Akira Kurosawa

Over this previous summer, working at the video store in East Rochester, I set myself on a trek to watch all of the Akira Kurosawa films I could get my hands on. I had read much about Kurosawa, and already know that many of them were available in the store, and had too much spare time on my hands. So I searched for a book that could act as my guide, and found one (The Emperor and the Wolf: The Lives and Films of Akira Kurosawa and Toshiro Mifune - by Stuart Galbraith).

I went to the Rochester public library to pick up the book (it was out of print), and was surprised to find it to have over 800 pages. Soon after, I as surprised to find that Kurosawa had directed over 28 movies. So, on June 20, I started on the first one that I could find anywhere (No Regrets for Our Youth) and just tonight (Septembr 30) finished his last one (Madadayo).

The strange thing is that I've put off this last movie for almost two months. It was delivered by Netflix (which is awesome, by the way) before I left for my family vacation in early August. It's sat on my shelf or on my desk for now just over 2 months, for two reasons. First, I knew from my reading that this wasn't one of Kurosawa's best films. Second, I didn't really want to be done with my Kurosawa experience.

So from June 20th till July 31st, I watched 24 of Kurosawa's films. And wow, was it fun.

Akira Kurosawa was most famous for his epic samurai films (Rashomon, the Seven Samauri, Throne of Blood, Yojimbo, Sanjuro, Kagemusha and Ran), which really only amount to less than a third of his movie output. However, of his other films, I would really only recommend three of them for those who didn't really care too much about Kurosawa (Ikiru, Red Beard, and Dersu Uzala).

Ikiru is one that I would strongly recommend. It deals with a public works officer (in Japan, of course) who, after a few decades of mindless, dedicated work, finds out he has terminal stomach cancer. Sounds depressing? Not really. It will surprise you, and it is up there in my top five movies that could change your life after viewing.

Red Beard is the last Kurosawa film to have Toshiro Mifune, who was one of Kurosawa's favorite actors, and one of the most memorable and powerful performers in any of Kurosawa's films. The plot is of a struggling hospital, a newly transferred intern, and the hospital's director, who is called Red Beard due to his unusual red beard (sure it's a black and white film, but you can see the red beard clear enough if you have any humanity in you). It's a good movie, with several subplots, that again are surprisingly powerful. In one, there's a mental patient who seduces and kills young men. At one point she escapes. And it's rather terrifying. In another, a poor boy in near the brink of death, and to ensure that his soul doesn't escape, the nurses run out to a well and call his name down to the underworld to bring him back. A unexpectedly powerful scene.

And the last non-samurai film of Kurosawa's that I'd recommend would be Dersu Uzala. It's in Russian (quick tangent: Kurosawa had extreme trouble finding funding in Japan during his later career, and had to fight and beg and plead to get financing for another fill after a relative flop. The Russians finally gave him the money.) It's about Russian soldiers paroling a remote part of the Russian forest / tundra land. At one point, they hire a local forest man to be there guide (Dersu Uzala) who quickly befriends the captain of the troop. Dersu at one point saves the captains life, and at another point, the captain saves Dersu's (I understand that generally quickens the development of friendship among us mortals). There are some twists, and fantastic scenes. Watch it.

Now on to the really good stuff. Kurosawa's samurai films. If you're into movies at all, or are tired of the new choco-block-buster-a-thon movies (e.g. Eagle Eye), or are affected by movies at all, you need to watch some of these films.

First, in the black and white category, you need to see the Seven Samurai. It's perhaps one of the most influential movies of all time, inspiring directly the Magnificent Seven and A Bug's Life. The story is well known, and the directing and editing style has ripples throughout movie makers across the world. On top of that, it's a great story. Sure, it's over three hours long, but it's worth it. Do it in chunks. Do it all at once. However you do it, do it!

The other Kurosawa samurai B&Ws are good too. Not great, but they all have their great moments. In decreasing order of must watch down to you should watch, I'd list them as Seven Samurai (see above), Rashomon, Throne of Blood, Yojimbo/Sanjuro (they really go together), and the Hidden Fortress. Rashomon is another unbelievably influential movie, and arguably changed the way movies were made, Throne of Blood is based on Shakespeare's Macbeth, and has a mindblowingly great scene in it that involves a lot of archer's arrows (just ask Jake, he'll tell you about that scene). Yojimbo/Sanjuro are like cowboy westerns set in feudal Japan. You'll know exactly what I mean when you see them. They in turn inspired many American cowboy Westerns (Fistful of Dollars, etc.). The Hidden Fortress is good, not great, except for the fact that George Lucas credits his portrayal of C-3P0 and R2-D2 after two characters in this movie (he also doesn't credit the incredibly powerful hidden princess who saves the day, but I think he's lying about that).

And now, ladies and gentleman, the really good ones. I mean really good ones. After Red Beard (or maybe Dodes 'ka-den, which is one of the ones I couldn't find anywhere), Kurosawa's films transform into color films. The first was Dersu Usala, which I've already talked about. The color made it a better movie. I don't think this one would have worked in B&W.

And in walks Kagemusha. AKA The Shadow Warrior. The movie is like nothing you'll ever see until you watch Ran (Kurosawa called Kagemusha a "dry run" for Ran). It follows a poor, thief / nobody who has a striking resemblance to the lord of a huge, powerful clan. He is brought in to double the lord. At first to increase efficiency and spread additional terror. Later because the lord gets injured, etc. The movie is epic. With ginormous samurai / army battles, in breathtaking use of color and editing and story development and character development. It's good.

Now, if you've ever been part of a high school musical production, you know how painful they can be. Well, take a high school production of, say, the Fiddler on the Roof on the first day of dress rehearsal. Painful, right? And compare that to the movie version of Fiddler on the Roof, with huge ensembles and excellent casting (Topol kicks some serious ass), excellent musicians and a movie-level budget. Similarly, Ran is Kagemusha on a totally different level.

First, it's based on Shakespeare's King Lear (yes, Kurosawa liked Shakespeare), which means that at the very least, the story will be interesting. Second, take the success of Kurowasa from Kagemusha and give him complete control of the production, including massive extras, a couple million dollar castles built on the slopes of Mt. Fuji, costumes and colors that astound, music that takes one's breath away, and a sad old man who tries to give his hard, blood-drenched empire away to his three sons, (think plot of King Lear), and you've got a phenomenal movie. Just awesome. The battle scenes are color coordinated among the three sons, and are on an uber-scale. The father goes stark raving insane as he watches his son's battle, his empire crumble, his sword snap in half, and his castle burn, and one of the best scenes in any movie I've ever seen, and you're beginning to understand the power of Ran.

So, well, yeah. Watch some Kurosawa. I have purchased the Seven Samurai, Kagemusha, and Ran from the not-so-cheap Criterion Collection (sure the Seven Samurai cost me $50, but it has three disks, tons of commentary, extras, essays, and downright sexy packaging). I think it's totally worth it. I hope to purchase more of Kurosawa's in the near future.