Sanjuro – 4K remaster

Sanjuro (1962) - 4K Remaster

Toshiro Mifune swaggers and snarls to brilliant comic effect in Akira Kurosawa’s tightly paced, beautifully composed Sanjuro.

In this sly companion piece to Yojimbo, 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. Less brazen in tone than its predecessor but equally entertaining, this classic character’s return is a masterpiece in its own right.

"Despite its tongue-in-cheek humour, Sanjuro is made with all the fluid elegance of Kurosawa at the height of his powers. Even at his most playful, Kurosawa has serious points to make about Japanese society and its overwhelming urge towards social conformity...." BFI

"Kurosawa's follow-up to the masterpiece Yojimbo was this 1962 film, also starring Toshiro Mifune as the cynical, lazy ronin with no name (one of many ideas Sergio Leone nicked from the Japanese director). The comedy is all in the contrast of Mifune with the keen young samurai - it's maverick vs conformists, and fox vs sheep. Mifune's slob is deceptive, and the film builds slowly to a shattering ending...."  Guardian

"Toshiro Mifune swaggers and snarls to brilliant comic effect in Akira Kurosawa's tightly paced, beautifully composed Sanjuro. In this sly companion piece to Yojimbo, 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. Less brazen in tone than its predecessor but equally entertaining, this classic character's return is a masterpiece in its own right...." Criterion Collection