Articulāte Volume 3 Article 8 1998 Akira Kurosawa's Heroes: Rebels, Saints and Killers on the Social Front Line Robert Levine Denison University Follow this and additional works at: http://digitalcommons.denison.edu/articulate Part of the English Language and Literature Commons Recommended Citation Levine, Robert (1998) "Akira Kurosawa's Heroes: Rebels, Saints and Killers on the Social Front Line," Articulāte: Vol. 3 , Article 8. Available at: http://digitalcommons.denison.edu/articulate/vol3/iss1/8 This Article is brought to you for free and open access by Denison Digital Commons. It has been accepted for inclusion in Articulāte by an authorized editor of Denison Digital Commons. Akira Kurosawa's Heroes 49 twenty year evolution of the Kurosawa hero, from petitive individualism" (Desser 63). Sanshiro is cer- AKIRA KUROSAWA'S HEROES: REBELS, SAINTS AND KILLERS ON THE his birth, to his consummation, to his eventual sa- tainly a competitive individual; he begins the film by SOCIAL FRONT LINE tirical subversion. These are Sanshiro Sugata (1943), demanding to be taught jujitsu. Then, upon seeing Stray Dog (1^49), Ikiru (1952), and Yojimbo (1961). his entire clan of mentors embarrassingly thwarted BY ROBERT LEVINE '00 Sanshiro Sugata is considered Kurosawa's first by a single master of judo, he immediately asks to be Akira Kurosawa is Japan's foremost filmmaker. welfare are necessary attributes for any fictional em- film. He had been supervising the creation of fea- trained in this other technique. The judo master, With his kinetic mastery of the camera, his flawless, bodiment of gallantry, comic book super-hero, me- ture films for several years beforehand, but it was not named Yano, takes Sanshiro on as a student, and trains exact cutting, and his unpretentious predilection to- dieval knight or otherwise. Should this be the extent until 1943 that he was given the official title of di- him until his skills are at a peak. Unfortunately, once ward the rousing codes and devices of the West, it is of their assets, few characteristics would exist that rector. Sanshiro Sugata is the story of the title char- his skills are honed, Sanshiro proceeds to flaunt them. only appropriate that Kurosawa, in winning first prize could be considered truly unique to the director's acter, a brash, overly anxious martial arts student who He becomes a show-off, as exhibited in a deftly ed- at the 1951 Venice Film Festival for Rashomon, was brand of hero. It is with the addition of one more is edified in a new fighting technique and through it ited scene in which Sanshiro chases intimidated citi- the first to breach the isolationist levee surrounding regular stylistic ingredient that Kurosawa is able to matures into a noble, out-going human being. zens up and down the town square, tossing wary vil- Japanese cinema and join the ranks of the world's fashion his hero into a truly distinct and viable en- Kurosawa had chosen to "begin his career with a film lagers to the ground with malevolent glee. With this finest film artisans. He is "one of the few artists to tity: the filmmaker consciously places his protago- about the junction of the old Japan and the new," sequence, Kurosawa is "describing his central char- achieve international communication while at the nists into a diegetic context of social and historical with the cultural changes represented by the conflicts acter and making clear the vanity and self-interest same time remaining true to his own highly distinc- dynamism. between two diametrically opposed forms of martial that Sanshiro will have to discard in his growth and tive and insular national culture" (Mellen 42). Be- Each lead character who lives, struggles, and arts (Desser 63). The revolutionary new technique, pursuit of enlightenment" (Prince 45). Yano is infu- sides acting as the global cinematic ambassador for succeeds under the omnipotent arm of the Creator judo, is based upon defense, and contrasts drastically riated with the actions of his pupil. He chastises the Land of the Rising Sun, Kurosawa, in the twenty- Kurosawa finds himself doing so during a time of with the currently prevalent and more strategically Sanshiro for abusing the art of judo. "To act as you eight films that constitute his career, has cultivated sweeping historical change and jarring social up- offensive jujitsu. do," Yano asks, "without meaning or purpose, to hate an impressive, unmistakable signature style that has heaval. The Kurosawa hero is a vehicle for involved Immediately in the film, Kurosawa introduces and attack — is that the way of life? No — the way consistently challenged and enhanced the established perspective; he is both a witness to and a product of his heroic convention of an individualist protagonist is loyalty and love.. .only through it can a man face norms of his native cinema and society. the times in which he lives. The director shapes his set in a time of transition. However, Kurosawa made death." Sanshiro, unreceptive to his teacher's lessons, One of the most discernible recurring constitu- protagonists as ambassadors between two distinct Sanshiro Sugata under the auspices of the Japanese insubordinately replies, "I can face death! I am not ents of Kurosawa's groundbreaking artistic legacy is periods of time and existence, each of which is char- militarist government of that time, and was required afraid to die right now!" He immediately rises, throws his penchant for a certain type of protagonist— a de- acterized by definite moral, ethical, and spiritual to meet a certain propaganda requirement, which open the sliding door of Yano's home, and, in an velopment of and adherence to a specific mold of norms that, more often than not, lie in direct con- most likely deterred him from the unsettling social impulsive, impudent display of rebellion, leaps into hero. Kurosawa often described himself as "the last flict with each other. The historical disharmony in commentary that would characterize his later works a pond below. of the samurai," and he consistently informs and in- the film can be a direct representation of the times in (Desser 62). Politically and socially tinged narratives The following scene, set under the glimmering stills his heroes with the principles of the samurai which it was made or an allegorical narrative using a were not allowed due to the wartime environment. moonlight of a brisk evening, is key to the thematic warrior, placing particular emphasis on courage, in- period during the past as a model for the current state Many of Kurosawa's scripts had already been rejected outlay of the film. Sanshiro, clinging to an upright tensity, fortitude, and fealty (Prince 118). Kurosawa of the world. Either way, in a Kurosawa film, the for production, and he was only allowed to direct pole in the middle of the water, bears the perilous heroes are men of honor distinguished by a physical past and the present do not gently coalesce, and the Sanshiro Sugata because of the safe period quality of chill of the water in a fit of youthful stubbornness. and/or spiritual strength. In addition to this "em- hero is challenged to maneuver through this rocky the novel on which it was based (Richie 14). Alas, During this time, his master ignores him, and the phasis on individual willpower and physical might," terrain without relinquishing the wholesome, decent Sanshiro Sugata would have to serve less as a work of boy, becoming increasingly aware of his immaturity, Kurosawa adds "an abiding commitment to securing ideals he knows to be right. By directly entwining social critique and more as an introduction for is subject to a profound spiritual revelation, which die basic needs of other human beings" (Prince 118). the quest of the heroes with the plight of the times, Kurosawa's exceptional new cinematic style. As a re- Kurosawa illustrates semiotically. Sanshiro experi- However, the Kurosawa heroes are never complete; Kurosawa employs his protagonists "as explicit role sult, Sanshiro stands as the incipient Kurosawa hero, ences a "moment of satori," which is essentially "a they are still unformed and developing as human models for the audience" (Prince 40). Through them, a character embryo embodying many of the traits that discovery of self ... predicated upon attaining the beings. They are always "beset by a series of moral, Kurosawa prescribes his own social and spiritual would be given greater dimension in later protago- devotion and humility that ... are the truth of life" and often physical traumas, and the narratives study agenda for dealing with the transitions of history. nists by the incorporation of more potent social back- (Prince 50). This scene conveys a primary dilemma the progress of the protagonists toward enlighten- By examining four significant entries in drops. of die Kurosawa hero: "the discovery of self is a lonely ment" (Prince 48). Kurosawa's filmography, one can trace the line of the Sanshiro Sugata is set in 1882, "during the Meiji process which no one else can assist, yet a life with- In reference to the aforementioned catalogue filmmaker's quintessential heroic figure. Each of these period, when Western influences were altering the out devotion to an ideal, and frequently to a teacher, of qualities, it seems that the virtues of courage, films and their respective primary protagonists con- sense of what it meant to be Japanese" (Prince 39). is a life of selfishness and vanity" (Prince 50). This strength, determination, and concern for general stitute an important developmental stage in the In the film, the competition between the established type of scene, wherein the key character is removed form of jujitsu and the newly revealed form of judo Robert Levine is a sophomore cinema major and English minor.