# Developing a love for Akira Kurosawa **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [April 25, 2017, 2:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/developing-a-love-for-akira-kurosawa/785211 "2017-04-25T14:10:23Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![JcWoman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jcwoman/32/2889_2.png) [@JcWoman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JcWoman)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2017, 2:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/developing-a-love-for-akira-kurosawa/785211/1 "2017-04-25T14:10:23Z")
A few months ago we went to see Rashomon at the Drafthouse. I really enjoyed it. Last night we did the free Victory Screening at the Drafthouse which happened to be Seven Samurai. OMG is that a brilliant movie! So, so good. It was done in the 1950’s and I can easily see why Kurosawa was a directorial trend setter. There were a couple of brief scenes shot in slow motion. He told a story that was deeply engrained in Japanese culture, using Japanese actors and yet made it approachable to all cultures and times by bringing out the humanity in his characters. The jokes were funny, over 50 years later and in a completely different culture (USA). The drama was relevant and well done. His knack for clever scene framing made his shots beautiful and impactful. He used pacing with complete brilliance; in one scene he showed some actors doing nothing more than looking at other actors and it built the tension to edge of seat levels, and then he released all the tension by letting the pace speed up to keep the action moving along. It was a 4-hour movie that never got boring or tedious and didn’t actually feel long. Anybody else love his work? ---
**Author:** ![DCnDC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dcndc/32/2842_2.png) [@DCnDC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DCnDC)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2017, 2:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/developing-a-love-for-akira-kurosawa/785211/2 "2017-04-25T14:24:37Z")
Kurosawa is outstanding. Most people have probably seen his work without knowing they’re seeing it, most likely in the form of **The Magnificent Seven** , **A Fistful of Dollars** , **Django** , **Last Man Standing** , even **Star Wars**. **Ran** is a personal favorite. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2017, 2:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/developing-a-love-for-akira-kurosawa/785211/3 "2017-04-25T14:45:08Z")
I’m a huge Kurasawa fan. **Seven Samurai** is my favorite, by far. You should see the samurai movies he made with Tashiro Mifune – **Yojimbo** (remade as _a Fistful of Dollars_ with Clint Eastwood), **Sanjuro** , and **The Hidden Fortress** (which George Lucas famously raided for elements of _Star Wars_). I really liked **Kagemusha** Although a lot of people like **Ran** , his take on King Lear, I prefer **Throne of Blood** , his Japanese take on _Macbeth_. If you get a chance, see **Dersu Uzala** , the movie he made with Mosfilm, about a Siberian hunter/guide. Lots of other flicks – the classic **Ikiru** , **Dreams** , **Red Beard**. Many of his flicks are available on Criterion Video (which is a bit pricey). Read Donald Ritchie’s book **The Films of Akira Kurasawa**. Weird fact – just as **Yojimbo** and **Seven Samurai** were remade as westerns, so was **Rashomon** , as **The Outrage**. I’ve never seen this film, but I’d like to – it has an off-the-wall cast: Paul Newman as Juan Carrasco Laurence Harvey as Colonel Wakefield Claire Bloom as Nina Wakefield Edward G. Robinson as Con Man William Shatner as Preacher Howard Da Silva as Prospector Albert Salmi as Sheriff Thomas Chalmers as Judge Paul Fix as Indian ---
**Author:** ![JcWoman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jcwoman/32/2889_2.png) [@JcWoman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JcWoman)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2017, 2:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/developing-a-love-for-akira-kurosawa/785211/4 "2017-04-25T14:46:49Z")
Those\* were influenced by, if not full on interpretations of Seven Samurai, yes. I’m not sure if you can enjoy those and really get the Kurosawa “experience”, though. I mean, to do everything that he did, using 1950’s film technology… holy moly! - Ninja’ed. I’m referring to the DCnDC’s list. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2017, 2:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/developing-a-love-for-akira-kurosawa/785211/5 "2017-04-25T14:49:05Z")
I’m definitely a fan. _Yojimbo_ is my favorite western drama, and _Ikiru_ is amazing, especially since it is a small, human drama instead of something with action. ---
**Author:** ![DesertDog](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/desertdog/32/11503_2.png) [@DesertDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DesertDog)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2017, 5:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/developing-a-love-for-akira-kurosawa/785211/6 "2017-04-25T17:34:47Z")
I would consider him the greatest director alive if he were, you know, still alive. Besides his samurai costume dramas, I love _[Dodes’ka-den](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dodes%27ka-den)_, his first color feature. I’m not sure enough to edit wiki but it is my understanding that, rather than a nonce word, Dodesukaden is Japanese slang for “How about it?” or “Is this to your liking?” which fits the theme. Also, the plot summary is a bit off at one point. The drunken day laborers don’t engage in wife swapping per se but are shown coming back to the dump one evening into their cups. They are a bit… vague as to which house is whose but the two women of the house take their guy in without comment. Several days later they wind up back in the house they started the movie in, but there’s no clue as to how many times this cycle might have happened. ---
**Author:** ![teela\_brown](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/d9b06d/32.png) [@teela\_brown](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/teela_brown)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2017, 5:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/developing-a-love-for-akira-kurosawa/785211/7 "2017-04-25T17:47:00Z")
I like all the movies mentioned above and will add: _The Lower Depths_, which was based on a Gorky play, I believe. You’ll see many of the good actors from Kurosawa’s other films, including, of course, Toshiro Mifune. ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2017, 5:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/developing-a-love-for-akira-kurosawa/785211/8 "2017-04-25T17:53:59Z")
Also, [_Rhapsody in August_](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rhapsody_in_August), winner of the Least Expected Guest Appearance of Richard Gere award. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2017, 6:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/developing-a-love-for-akira-kurosawa/785211/9 "2017-04-25T18:00:35Z")
> [@DCnDC](#): > > **Ran** is a personal favorite. Did you see the sequel? _ **Also Ran** _. ---
**Author:** ![Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/13edae/32.png) [@Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stranger_On_A_Train)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2017, 6:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/developing-a-love-for-akira-kurosawa/785211/10 "2017-04-25T18:01:49Z")
I don’t have much to add to the commentary other than I’ve probably seen _Rashomon_ twenty times I pick up additional nuances every time. The film is often imitated and referenced, but has never been bested. _Throne of Blood_ is my favorite of his Sengoku era interpretations of Shakespeare, but _Ran_ has some of the most vivid scenes of medieval combat ever put to film. It is too bad that he struggled for years with health and funding problems, and that we’ve missed out on a larger body of work that could have been, but he is inarguably one of the most influential filmmakers in the history of cinema, and should be enshrined with DeMille, Chaplin, Keaton, Lang, Welles, Hitchcock, and Scorsese. Stranger ---
**Author:** ![mcgato](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ac8455/32.png) [@mcgato](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mcgato)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2017, 6:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/developing-a-love-for-akira-kurosawa/785211/11 "2017-04-25T18:30:37Z")
Obligatory Simpson’s quote: Marge: Come on, Homer. Japan will be fun! You liked Rashomon. Homer: That’s not how I remember it! ---
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2017, 7:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/developing-a-love-for-akira-kurosawa/785211/12 "2017-04-25T19:26:43Z")
Fun Kurosawa Fact: As a child, his classmates called him, “Mr. Crybaby”. (I did a paper on him in college, and have seen most of his movies as a result. Favorite: Kagemusha. Extraordinary film!) ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2017, 8:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/developing-a-love-for-akira-kurosawa/785211/13 "2017-04-25T20:20:45Z")
Interesting YouTube video on Kurosawa: [Akira Kurosawa - Composing Movement - YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=doaQC-S8de8) ---
**Author:** ![yojimbo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yojimbo/32/232_2.png) [@yojimbo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yojimbo)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2017, 9:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/developing-a-love-for-akira-kurosawa/785211/14 "2017-04-25T21:16:29Z")
There’s one of his movies I really like but can’t quite think of it at the mo. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2017, 9:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/developing-a-love-for-akira-kurosawa/785211/15 "2017-04-25T21:53:01Z")
> [@yojimbo](#): > > There’s one of his movies I really like but can’t quite think of it at the mo. Was it the one about the rabbit samurai? ---
**Author:** ![Roderick\_Femm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/roderick_femm/32/14875_2.png) [@Roderick\_Femm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Roderick_Femm)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2017, 11:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/developing-a-love-for-akira-kurosawa/785211/16 "2017-04-25T23:25:13Z")
My favorite of all is **Ikiru** , but I also really like **High and Low** , and **Stray Dog**. The jidai-geki (period dramas) are great, but I prefer dramas of contemporary life. It’s interesting how little has changed regarding bureaucrats since Ikiru (1952). ---
**Author:** ![DSeid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dseid/32/20194_2.png) [@DSeid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DSeid)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2017, 11:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/developing-a-love-for-akira-kurosawa/785211/17 "2017-04-25T23:27:34Z")
> [@Johnny\_L.A](#): > > Did you see the sequel? > > _ **Also Ran** _. It wasn’t as good … ---
**Author:** ![Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/13edae/32.png) [@Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stranger_On_A_Train)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2017, 11:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/developing-a-love-for-akira-kurosawa/785211/18 "2017-04-25T23:39:04Z")
> [@DSeid](#): > > It wasn’t as good … Well, that may be your point of view, but from where I was sitting it was outstanding. Also, I found this dagger… Stranger ---
**Author:** ![Tarwater](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/9de0a6/32.png) [@Tarwater](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tarwater)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2017, 3:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/developing-a-love-for-akira-kurosawa/785211/19 "2017-04-26T03:17:28Z")
> [@Roderick\_Femm](#): > > My favorite of all is **Ikiru** , but I also really like **High and Low** , and **Stray Dog**. The jidai-geki (period dramas) are great, but I prefer dramas of contemporary life. It’s interesting how little has changed regarding bureaucrats since Ikiru (1952). It doesn’t get as much love as his period pieces, but _High and Low_ is my favorite film of his. I can go back and watch it every couple of years without my enjoyment being diminished in the slightest. ---
**Author:** ![Baker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bb73d2/32.png) [@Baker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baker)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2017, 3:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/developing-a-love-for-akira-kurosawa/785211/20 "2017-04-26T03:49:30Z")
> [@CalMeacham](#): > > Although a lot of people like **Ran** , his take on King Lear, I prefer **Throne of Blood** , his Japanese take on _Macbeth_. Heck, he didn’t have to change the story all that much even. Japanese medieval society wasn’t all THAT different from Scots medieval society. I’d like to know how that scene with all the arrows was done. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/developing-a-love-for-akira-kurosawa/785211.md?page=2)