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IMDbPro

Sanjuro

Original title: Tsubaki Sanjûrô
  • 19621962
  • Not RatedNot Rated
  • 1h 36m
IMDb RATING
8.0/10
38K
YOUR RATING
POPULARITY
13,705
1,006
Toshirô Mifune and Tatsuya Nakadai in Sanjuro (1962)
ActionDramaThriller
A crafty samurai helps a young man and his fellow clansmen trying to save his uncle, who has been framed and imprisoned by a corrupt superintendent.A crafty samurai helps a young man and his fellow clansmen trying to save his uncle, who has been framed and imprisoned by a corrupt superintendent.A crafty samurai helps a young man and his fellow clansmen trying to save his uncle, who has been framed and imprisoned by a corrupt superintendent.
IMDb RATING
8.0/10
38K
YOUR RATING
POPULARITY
13,705
1,006
  • See more at IMDbPro
    • Director
      • Akira Kurosawa
    • Writers
      • Ryûzô Kikushima(screenplay)
      • Hideo Oguni(screenplay)
      • Akira Kurosawa(screenplay)
    • Stars
      • Toshirô Mifune
      • Tatsuya Nakadai
      • Keiju Kobayashi
    Top credits
    • Director
      • Akira Kurosawa
    • Writers
      • Ryûzô Kikushima(screenplay)
      • Hideo Oguni(screenplay)
      • Akira Kurosawa(screenplay)
    • Stars
      • Toshirô Mifune
      • Tatsuya Nakadai
      • Keiju Kobayashi
  • See production, box office & company info
    • 96User reviews
    • 63Critic reviews
  • See production, box office & company info
    • Awards
      • 1 win & 1 nomination

    Photos82

    Toshirô Mifune, Reiko Dan, and Takako Irie in Sanjuro (1962)
    Toshirô Mifune in Sanjuro (1962)
    Toshirô Mifune, Reiko Dan, and Takako Irie in Sanjuro (1962)
    Toshirô Mifune and Yoshio Tsuchiya in Sanjuro (1962)
    Sanjuro (1962)
    Toshirô Mifune, Reiko Dan, and Takako Irie in Sanjuro (1962)
    Sanjuro (1962)
    Akira Kurosawa in Sanjuro (1962)
    Toshirô Mifune, Reiko Dan, and Tatsuya Nakadai in Sanjuro (1962)
    Toshirô Mifune in Sanjuro (1962)
    Sanjuro (1962)
    Toshirô Mifune and Tatsuya Nakadai in Sanjuro (1962)

    Top cast

    Edit
    Toshirô Mifune
    Toshirô Mifune
    • Sanjûrô Tsubaki…
    Tatsuya Nakadai
    Tatsuya Nakadai
    • Hanbei Muroto
    Keiju Kobayashi
    • The Spy
    Yûnosuke Itô
    Yûnosuke Itô
    • Mutsuta, the Chamberlain
    Yûzô Kayama
    Yûzô Kayama
    • Iori Izaka
    Reiko Dan
    Reiko Dan
    • Chidori, Mutsuta's daughter
    Takashi Shimura
    Takashi Shimura
    • Kurofuji
    Kamatari Fujiwara
    Kamatari Fujiwara
    • Takebayashi
    Takako Irie
    Takako Irie
    • Mutsuta's wife
    Masao Shimizu
    Masao Shimizu
    • Kikui
    Akira Kubo
    Akira Kubo
    • Samurai
    Hiroshi Tachikawa
    • Samurai
    Yoshio Tsuchiya
    Yoshio Tsuchiya
    • Samurai
    Kunie Tanaka
    Kunie Tanaka
    • Samurai
    Tatsuyoshi Ehara
    • Samurai
    Akihiko Hirata
    Akihiko Hirata
    • Samurai
    Toranosuke Ogawa
    Toranosuke Ogawa
    • Sandayu
    Sachio Sakai
    • Foot soldier
    • Director
      • Akira Kurosawa
    • Writers
      • Ryûzô Kikushima(screenplay)
      • Hideo Oguni(screenplay)
      • Akira Kurosawa(screenplay)
    • All cast & crew
    • Production, box office & more at IMDbPro

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    Storyline

    Edit

    Did you know

    Edit
    • Trivia
      When Sanjûrô has to kill about a dozen of Kikui's men and then smacks three of the young samurai for forcing him to kill so many, Toshirô Mifune slapped the three young actors for real. As seen in the film, the slaps both surprised the actors and knocked them backwards.
    • Goofs
      The three enemies who surrender are kept in a room with chicken wire / poultry mesh stretched across the door. This was invented in England in 1844 and did not exist in the era or place depicted in the film.
    • Quotes

      Mutsuta's wife: You glisten too brightly.

      Sanjûrô Tsubaki: Glisten?

      Mutsuta's wife: Yes. Like a drawn sword.

      Sanjûrô Tsubaki: A drawn sword?

      Mutsuta's wife: You're like a sword without a sheath. You cut well, but the best sword is kept in its sheath.

    • Connections
      Featured in Smashing UK Top 10: Top 10 Film Directors (2013)

    User reviews96

    Review
    Review
    Top review
    9/10
    One of Kurosawa's most polished movies
    Tsubaki Sanjuro is, unfortunately, not so widely seen abroad (= outside Japan) as Yojinbo, probably because it was not copied as a western. In Japan, however, Tsubaki Sanjuro is not less popular than Yojinbo. Not a few Japanese actually prefer the former to the latter, and it's easy to see why: It is stylistically more polished and smarter than Yojimbo and Mifune is 'cooler' as well - he shows a brilliant leadership and every Mifune fan would be really delighted to see how his young, naive disciples run after him like chicks following the mother duck.

    And while Yojinbo's female main character, Orin, is an evil and crafty woman, Lady Mutsuta in Tsubaki Sanjuro is 'irritatingly light-hearted'. But she has a deep insight into Sanjuro's personality and understands him far better than his male disciples. An excellent character, and, in fact, she is the only person in Tsubaki Sanjuro AND Yojinbo to whom Sanjuro/Mifune speaks in a polite form (in Japanese).

    Tsubaki Sanjuro is, so to speak, a 'concentrate' of Kurosawa's cinematography and one sees in it every aspect of his greatness in a very compact form. Therefore no one could remake this movie.
    helpful•63
    10
    • aliaselias
    • May 23, 2006

    Details

    Edit
    • Release date
      • May 7, 1963 (United States)
    • Country of origin
      • Japan
    • Language
      • Japanese
    • Also known as
      • Sandžuro
    • Filming locations
      • Toho Studios, Tokyo, Japan
    • Production companies
      • Toho Company
      • Kurosawa Production Co.
    • See more company credits at IMDbPro

    Box office

    Edit
    • Gross US & Canada
      • $46,808
    • Opening weekend US & Canada
      • $15,942
      • Jul 28, 2002
    • Gross worldwide
      • $55,528
    See detailed box office info on IMDbPro

    Technical specs

    Edit
    • Runtime
      1 hour 36 minutes
    • Color
      • Black and White
    • Aspect ratio
      • 2.35 : 1

    Related news

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