score is very much an integral part of the film.

Note: In 2007, Japanese director Yoshimitsu Morita did a remake of Kurosawa's Sanjuro, but the film failed to impress the critics and was greeted with a healthy dose of disdain by fans of the original samurai film.

Sanjuro Blu-ray, Video Quality

 

Presented in its original aspect ratio of 2.35:1, encoded with MPEG-4 AVC and granted a 1080p transfer, Akira Kurosawa's Sanjuro arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Criterion.

Even though the transition to 1080p here is not as striking as it is with Yojimbo, the final result is still pleasing. Again, fine object detail is a lot more convincing, clarity improved and contrast levels much more appealing. Film grain is present, but there are certain areas of Sanjuro where minor noise reduction has been applied. Selected scenes also tend to look slightly softer, but I have to assume that there are specific limitations with the element Criterion had to work with that are actually causing the imbalance.

Edge-enhancement and macroblocking do not appear to be a serious issue of concern. Additionally, I must point out that the digital noise that plagued the SDVD release of Sanjuro has been largely eliminated here (with the Blu-ray release of Yojimbo the results are even more impressive). Also, aside from some mild background flickering, the transfer is pleasingly stable. Finally, there are no large cuts, warps, or stains that I saw while viewing the film. To sum it all up, I think that this is a very competent presentation of Sanjuro, which its fans would be delighted with. (Note: This is a Region-A "locked" Blu-ray disc. Therefore, you must have a native Region-A or Region-Free PS3 or SA in order to access its content).

Sanjuro Blu-ray, Audio Quality

 

There are two audio tracks on this Blu-ray disc: Japanese DTS-HD Master Audio 3.0 and Japanese LPCM 1.0. For the record, Criterion have provided optional English subtitles for the main feature. When turned on, they appear inside the image frame.

The following text appears in the booklet provided with this Blu-ray disc: "The monaural soundtrack was remastered at 24-bit from the 35mm optical soundtrack. The restored Perspecta Stereophonic Sound was decoded through Perspecta decoder and reencoded as a Dolby 3.0 soundtrack. Clicks, thumps, hiss, and hum were manually removed using Pro Tools HD. Crackle was attenuated using AudioCube's integrated audio workstation."

Once again, I opted for the Japanese LPCM 1.0 track. Generally speaking, the dialog is clean and easy to follow, though I did notice that if you turn up the volume a lot, you would hear some very mild background hissing. Masaru Sato's music score is well balanced with the dialog, and dynamically actually a lot stronger than I expected it to be. I have a feeling, however, that many of you would probably opt for the DTS-HD Master Audio Perspecta 3.0 as it offers some slightly stronger audio enhancements.

Sanjuro Blu-ray, Special Features and Extras

 

Akira Kurosawa: It Is Wonderful to Create - this thirty-five-minute documentary about the making of Sanjuro, part of the Toho Masterworks series Akira Kurosawa: It Is Wonderful to Create, features director Akira Kurosawa, actor Tatsuya Nakadai, production designer Yoshiro Muraki, and cinematographer Takao Saito, among others. In Japanese, with optional English subtitles. (35 min, 1080i).

Theatrical trailer - In Japanese, with optional English subtitles. (3 min, 1080i).

Teaser - In Japanese, with optional English subtitles. (1 min, 1080i).

Stills gallery - a collection of stills from the filming of Sanjuro.

Commentary - an audio commentary with film historian Stephen Price, author of The Warrior's Camera: The Cinema of Akira Kurosawa, recorded exclusively for the Criterion Collection in 2006. Once again, this is a very informative, if a bit dry, commentary in which Mr. Price discusses the similarities and differences between Sanjuro and Yojimbo, Akira Kurosawa's filming technique, the message each film conveys, how they were greeted by the critics and audiences in Japan and around the world, etc.

Booklet - a 20-page illustrated booklet, containing a statement by Akira Kurosawa that appeared in the 1999 book The Films of Akira Kurosawa, by Donald Richie; Michael Sragow's essay "Return of the Ronin" (the author has been writing about new movies for the Baltimore Sun since 2001 and old movies for the New Yorker since 1989); and comments from notable Kurosawa collaborators that appeared first in the 2002 Toho SDVD release of Sanjuro.

Sanjuro Blu-ray, Overall Score and Recommendation

 

Having seen now what Criterion have done with Akira Kurosawa's Yojimbo and Sanjuro, I can hardly contain my excitement for the big one - Seven Samurai. I am very confident that it would look and sound spectacular on Blu-ray. We just need to be patient, as it is more than obvious that the right people will be releasing it. In the meantime, enjoy Yojimbo and Sanjuro; they both look great. VERY HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.

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