DIRECTOR FILMOGRAPHY - The Films of AKIRA KUROSAWA

In my collection,out of 4s..........

Akira Kurosawa's Dreams (1990)
Ran (1985)
Kagemusha (1980) 1/2
Red Beard (1965) 1/2
Sanjûrô (1962)
Yojimbo (1961)
The Hidden Fortress (1958)
Throne of Blood (1957)
Seven Samurai (1954) (In my all time top 10)
Ikiru (1952) (In my all time top 10)
Rashômon (1950)

AKIRA KUROSAWA

Seen: 7*
Like: 3
Own: 3

Rank order:

Rashomon
Throne of Blood
Sanjuro
Yojimbo
Stray Dog
Kagemusha
Seven Samurai


* - I've technically seen 8, since I've seen Ran, but it was so long ago, that I wouldn't know where to place it in the rank orderings, so I'm not counting it.

AKIRA KUROSAWA

Finally, some movies I've actually seen. I'm a fan of Kurosawa, and I have been since first seeing Seven Samurai (a film that I think deserves every bit of the praise that is heaped upon it). Since then I've seen quite a few, and enjoyed almost all of them. Seven Samurai remains a favourite, and many other Kurosawa films have joined it. I count Throne of Blood, The Hidden Fortress, Sanjuro, High and Low, and Stray Dog among my favourites, with many of the others close behind.

Here they are ranked, although it gets muddy with rankings changing based on how recently I've seen them. Even looking at the list I'm not happy with how low wonderful films like Red Beard and The Lower Depths are.

Seven Samurai (1954)
Throne of Blood (1957)
The Hidden Fortress (1958)
Sanjûrô (1962)
Stray Dog (1949)
High and Low (1963)
Ikiru (1952)
Rashômon (1950)
Ran (1985)
Red Beard (1965)
Yojimbo (1961)
The Lower Depths (1957)
Dersu Uzala (1975)
Madadayo (1993)

*1. Ikiru - A (#1 all-time)
*2. Rashomon - A
*3. Ran - A
*4. Yojimbo - A
*5. Madadayo - A (criminally underseen and underrated, as good as his classics)
*6. Stray Dog - A
*7. Red Beard - A
*8. Throne Of Blood - A
9. The Seven Samurai - A
10. Drunken Angel - A
11. High And Low - A- (brilliant first half but the police procedural stuff gets a tad dry)
12. Dersu Uzala - A- (gorgeous, but for whatever reason, doesn't register as much as films with similar subject matter like The Wild Child and Kaspar Hauser)
*13. The Bad Sleep Well - A-
*14. The Hidden Fortress - A-
15. Rhapsody in August - B+
*16. Kagemusha - B+ (need to see again)
17. Akira Kurosawa's Dreams - B+
18. Dodes'ka-den - B+
19. The Men Who Tread on the Tiger's Tail - B+
*20. One Wonderful Sunday - B+
21. Sanshiro Sugata - B+

*22. Scandal - B
*23. No Regrets For Our Youth - B
24. The Lower Depths - B
25. The Most Beautiful - B
26. Sanjuro - B- (need to see again, the only Kurosawa film I've seen that I was unimpressed by.)

Own: 15 (2 Blu)

Edited by Brook K - 8/4/10 at 3:15pm

Ranking:

1. Seven Samurai
2. Kagemusha
3. Ikiru
4. Dersu Uzala
5. High and Low
6. Red Beard
7. Rashomon
8. Stray Dog
9. The Bad Sleep Well
10. Yojimbo
11. Throne of Blood
12. Madadayo
13. Ran
14. Sanjuro
15. The Hidden Fortress
16. Rhapsody in August
17. Dreams

Ratings from to

Madadayo (1993) (Own the DVD, haven't watched it yet)
Rhapsody in August (1991) (Own the DVD)
Akira Kurosawa's Dreams (1990) (Own the DVD)
Ran (1985) (Own the Blu)
Kagemusha (1980) (Own the Blu)
Dersu Uzala (1975)
Dodes'ka-den (1970) (Own the DVD)
Red Beard (1965) (Own the DVD)
High and Low (1963) (Own the DVD)
Sanjûrô (1962) (Own the Blu)
Yojimbo (1961) (Own the Blu)
The Bad Sleep Well (1960) (Own the DVD)
The Hidden Fortress (1958) (Own the DVD)
The Lower Depths (1957) (Own the DVD)
Throne of Blood (1957) (Own the DVD)
I Live in Fear (1955)  (Own the DVD)
Seven Samurai (1954) (Own the DVD)
Ikiru (1952) (Own the DVD)
The Idiot (1951)  (Own the DVD)
Rashomon (1950) (Own the DVD)
Scandal (1950)  (Own the DVD)
Stray Dog (1949) (Own the DVD)
The Quiet Duel (1949) 
Drunken Angel (1948) (Own the DVD)
One Wonderful Sunday (1947)  (Own the DVD)
No Regrets for Our Youth (1946) (Own the DVD)
Those Who Make Tomorrow (1946)
Sanshiro Sugata Part Two (1945)
The Men Who Tread On the Tiger's Tail (1945)
The Most Beautiful (1944)
Sanshiro Sugata (1943)

Seen 25
Own 24

Edited by Bill McA - 7/17/10 at 2:45pm

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KUROSAWA

Ran (1985) - first Kurosawa, need to see again, only seen on MARVHS
Red Beard (1965) - - I'd never expected this film to become so perfect by the end, truly masteful
High and Low (1963) - - Brilliant throughout, two different acts but each are incredibly compelling.
Sanjûrô (1962) - - probably the weakest Kurosawa I've seen
Yojimbo (1961) - /2 - I want to see it again, but this is a damn wonderful little film
Throne of Blood (1957) - - heheheh Macbeth you devil! Wonderful moody piece of expressionism
Seven Samurai (1954) - - sublime perfection, I'll watch it anyday and I've given it a standing ovation after seeing the gorgeous new print.
Ikiru (1952) - - if Japaneseness mattered at all, Kurosawa proves his with this masterful genjai-geki
Rashômon (1950) - - I need to see this again, but damn if it isn't briliant


Ranking:

1. Seven Samurai
2. Red Bearch
3. Ikiru
4. Throne of Blood
5. Rashomon
6. High and Low
7. Yojimbo
8. Ran
9. Sanjuro

Not a lot of love for Sanjuro in this thread. I consider it to be a great film, very fun to watch and very funny. Toshiro Mifune is fabulous again as his iconic character. A very underrated Kurosawa film in my opinion. Perhaps it gets overlooked because it is not as serious as most of his films. I rate The Hidden Fortress pretty high, too, so I guess I'm drawn to the more lighthearted pictures.

I hear you. I just watched Ran again last night and was blown away. What could I possibly have been thinking ranking it midway through the pack? Clearly it's a masterpiece. If I was ro redo my list today, I'd put it at number three. Like you say, it's very difficult to rank such wonderful movies.

I've only seen:

Ran (1985)
Kagemusha (1980)
High and Low (1963)
Sanjûrô (1962)
Yojimbo (1961)
The Hidden Fortress (1958)
Throne of Blood (1957)
Seven Samurai (1954)
Ikiru (1952)
Rashômon (1950)

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Just ordered the R2 DVD of I Live in Fear...

You know Criterion is going to put it out, of course who knows when.

Dreams and Rhapsody are now 18 & 19 in my queue. Smack dab between Russian silents and a bunch of Takashi Miike movies.

Oh, I'm sure Criterion will release ILIF now that I've bought the R2 (same thing happened with Unfaithfully Yours).

Just watched some Miike last night: Happiness of the Katakuris.

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Rhapsody in August is a fine film, but I don't consider it "top tier" Kurosawa. Gere's performance is nothing special, but it was adequate for what was required.

This movie seems to be one where everything is a build up to the final scene....and a pretty amazing final scene it is.

An update: The Bad Sleep Well and Drunken Angel are being released to R2 DVD on July 25th by the BFI.

AKIRA KUROSAWA

**Akira Kurosawa's Dreams (1990)
*****Ran (1985)
*****Kagemusha (1980)
**Dodes'ka-den (1970)
****Red Beard (1965)
****High and Low (1963)
****Sanjûrô (1962)
*****Yojimbo (1961)
****The Hidden Fortress (1958)
*****The Lower Depths (1957)
*****Throne of Blood (1957)
*****Seven Samurai (1954)
*****Ikiru (1952)
*****Rashômon (1950)
****Stray Dog (1949)
****Drunken Angel (1948)
***No Regrets for My Youth (1946)

Most all great - at best the mix of humor, tough-minded philosophical intensity (and thoughtful complexity), & technical virtuosity never stops being amazing...

Well said!