Akira Kurosawa (1 Viewer)

[Rich Romero]

My Creative Writing teacher assigned me a report on Akira Kurosawa but I've only seen a couple of his movies and don't know much about him. Can anyone tell me some info or give me good online references to learn more about him? Thanks.

 

[SteveGon]

Rich, nice to see ya back!
This site should get you started.

 

[Lew Crippen]

Don’t tell us that you’ve been studying, Rich. In addition to Steve’s link, I think that most of us (Kurosawa fans) consider the standard reference to be The Films of Akira Kurosawa by Donald Richie. It should be in your library, but it is available for under $10 from Amazon.

Kurosawa also wrote about himself and his films in a book titled Something Like an Autobiography.

Good luck.

 

[Brook K]

Come on over Rich and I'll show you a few. Though his best film, Ikiru, remains unavailable in a quality DVD presentation.

 

[Matthew_Millheiser]

I double Lew's recommendation for Donald Richie's book. A phenomenal book about the emperor of filmmaking. BTW also listen to the commentary track on Seven Samurai. Michael Jeck goes into great detail about some of the seminal events of Kurosawa's life and filmmaking career.
There's also the Kurosawa documentary on DVD that details his life and work. Highly recommended.

 

[Tim RH]

Actually, I prefer THRONE OF BLOOD over IKIRU, but TOB ain't on DVD yet either, unfortunately.

 

[Dome Vongvises]

Isn't Donald Richie still the expert on Kurosawa?
Anywho, check this place out if you want as well
Strictly Film School

 

[Kirk Tsai]

I'm currently reading The Emperor and the Wolf, about the lives and works of Kurosawa and Toshiro Mifune. The book does not go in depth about film techniques or meanings (Richie does) but it has a lot of background detail, production notes, and reactions to the films.

 

[Lew Crippen]

I'm currently reading The Emperor and the Wolf

That book would be my third recommendation.

 

[SteveGon]

Actually, I prefer THRONE OF BLOOD over IKIRU, but TOB ain't on DVD yet either, unfortunately.

Neither is another great Kurosawa flick: Stray Dog.

Gripe over; back to your regularly scheduled thread...

 

[Tim RH]

Stray Dog was a suprisingly good movie, wasn't it? A must see for all Kurosawa fans!

 

[Sean Campbell]

My personal favourites are Rashomon, Seven Samurai, The Hidden Fortress and Ran ( with Throne of Blood, Ikiru, Dreams and Yojimbo not far behind ). Superb movies all!
I've watched The Hidden Fortress about 7 times now and never get tired of it Fantastic movie - great direction, great use of Tohoscope widescreen, great acting from Toshiro Mifune, great action/adventure plot, great bit near the end where the music swells as Mifune grabs the woman as he rides by on the horse, great lance fight, great ending and let's not forget the great score from Masaru Satoh! GREAT!
Seven Samurai is just as brilliant, great story, great... em... you get the idea.
The best way to learn about his movies is to watch as many as you can... as many times as you can

 

[John Spencer]

Even though I'll always have a soft spot for his period films, High And Low just hits me in all the right places. That's my favorite Kurosawa, and I really can't explain why. I watch it at least once a month ever since a blind purchase. And a good dvd it is, by the way.

 

[Tim Ke]

i'm sure you've already checked out www.imdb.com

 

[JonZ]

Seven Samurai and Ran stand out as my favorites from Kurosawa.

Ive never seen Throne of Blood though - I really need to pick that up.

 

[Scott Leopold]

While my favorite Kurosawa movie is Seven Samurai, I currently feel that Red Beard is his best movie. When I finally saw it, I was amazed at how good it is. I'd also second Stray Dog as a must see. I'd love to see a decent R1 release of it. As for his other movies, I've yet to see one I didn't absolutely love, or at least like immensely. I'm looking forward to picking up Dreams, Ran, and whatever else is coming out this year.