Directed by Akira Kurosawa • 1943 • Japan
Kurosawa's effortless debut is based on a novel by Tsuneo Tomita about the rivalry between judo and jujitsu. Starring Susumu Fujita as the title character, Sanshiro Sugata is a thrilling martial arts action tale, but it's also a moving story of moral education that's quintessential Kurosawa.
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The Most Beautiful
Directed by Akira Kurosawa • 1944 • Japan
This portrait of female volunteer workers at an optics plant during World War II, shot on location at the Nippon Kogaku factory, was created with a patriotic agenda. Yet thanks to Akira Kurosawa's groundbreaking semidocumentary approach, The Most Beautif...
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The Men Who Tread on the Tiger’s Tail
Directed by Akira Kurosawa • 1945 • Japan
The fourth film from Akira Kurosawa is based on a legendary twelfth-century incident in which the lord Yoshitsune and a group of samurai retainers dressed as monks in order to pass through a dangerous enemy checkpoint. The story was dramatized for centur...
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Sanshiro Sugata, Part Two
Directed by Akira Kurosawa • 1945 • Japan
Kurosawa's first film was such a success that the studio leaned on the director to make a sequel. The result is a hugely entertaining adventure, reuniting most of the major players from the original and featuring a two-part narrative in which Sanshiro fi...
