The Akira Kurosawa Thread

Akira Kurosawa (Kyūjitai: 黒澤 明, Shinjitai: 黒沢 明 Kurosawa Akira; March 23, 1910 – September 6, 1998)

One of the most influential directors of the 20th century was born on this date in 1910. The Criterion Collection put out a poll today of the most beloved films from esteemed director. My immediate response was Throne of Blood.


Not only is it one of the best Shakespeare film adaptations but it's an unusually intriguing samurai film in its own right. Part ghost story/part morality tale it transfixes the viewer in a way that Shakespeare more than likely thrilled Elizabethan theater audiences. In many ways K's effect is far more effective without the barrier of the 400 year old language problem: not a word of Shakespeare's text is used (though Macbeth is probably one of the easiest plays for a contemporary audience to comprehend). I can watch it almost anytime - and I do about a half dozen times each year. Got a favorite Kurosawa film or some breaking news about a retrospective or new release? Let's hear about it! Happy Birthday, Kurosawa-san!

 

A Message from Akira Kurosawa: For Beautiful Movies (2000)

 

Same with Ran (King Lear).

 

Beautiful soundtrack


Ran Toru Tagemitsu

 

I really like High And Low, Rashomon, and, of course, Seven Samurai.

 

Classics, but High & Low never compelled me. That's the kidnapping film, right? It's in a similar league with The Bad Sleep Well (his "Hamlet film") imo: great sequences, but overall a bit uneven with endings not as resolute as his great films. To me the underrated gems are The Lower Depths, The Idiot and The Men Who Tread on the Tiger's Tail. The first is a Maxim Gorky story adaptation that dramatizes the lives of denizens of a run down rooming house. Devastating and rather pitiable story. The second, of course, is an adaptation of the Dostoevsky classic - a haunting, beautiful, film. The last is a partly humorous, partly spiritual shorter film about a lord and his samurai who masquerade as monks in order to get past enemy territory to safety. Fun.

 

I will be sure to check those films out. I have The Idiot and The Men Who Tread On The Tiger's Tail in the 2 Eclipse Kurosawa DVD box sets. I just haven't gotten around to watching them.

 

The Idiot was heavily cut from its original length

 

On the DVD, or by the studio?

 

Shochiku, the studio for which Kurosawa was working, cut it from 265 minutes to the length we know now. This, of course, was before the worldwide success of Rashomon, Kurosawa's award winning "breakthrough" film. The lost Idiot was apparently a longer running time than his 1985 film, Ran, which clocks in at 162 minutes. But nobody was cutting the maestro's work at that point!

Here's a good write-up (with reader responses) on The Idiot from a Kurosawa infosite.

 

What to get regarding complete box sets ?

 

My favorites; Red Beard, Seven Samurai, Throne of Blood,
Never cared for Hidden Fortress or Rashomon.
I know Rashomon is considered a classic but I never warmed up to the film.
IMO: Hidden Fortress was a waste of time only attracting attention because of Star Wars. .
Thought these were definitely worth watching but not great; Ran, Kagemusha, Sanjuro & Yojimbo.

If I had a choice they would all be black and white.
For some reason the color distracted me.

 

Sorry. Yes, there is a GREAT box set that Criterion released some 10 or 15 years ago that is out if print and PRICEY. But give me a second to find info on an available copy...

eBay listing
WalMart

 

Red Beard is fantastic. Mostly a serious look at (what we would call) a general practitioner and his new intern among fairly poor and indigent folk but Mifune's sudden badass samurai demonstration gives some impressive comic/shock relief.

 

One thing about the giant box set is that it doesn't have any of the bonus features that the individual Criterion discs have.

 

Buy separately by the looks of it, yikes!!!!

 

Of course, the price it's going for now is ridiculous. But, as it's a Criterion release, why wouldn't it have the extras included in the individual releases?

There'll be another Kurosawa CC Box set in the future, I have little doubt. And probably more complete than the previous set, though this one does look like a beauty.

 

Time for a rerelease with extras included.

 

What’s the crime series like noir esq?

 

This?



Looks dubious. Like you suggested, get the individual CC releases and avoid stuff like this.

 

That box set is DVD only, too. You can get Blu-Ray if you buy separately, which is the way to go.

 

Nothing dubious about it, except that it has since been superseded by newer, better releases in a superior format (as is inevitable with most older DVD transfers, which is what this is). The BFI are a highly respected organisation.

 

I don’t mind collections as long as it doesn’t cost a arm or a leg.

 

Blu..
Extras ? Better picture quality? Longer cut? Sound ?

 

If a crime set isn't dubious what's the point? I just picked up the old tv crime series Crime Story on DVD and boy is it raw and bare bones. Perfect!
If I saw that set in a dollar store there'd be no question about it.