Line #20 Film/Sanjuro


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5	[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/sanjuro.png]]
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7	->''"You're too sharp. That's your trouble. You're like a drawn sword. Sharp, naked without a sheath. You cut well. But good swords are kept in their sheaths."''
8	-->-- '''Mutsuta's wife''' to Sanjuro
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10	''Sanjuro'' (椿三十郎 - ''Tsubaki Sanjūrō'') is a 1962 Japanese {{Jidaigeki}} film directed by Creator/AkiraKurosawa. It is the sequel to 1961's ''Film/{{Yojimbo}}'', and stars Creator/ToshiroMifune once again. Kurosawa had been writing a film adaptation of the novel ''Peaceful Days'' by Shugoro Yamamoto, with the intention of having his assistant director Hiromichi Horikawa direct the project. In response to the popularity of Mifune's character in ''Yojimbo'', the script was rewritten to have Sanjuro be the titular main character, and Kurosawa decided to direct the film himself.
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12	While ''Yojimbo'' had a dark comedy about a wandering {{ronin}} manipulating two criminal organizations into mutual self-destruction, ''Sanjuro'' has lighter comedy, teaming the same character up with ten wacky sidekicks, ''plus'' a character who misses out on the whole JewishMother stereotype only by being Japanese. Their mission: expose the corrupt official playing the local government like a fiddle.
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14	Despite its relatively rushed production (getting released less than eight months after ''Yojimbo'''s premiere and being adapted from a work that didn't even have its lead character originally), it turned out to be an acclaimed sequel.
15	----
16	!!''Sanjuro'' provides examples of:
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18	* BittersweetEnding: [[spoiler:Sanjuro kills Hanbei, but he's not happy about it and seemingly regrets his path of bloodshed and violence.]]
19	* BrokenAce: Sanjuro becomes one by the end after trying not to kill people and ending up with twenty seven dead men by his hand.
20	* ButNowIMustGo: [[spoiler:The Chamberlain offers Sanjuro a job, but Sanjuro doesn't show up. The Chamberlain reveals that he knew Sanjuro would never be able to settle down like that, and the young samurai consequently chase after Sanjuro to change his mind. They witness Sanjuro killing Hanbei and try to convince him to stay. Sanjuro threatens to kill them if they follow him, and the young samurai finally decide to respect his decision to move on.]]
21	* CallBack: Sanjuro retains his tendency to make up a name for himself based on what he sees out the door...and again, the false name results in his having to add that his real age is actually "closer to forty".
22	* ContinuityNod: In contrast to the other samurai who carry two swords, Sanjuro only carries a katana as he lost his tantō back in ''Yojimbo''. This would also mean that he is still using the dead man's sword the coffin-keeper gave to him.
23	* EndOfAnAge: Not immediately apparent, but as this film takes place shortly after ''Film/{{Yojimbo}}'', the film likely takes place in 1860, give or take a few months, less than a decade before the Meiji Restoration and the end of the Tokugawa shogunate. The previous film already hinted at Japan's opening to the outside world with Unosuke's revolver. In this film, almost all the samurai apart from Sanjuro himself and Muroto are either bureaucrats or warriors in name only; in the scene where Sanjuro kills the guards to free his four captured comrades, almost none of them put up a decent fight, with the guards being either too incompetent or too cowardly to fight back. And the chief conspirators themselves (minus Muroto) all turn out to be outright cowards when they surrender without a fight to the nine young samurai who storm their compound and free Mutsuta after being tricked by Sanjuro to give them the signal. All of this signifies the decline of the samurai class, which had already been an ongoing process for the past two centuries as Japan was at peace.
24	* FacialDialogue: Half of Sanjuro's reactions to the sidekicks are glares of disdain.
25	* GoldfishPoopGang: What Sanjuro calls the sidekicks in the trailer.
26	* HappyDance: The sidekicks start jumping and cheering once a plan they had going worked. Then they catch themselves once they realise that the enemy is right next door so continue their Happy Dance quieter.
27	* HeelFaceTurn: The guard they capture at Mutsuta's mansion has one of these and becomes quite nice. He even points out that [[spoiler: Yamyoji Temple has no upper floor]], a flaw in the final plan that was overlooked.
28	* HighPressureBlood: [[invoked]] [[spoiler:Muroto at the very end.]] It's actually the UrExample of the trope in film, and a fine example of ThrowItIn: the "blood" pump malfunctioned, running at full pressure rather than the intended rate, but the visual effect of the blood and the difficulty of cleaning up the fake "blood" led Kurosawa to just go with it.
29	* HigherUnderstandingThroughDrugs: Sanjuro tells the sidekicks that "Drinking makes me smarter".
30	* JerkWithAHeartOfGold: [[NoNameGiven Tsubaki Sanjuro,]] natch. He's lazy, rude, unpleasant, disrespectful to the younger warriors and even insults Mutsuta's wife behind her back, he has no shame for indecent behaviour in public, and he begs for food, defying the proper code of honor. However, he has a stronger moral code than he did in ''Film/{{Yojimbo}}'' and always watches out for the nine younger warriors even though [[EnragedbyIdiocy their idiocy annoys him]]. And as the prisoner points out, his jab towards the Chamberlain's wife was because he's more comfortable with insults than with sincere compliments.
31	* LastVillainStand: [[spoiler:Hanbei is last villain standing and decides to challenge Sanjuro to a final duel.]]
32	* LineOfSightAlias: The ronin gives his family name as Tsubaki (camellia) after the nearest plant life.
33	* ManlyTears: Sanjuro is moved to tears [[spoiler:after he is forced to kill Muroto in a duel since he sees a bit of himself in Muroto.]]
34	* NotAMorningPerson: Sanjuro, repeatedly. When he's not in any urgent situation, he's usually seen yawning, stretching, scratching his head and neck, etc.
35	* OneWordTitle: ''Sanjuro''
36	* OverlyLongGag: The short montage of Sanjuro getting repeatedly woken by the nine other samurai as they bustle about giving information.
37	* OverdrawnAtTheBloodBank: [[spoiler:The final duel ends with Hanbei unrealistically losing ''gallons'' of blood.]]
38	* ProtagonistTitle: ''Sanjuro'' is the main character's name.
39	* QuieterThanSilence: Prior to the final duel, it becomes completely silent as the duelists stare each other down. The eventual strike is punctuated by the ScareChord as indicated above.
40	* RealMenWearPink: Played for laughs when Sanjuro is caught carrying an armload of flowers.
41	* ReverseGrip: [[spoiler:Sanjuro draws his blade with a reverse grip to catch Hanbei off-guard, leading to Sanjuro's victory.]]
42	* RollInTheHay: Strongly implied when Chidori settles back against the hay comfortably and sensually while they are hiding in the barn, as she recounts how she and her cousin Iori have often spent time in that very same barn. Iori's awkward expression and him quickly excusing himself as she recounts this to her mother lends credence to this.
43	* RunningGag: The guard keeps coming out of his prison to chime in on the conversations that the warriors are having.
44	* SceneryPorn: Rich black-and-white imagery of the town and the gardens.
45	* {{Seppuku}}: [[spoiler:Superintendent Kikui after his defeat]]. Chamberlain Mutsuta was also in danger of doing this to himself while under captivity.
46	* SheatheYourSword: {{Deconstructed}}. [[spoiler:Despite Sanjuro's newfound pacifist attiude, Sanjuro is unable to talk down Hanbei because the latter is following the bushido code and is fine with dying in battle. Consequently, Sanjuro is forced to execute Hanbei.]]
47	* SingleStrokeBattle: [[spoiler:The final battle ends with Sanjuro beating Hanbei in a single slash.]]
48	* SpottingTheThread: At one point Sanjuro lures out Kikui and most of his army to the town's outskirts by informing them that he heard the rebels plotting while he napped on the second floor of Komyo Temple. Unfortunately, Takebayashi eventually remembers that the shrine in question is a one-story building, and they immediately join Hanbei in guarding the base.
49	* TheStrategist: If there's one lesson the movie repeatedly hammers, it's the value of TheStrategist. The actual number of men in Kikui's faction is somewhere in the hundreds, and they're beaten by ''nine greenhorns and their accidental leader'' through careful action and misdirection.
50	* SurroundedByIdiots: Sanjuro repeatedly displays this attitude towards his samurai allies as they are mostly young, reckless men.
51	* VisualPun: When the nine samurai follow Sanjuro in a straight line, Sanjuro notes that they look like a centipede.
52	* XanatosSpeedChess: [[spoiler:Sanjuro manages to convince Kikui and his army to leave his base, leaving only a few men guarding Mutsuta. Sanjuro prepares to use the camellias to send a signal to his allies to come help him rescue Mutsuta, but Hanbei catches him in the act and is eventually joined by Kurofuji and Takebayashi, who are now aware that Sanjuro is one of the rebels. Hanbei leaves to alert Kikui of the trap, but Sanjuro is able to send the signal by convincing Kurofuji and Takebayashi that he has to send white camellias to his allies to abort the rescue. Kurofuji and Takebayashi wind up sending the white camellias, notifying the nine samurai to attack Kurofuji's mansion.]]

Context Film / Sanjuro