The Films of Akira Kurosawa, Third Edition, Expanded and Updated

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Here is a chance to read a terrific study of Kurosawa's films by the foremost critic of Japanese cinema and a man who had a personal acquaintance with the filmmaker. Newly revised and updated, this classic study now covers all of Kurosawa's films, surveying an extraordinary 50 year career. If you have any interest in Japanese cinema or in the art of movies in general, you can't go wrong viewing Kurosawa's films. Ritchie's book will guide you through them, teaching you about the man and his genius.

Book Description

In an epilogue provided for his incomparable study of Akira Kurosawa (1910-1998), Donald Richie reflects on Kurosawa's life work of thirty feature films and describes his last, unfinished project, a film set in the Edo period to be called The Ocean Was Watching.
Kurosawa remains unchallenged as one of the century's greatest film directors. Through his long and distinguished career he managed, like very few others in the teeth of a huge and relentless industry, to elevate each of his films to a distinctive level of art. His Rashomon--one of the best-remembered and most talked-of films in any language--was a revelation when it appeared in 1950 and did much to bring Japanese cinema to the world's attention. Kurosawa's films display an extraordinary breadth and an astonishing strength, from the philosophic and sexual complexity of Rashomon to the moral dedication of Ikiru, from the naked violence of Seven Samurai to the savage comedy of Yojimbo, from the terror-filled feudalism of Throne of Blood to the piercing wit of Sanjuro.

Customer Reviews:

Rather wonderful...fifteen years ago........2006-02-28

When I was a teenager this was my bible. I was fixated on Kurosawa's films ever since my father forced me to sit through "The Seven Samurai" when I was a child. This book was valuable to me for the simple reason that a good number of Kurosawa's films were hard for me to find on video (as far as a good revival showing, forget it). I found the essays to be informative and at times insightful, and, if nothing else, Richie is always good for an anecdote. However, the book takes a strange turn down a darker path in the final half-dozen chapters or so. I've always had the feeling that Kurosawa must have somehow personally offended or insulted Richie, since the tone becomes one of dismissal and personal attack. Some of the essays aren't even by Richie himself, as if he won't deign to review Kurosawa's little movies. He tells us that Kurosawa was essentially a pathetic man with no life outside of film making (how many other artists could one say that about?). He even makes fun of the poor man's musical tastes. Films like "Kagemusha" and "Ran" are dismissed with a wave of the hand, even the awe inspiring "Dodes 'kaden" comes in for something of a drubbing. Kurosawa's final films are "overly sentimental". In fact, in the recent Alex Cox documentary on Kurosawa, "The Last Emperor", Richie's cliched "sentimental" attack on Kurosawa is itself attacked by the narrator of the film! Richie's weird (seemingly) personal vendetta on Kurosawa comes across as slightly amusing, bringing to mind the old crack about film critics being the impotent man at the orgy, or, to put it another way, Richie is the Hanslick to Kurosawa's Wagner. While flawed, Kurosawa's final films are hardly sentimental treacle, and certainly don't deserve one and a half page dismissals in a book devoted to their creator. With so much interesting Japanese film studies floating around, I'm not sure Richie's bitter book is worth much now.

The Films of Akira Kurosawa.......2005-10-17

Donald Richie's very long-term knowledge of Japanese culture and cinema and his perspective as a Westerner make his assessment of "the Emperor"'s oeuvre very informative and valuable. This book, the most recent and complete revision of a work he first published some time back, would merit a *****, rather than ****, if his assessments of Kurosawa's films after "Dersu Uzala" were as perceptive as those up through that film. As it is, this is a highly valuable resource which is highly recommended

Don't waste your time on this........2005-09-11

Donald Richie is an extraordinary interpreter of Japanese culture. He has translated many great modern Japanese books and I'm certain his knowledge of Japanese language is incomparable. Unfortunately, what he most certainly is not is a legitimate film critic. The damage he does to Kurosawa in this book is unwarranted and small-minded. More than I could take. Richie's understanding of film itself is completely inadequate, forcing him to resort to literary interpretive techniques in order to make up for his misunderstanding of cinematography and the nature of film in general. At the heart of it - he is incabable of "seeing" which is the foundation of Kurosawa's work. If you like wayward, stream-of-consciousness criticism masquerading as serious film criticism you'll certainly get your fill. But most of what Richie does in this book is lob irrelevant pot-shots at Kurosawa, his personality, "mistakes" and the overriding theme (which becomes readily apparent towards the end) that his last films were just sentimental drivel. In fact I can't think of a single film covered in this book that Richie can bear to like wholeheartedly. Not without an uncomfortable juxtaposition of his true talent (literature) and film criticism - which I found to be completely inadequate. Another gaping hole is his obvious lack of understanding of the process of filmaking, or rather the way in which this process differs from writing in meaning and structure. His tone is pompous, downbeat and arrogant. For Ritchie - Kurosawa IS the film - and that is his greatest mistake - to turn the reader's attention to the "novel" of Kurosawa. Over and over he naggingly searches (pouring over grains of sand)for a continuity in Kurosawa's work that will bring a "literary" motif to everything he has done, that is to say, every disparity that exists between one film and the next is scrutinized under the lamp of literary criticism, and summarily dismissed. I can't imagine anything more inappropriate in a work of film criticism. All in all, this book comes off as a snotty jab at a master filmaker by a master spokesman for Japanese culture who simply does not understand film. I found reading it to be a wretched experience. And I hope you will too.

Spectacular introduction to great filmmaker.......2002-12-04

Richie shows a passion for one of the world's greatest filmmakers in the history of cinema. He focuses on the films themselves instead of relying to much on biographical information to show the real Kurosawa. He looks at all of his films regardless of their obscurity. I think the great thing about Richie is his particular attention to how moving and humanistic Kurosawa's movies were and still are. Richie argues that his humanism is what allows KUROSAWA to stand head and shoulders above most filmmakers. The film stills are the real treasure in this book. They give a unique look at the films as artistic masterpieces, and how Kurosawa made good use of his training as a painter in his early years. All in all this book is absolutely essential for people who love film in general and Kurosawa fans.

Fantastic book !!!!.......2002-06-05

I've been a fan of Akira Kurosawa since I was a kid, but really have not much information about his movie list, his directing style nor his gang of staple actors...until I got this fantastic book. I wouldnt call it a book, rather to me , its like a reference, pictorial book, an encyclopedia that even a newbie to Akira kurosawa's work will enjoy. Its very user friendly, and has all his movie listed by years and actors catogorized by movies and even style of direction in each section of each movie.

But be warn, as soon as you learn more about Kurosawa's work and if you have experienced a few of his movies and you enjoyed them very much....this book is going to make you wanting to see his rare and hard to find stuff....can be a frustrating and difficult treasure hunt, as mentioned by another reviewer, yet exhilarating.!!! I LOVE it !!!! Thanks for this edition .

The Emperor and the Wolf: The Lives and Films of Akira Kurosawa and Toshiro Mifune
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Tedious

Kurosawa and Mifune - seminal Japanese cinema

Warning: Not a Biography

Its all about films....

Terrible as Biography

The Emperor and the Wolf: The Lives and Films of Akira Kurosawa and Toshiro Mifune
Stuart Galbraith IV
Manufacturer: Faber & Faber
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0571199828

Book Description

The first -- and long overdue -- English-language biography of two of the world's great cinema figures.

Akira Kurosawa and Toshiro Mifune made sixteen feature films together, including Rashomon, Seven Samurai, Throne of Blood, Yojimbo, and High and Low -- all undisputed masterworks of world cinema. Kurosawa's films inspired blockbuster remakes and influenced directors like George Lucas, Steven Spielberg, Francis Ford Coppola, and Martin Scorsese. Meanwhile, Mifune virtually invented the roaming warrior rogue, a character adapted with great success by actors like Clint Eastwood, Sean Connery, Bruce Willis, and countless others. Their impact on the international film world is undisputable, yet at the very height of their abilities, Kurosawa and Mifune went their separate ways. After Red Beard in 1965 they would never work together again -- nor would they ever achieve the same level of success apart as they had together.

The Emperor and the Wolf is an in-depth look at the life and work of these two luminaries of cinema. Full of behind-the-scenes details about their tumultuous lives and stormy relationships with the studios and each other, it is also a provocative look at postwar American and Japanese culture and the different lenses through which the two societies viewed each other.

Customer Reviews:

Tedious.......2006-05-25

The subtitle of this book, The Lives and Films of Akira Kurosawa, is completely deceitful. There is nothing biographical in this book about either one of its main protagonists. It is rather a chronicle of the Japanese film industry, not without interest in itself. However, the voluminous facts, tid-bits of information about every minor actor, director, script-writer, and film composer, as well as the synopsis of every film mentioned, makes for increbibly tedious reading. While the book has its merit as a source of information, not much credit should be given to the author other than for his ability to put together facts that are available from a number of sources. Meanwhile, reading all these capsules of data will leave you dry when it comes to the lives of Kurosawa and Mifune. The author tells us nothing about how they lived, felt, thought, behaved,what motivated them; probably because he doesn't know himself. A simple gathering of public facts, none researched by the author himself because their sources are many and widely available, especially on the internet, do not make for a worthy book!

Kurosawa and Mifune - seminal Japanese cinema .......2006-02-01

Galbraith's combined biography of Akira Kurosawa and Toshiro Mifune has a wealth of knowledge, or, more accurately, a lot of data. Though Emperor/Wolf has reams (848 pages at close to 3 pounds) of information, what it doesn't have is a life of its own. The material covered by Galbraith could have been assembled by researching web sites, magazine and newspaper articles. You read much about Kurosawa and Mifune but you never come to know the men as living beings. Everything is written just outside of any emotional involvement. I never felt their rage or joy and so I was never enraged or joyful. I never felt any emotional contact with the protagonists. It was as though Kurosawa and Mifune were being disected in an operating theatre and I was high above behind glass. I couldn't smell the blood of battle, hear the applause, cry at their deaths. The book was soulless; a compendium that could be used as an overview for further, smaller more intimate writings. Though it seems obvious to connect these two cinema powerhouses, on second thought, it is a failed premise because of the bodies of work by each man exclusive of the other, and dooms the effort.

Warning: Not a Biography.......2004-07-11

I read the warnings about this book, but I am such a film buff, Kurosawa fan, Mifune fan and all-around nerd, that I did not heed them. First thing, this book is not a biography of Mifune or Kurosawa. It should be retitled and repackaged as the "Films of Kurosawa and Mifune". This is really a filmography with extensive plot summations and notes on production. The author includes his opinion of each movie, as if I care what his opinion is. There is very little information about either of these greats. The excuse is that the war destroyed most of the documents pertaining to their early years. That does not explain the lack later on of any information about either of them. For instance, the author writes that scandal plagued Mifune in his later years, but does not go into any more detail than to mention that he had a mistress. I was very disappointed in this book and do not feel as if I learned one thing about Kurosawa or the great Toshiro Mifune.

Its all about films...........2004-02-12

I think many reviewers didn't read the subtitle of the book, "Lives and Films of....." I don't think this book was meant to be a complete kiss and tell biography of Kurosawa and Mifune, this is a book which chronicled their cooperative efforts together in making films that became great classics and their relationship with and against each other. This is a book on relationship between two giants of the Japanese film industry. It was not meant to be a total biography as so many reviewers seem to have wanted.

The book gives very good background material to both men but its always about the relationship between the two. After both men split up after Red Beard, the author took pains to how see each one of them dealt with their careers afterward. Kurosawa continued to have success while Mifune drifted into period films, TV shows and his achievements suffered greatly. The book also gives a great understanding on how Japanese film industry worked, how it declined and basically how it fell apart in the face of Hollywood. Even the author expressed mixed surprised how waves of American films in a foreign nation like Japan, completely converted the Japanese audience into their own as they abandoned their own film industries into Third World status.

I thought the book was well written, well researched and explained the relationship and the films made by both Kurosawa and Mifune. But for anyone looking for a true biography, look some place else, for film historians like myself, this book is a must read.

Terrible as Biography.......2004-01-30

This book was quite disappointing. Most of my criticisms have already been mentioned by other reviewers, but I must emphasize that this book gives almost no sense of Kurosawa or Mifune as individuals and very, very little insight into their relationship. I was truly amazed that such a long book could fail to provide any nuanced sense of the personalities it is supposedly about. The book reads more like an annotated filmography, with endless details about minor actors and plot summaries of Japanese films that American fans will almost certainly never be able to see. I might refer to the book occasionally as a reference, but it is deadly dull reading. Not only is it not a good biography, it provides very little insight about Kurosawa's filmaking. There is some interesting historical stuff about the Japanese film industry, but that's about the only good thing I can think of to say about the book.

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An Honest work
Kurosawa's kite
Something Like A Review
To understand the films, understand the man
An inspiration

Something Like An Autobiography
Akira Kurosawa
Manufacturer: Vintage
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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Kurosawa: Film Studies and Japanese Cinema (Asia-Pacific)

ASIN: 0394714393
Release Date: 1983-05-12

Book Description

Translated by Audie E. Bock.

"A first rate book and a joy to read.... It's doubtful that a complete understanding of the director's artistry can be obtained without reading this book.... Also indispensable for budding directors are the addenda, in which Kurosawa lays out his beliefs on the primacy of a good script, on scriptwriting as an essential tool for directors, on directing actors, on camera placement, and on the value of steeping oneself in literature, from great novels to detective fiction."
--Variety

"For the lover of Kurosawa's movies...this is nothing short of must reading...a fitting companion piece to his many dynamic and absorbing screen entertainments."
--Washington Post Book World

Customer Reviews:

An Honest work.......2007-09-08

Kurosawa illuminates for us his whole life, warts and all. Upon reading this I never knew what a sensitve person this man was, from the time he was an early member of the Japanese Communist Party to his older brother's tragic suicide, Kurosawa leaves no stone unturned in this revealing autobiography. Although it does not cover his whole life (I believe in stops in 1980) he spends a great deal discussing each of his film projects all the way from his early days at the Toho Studios. I am reminded of my favorite quote from Kagemusha, "The shadow of a man can never desert that man. I was my brother's shadow. Now that I have lost him, it is as though I am nothing."

Kurosawa's kite.......2007-07-17

The book got into Kurosawa's mind and laid down the roots of his philosophy in filmmaking. It showed his genesis as a filmmaker. It gave insight into how his films happen. A beautiful work -- I loved it.

Something Like A Review.......2005-10-13

One of the greatest pleasures imaginable is to investigate a body of cinematic work, and then, to learn about its creator from his own persepective on his life and art.

There is tremendous satisfaction in seeing the personality of the director reveal itself in the work and to re-view the films with new knowledge of the creator. This may not be a false track, although auteur theory has a bad rap right now. Kurosawa, in the conclusion of his autobiography said, "look for me in my films".

Kurosawa was a genius, his films full of life and compassion, and strength. He did not look away from ugly truths in his life or art. (Read the autobiography and understand the significance of this approach!)

I recommend this book as the touchstone for a deeper appreciation of the art of Kurosawa, for an understanding of his complex personality, and for the human warmth that comes across in his reminiscences. By the end of the book, you will want more, of course. It will seem to end abruptly and too soon. You will have many questions that you will wish to have answered. But then, we'll take Kuroswa's advice. We'll look for the man in his films.

To understand the films, understand the man.......2005-08-26

Some people have criticized this book, saying Kurosawa does not go deep enough into his films, particularly his later ones, and why he did what he did. In all honesty, maybe the popularity over this book is poorly done - all the reviews on the front and back cover talk about it like Kurosawa will explain his movies in detail, and most often advertisements will talk about how if you like his movies you should read the book. But as Kurosawa himself says in the preface, he did it really out of encouragement from friends and in an effort perhaps to do what Jean Renoir did do and John Ford did not. As the title suggests, it is really a more personal, casual, reflection upon his life from his birth to the filming of "Rashomon," his first international success, in 1950. In a way, the personal route may be a humbling experience to the film guru or the Kurosawa fanatic. Too often directors or filmmakers are treated - as many artists are, in fact - more like a synopsis of their latest work. We constantly hear about how masterful Stanley Kubrick was and what his methods were, but who was he really? What school did he go to? Who were his friends? His teachers? What was his family like? What were his boyhood passions? Who is this man behind the camera?

Kurosawa tells us that in his story from his first memories as a child ("I was in a washtub naked," page 3) through his school years and through a tough young adulthood. It is all very well written, and actually quite interesting, particularly the segments on Mr. Tachikawa, who we can probably thank for Kurosawa's love of painting, his brother forcing him to face his fears, (not only of water, but of death as well) and two daring but stupid moments in a mountain village where he almost killed himself to impress the local children.

Kurosawa's growth is nearly coincidental with Japanese history. Just as Japan was constantly changing through out the 20th century, so to was Kurosawa. Forced to participate in a military program at his school, he takes every opportunity to belittle or make a fool of his army captain. His venture into art is like an odd adventure, going from joining a socialist art movement (nearly being captured by the Japanese secret police!) to living on his own to writing scripts and eventually joining Photo Chemical Laboratory. (later Toho Studios) He discusses marrying an actress because he was afraid of never being married before the "Honorable Death of the Hundred Million" many Japanese believed they would commit if invasion seemed immenant. This eventually goes on to his work as an Assistant Director, and later making his very own films through Toho and later Daiei after the Toho Studio strikes. These parts will be more to the liking of the film guru, as Kurosawa does give backstory to the inspirations behind his early work.

During this time period he speaks a lot of his family and the friends he got to know. His brother is such a remarkable and likeable character that when he commits suicide you really do feel sad. I took a particular love for Kurosawa's father: although some may see him as a bit harsh when he berates his wife for placing fish wrong or getting upset with his son for failing courses, one shouldn't dismiss him with the simple western stereotype of the tough father for he does have a heart. When Kurosawa's wife becomes pregnant and he pays a visit to his family, his father gives him a large bag of rice and says it is for his pregnant wife, not wanting her to go hungry in a time when food was scarce in Japan.

Perhaps, in the end, it is really fitting that Kurosawa focus so much on his personal feelings rather than his film. If you have watched his films and studied them, you will see the influences from his past life in those very films. "Something Like an Autobiography" was written long before Kurosawa made "Dreams," yet I found myself recalling the film reading this book. Besides his references to mountain climbing, he also talks about how in his father's village children would place flowers over a rock, and he learned that long ago a warrior had been killed and the villagers buried him there out of pity and placed the rock over his grave, so now children place flowers on it whenever they pass out of respect. Sound familiar? I also smiled at the section near the end when he discusses a Daiei studio executive - one who had been so steadfastly against making "Rashomon" - coming on TV and speaking for the film as if he was the mastermind behind it. I was thinking of the Deputy Mayor in "Ikiru," who is against the park project from the beginning yet after Watanabe's death takes all the credit. Maybe Kurosawa alludes to this kind of art reflecting life on page 163 when he mentions the oddly impeccable timing of "The Cuckoo Waltz" while dubbing "Drunken Angel."

This is a recommended read for any one interested in film or Akira Kurosawa's life - it is easy to read, full of wisdom, and is very frank and personal. As I said, it's not a 198 page thesis on his films, but as Kurosawa says in the book he does not enjoy explaining his films - he puts into his films what he has to say and leaves it at that. As the last line of the book says, "There is nothing that says more about its creator than the work itself."

An inspiration.......2005-06-03

Kurosawa's insistence on the need for a good script in his films is inspiring to future script writers. I have not written any of these yet his book makes me want to write scripts when I am more of a travel writer. If you want insight into why this man made the beautiful and provocative films that he did, this is the book for you.

Involuntary Vision: After Akira Kurosawa's Dreams

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Involuntary Vision: After Akira Kurosawa's Dreams

Manufacturer: Avenue B
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Anthologies | Poetry | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books

General | Poetry | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books

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ASIN: 0939691124

Book Description

An anthology of new writing that is both poetry and film studies by 11 "New Brutalist" poets, written in response to Akira Kurosawa's 1990 film Dreams. Edited with an Introduction by Michael Cross, who writes "To a certain extent, these poems are examples of our most popular contemporary art form — the remix; they rework and distill Kurosawa's originals so that certain elements are amplified, while others distort. And while these poets are painfully aware of the terrible in Kurosawa, they choose the monstrous, that irrepressible fact of our social condition.

Waiting on the Weather: Making Movies With Akira Kurosawa

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Absolutely essential reading for Kurosawa fans
Arigato Nogami Donno!

Waiting on the Weather: Making Movies With Akira Kurosawa
Teruyo Nogami
Manufacturer: Stone Bridge Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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The Warrior's Camera

ASIN: 1933330090

Book Description

Teruyo Nogami was a relative newcomer to film production when hired as a continuity/script assistant on Akira Kurosawa's Rashomon. A witness to its filming-and its near destruction in a fire-over the next fifty years she worked on all the master's films- Ikiru, Seven Samurai, Kagemusha, and Dreams. No one was more closely involved in Kurosawa's productions, and in this memoir, charmingly illustrated with her own sketches, Nogami writes candidly about the director's energy, creativity, and his famous rages, telling the inside story on how so many classics of world cinema were made.

"Teruyo Nogami was Akira Kurosawa's script supervisor throughout his career, more importantly she was his loyal assistant and supporter during both the good and bad moments of his life. She is an extraordinary woman and these memories are a path to understanding the temperament and genius of one of the few...geniuses of cinematic history. It's not uncommon for a film director to have made one or two great films, but Kurosawa was able to create many masterpieces in many styles, set in both modern and classic times. So the opportunity to know this artist through the lucid eyes of a long-time collaborator is a privilege and an opportunity. Nogami-san's salty personality is perfect to show his many sides, not always flattering, which is essential in grasping him. This book is a treasury of stories and a key to the great body of cinematic work of Akira Kurosawa." -- Francis Ford Coppola

"If you're interested in movies, then you're interested in the work of Akira Kurosawa. Teruyo Nogami was by Kurosawa's side for almost 50 years, as he quietly (and sometimes, not so quietly) revolutionized the verygrammar of cinema. This is a wonderfully intimate and beautifully written portrait of one of the greatest filmmakers who ever lived, which makes it essential reading." -- Martin Scorsese

Customer Reviews:

Absolutely essential reading for Kurosawa fans.......2007-06-13

My Kurosawa library is pretty full. Heavy, academic tomes like Stephen Prince's "The Warrior's Camera" and informative and personal showcases like Donald Richie's "The Films of Akira Kurosawa" can do a lot to deepen one's appreciation for the master filmmaker. Only "Waiting for the Weather" can make you smile, make you feel like you are sitting right there, caught up in the whirlwind of genius holding on for dear life and enjoying every minute of the ride.

Teruyo Nogami is a familiar face to most Kurosawa fans, having appeared in the 2001 documentary "Kurosawa" as well as lending her insights to the various Criterion Collection releases of Kurosawa's films. I can't picture her as anything else than a pleasantly smiling elderly woman, little realizing the will-power and strength that must have been necessary to serve as an assistant for the fierce personality of Kurosawa for so many years. Nor did I realize that she helped raise Juzo Itami, one of the greatest of Japan's modern filmmakers, best known for his comedy "Tampopo".

In "Waiting for the Weather", Nogomi, or Non-chan, as Kurosawa called her, waxes nostalgic about all the trials, tribulations, exaltations and boring down-times that went into creating some of the greatest moments ever caught on film. Her entry into the film world came through correspondence with Mansaku Itami, a famous director in his time although now somewhat forgotten, and then continued organically until her being hired on for an experimental new film called "Rashomon", which would change her life forever. From then on, she was a constant presence on Kurosawa's set, staying with him even during the dark times of "Dersu Uzala" and all the way until his final film "Madadayo" and his death. She was never a great mover or shaker, just someone who helped get things done, and was an essential piece of the Kurosawa machine.

There are so many scenes and memories in this book that put a human face on Kurosawa, and that are so pleasantly described, that it would be impossible to pick out a favorite. Imagine Kurosawa and his team taking a break from intense work of filming "Rashomon" to climb nearby Mt. Wakakusa and engage in some impromptu late-night dancing and stripping down to their underwear. Imagine sharing a laugh when the cages holding the crows for the climatic scene in "Dreams" were thrown open, and the black birds just sort of wandered around instead of taking off dramatically. This is the kind of nostalgia that Non-chan shares, and every word paints a vivid picture of affection and love for the human being behind the legend.

Arigato Nogami Donno!.......2007-01-21

What do you do when you stand next to greatness? And? You are possessed of an unassuming wit and courage, strength, loyalty and passion? Why you wait until the Master is gone and then write your memoirs to share with the world and you get the single greatest Western observor of your nation to write the introduction, thats what you do, then you get a super cool Canadian to get a wonderful small press in California to publish it in English for you!

That is what No-Chan, as The Sensei always called her, has done and anyone who loves film and or Japan must be deeply grateful to her and the peerless Donald Richie for bringing her recolections of Kurosawa to us in an excellent translation. Run, do not walk, to purchase this warm, honest, intelligent, funny and sad volume!

Kurosawa: Film Studies and Japanese Cinema (Asia-Pacific)

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Japanese Cinema at its best
quite a low-leveled discussion on famous kurosawa
Japanese Cinema in Search of a Discipline
Much more than a study on Kurosawa
A 'vade mecum' for Kurosawa film studies and Japan as such

Kurosawa: Film Studies and Japanese Cinema (Asia-Pacific)
Mitsuhiro Yoshimoto , and Mitsuhiro Yoshimoto
Manufacturer: Duke University Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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The Films of Akira Kurosawa, Third Edition, Expanded and Updated
Something Like An Autobiography
Akira Kurosawa and Intertextual Cinema
A Hundred Years of Japanese Film: A Concise History, with a Selective Guide to DVDs and Videos

ASIN: 0822325195

Book Description

The films of Akira Kurosawa have had an immense effect on the way the Japanese have viewed themselves as a nation and on the way the West has viewed Japan. In this comprehensive and theoretically informed study of the influential director’s cinema, Mitsuhiro Yoshimoto definitively analyzes Kurosawa’s entire body of work, from 1943’s Sanshiro Sugata to 1993’s Madadayo. In scrutinizing this oeuvre, Yoshimoto shifts the ground upon which the scholarship on Japanese cinema has been built and questions its dominant interpretive frameworks and critical assumptions.
Arguing that Kurosawa’s films arouse anxiety in Japanese and Western critics because the films problematize Japan’s self-image and the West’s image of Japan, Yoshimoto challenges widely circulating clichés about the films and shows how these works constitute narrative answers to sociocultural contradictions and institutional dilemmas. While fully acknowledging the achievement of Kurosawa as a filmmaker, Yoshimoto uses the director’s work to reflect on and rethink a variety of larger issues, from Japanese film history, modern Japanese history, and cultural production to national identity and the global circulation of cultural capital. He examines how Japanese cinema has been “invented” in the discipline of film studies for specific ideological purposes and analyzes Kurosawa’s role in that process of invention. Demonstrating the richness of both this director’s work and Japanese cinema in general, Yoshimoto’s nuanced study illuminates an array of thematic and stylistic aspects of the films in addition to their social and historical contexts.
Beyond aficionados of Kurosawa and Japanese film, this book will interest those engaged with cultural studies, postcolonial studies, cultural globalization, film studies, Asian studies, and the formation of academic disciplines.

Customer Reviews:

Japanese Cinema at its best.......2007-08-23

Kurosawa is the master of the Japanese Cinema and this book is a perfect accompaniment to his films. You will not be disappointed!

quite a low-leveled discussion on famous kurosawa.......2007-05-12

I am a Japanese Kurosawa fan. This book is full of already-known knowledges, and fatally lacks detailed analyses of Kurosawa films. The book is full of quotations from the contemporry Japanese banal film reviews, which are not worthy of quoating. Yoshimoto, the author of the book, cannot make original discussions on Kurosawa. He does anything but persuasive discussions. To the Japanese readers, the book is boring to death, full of banal opinions. Yoshimoto has no status to call himself a film scholar. If he reads this book by any chance, Kurosawa must weep in the heaven. Duke University Press should not have published the book, if it wants to be an aclaimed publisher.

Japanese Cinema in Search of a Discipline.......2006-09-28

Sometimes a marginal position in a faculty department or a personal discomfort with established disciplines can provide an impregnable view on the academic world. The tools that academics use for cognition and recognition--assigning people a place in the academic field, distinguishing between major and minor subjects, establishing traditions and ruptures in a particular area of inquiry--are turned inwards and become revealers of one's own position. By understanding his or her own social conditions of production and the position he or she occupies in society, the scholar is able to expose the whole social space that players fully caught in the game can only partially reveal. This act of reflexive lucidity is often perceived as an unforgivable aggression by insiders, who confuse analysis with denunciation, precision with envy, and realism with cynicism. Pierre Bourdieu, who applied this kind of reflexive sociology to the French academic world, was thus the object of constant criticism.

Although he doesn't quote Bourdieu, Matsuhiro Yoshimoto applies a similar methodology to the field of Japanese film studies. By putting Japanese cinema in search of a discipline, he not only reveals the limitations of film studies as an academic discipline, but also the difficulty in aligning a study of a Japanese filmmaker with other intellectual pursuits in the humanities, such as literary criticism, Japanese scholarship, area studies, comparative literature, post-structuralist theory or the new, post-disciplinary discourse of cultural studies.

As noted in his introductory chapter, Japanese cinema played a significant role in the establishment of film studies as a discrete discipline and in the legitimation of cinema as an object of serious academic research. Yet the history of American scholarship on Japanese cinema also reveals the impasse in which the discipline has fallen. From the cult of the auteur that started with Rashomon's Kurosawa to the theoretical turn of post-marxist or structuralist scholarship and the identity politics of cross-cultural studies, Yoshimoto documents the analytical flaws and methodological shortcomings in scholarly discourse on Japanses cinema (and as he wrily notes, "dropping theorists' names [Derrida, Lyotard, Lacan, Barthes] or their key terms [differend, meconnaissance, punctum, grand recit] does not make an analysis of Japanese cinema automatically theoretical.")

If film studies and their mechanical application of what passes as theory in humanities departments have exhausted their critical vein to the point of being "totally repetitive and uninteresting", then can one anchor the study of Japanese cinema in another supporting discipine? Unfortunately, none is in a position to offer much to the kind of film criticism that the author has in mind. For Yoshimoto, Japanese studies suffer from the original sin of their contribution to the wartime effort and the postwar attempt to "modernize" Japan. Besides, because film cannot be either "translated" or "annotated," traditionnally trained literary scholars do not know what to do with Japanese cinema. Movie critics who see in Japanese movies a reflexion of abstract values and Japaneseness are not of much help either. Comparative literature seems at first a more welcoming discipline, but failed to develop a strong body of research methods and results and recently suffered from the onslaught of cultural studies. Indeed, it is under this last label, conceived as post-disciplinary practice or "a tactical intervention in the structures and practices of the established disciplines", that Yoshimoto decides to record his study of Kurosawa movies.

This introductory chapter on Japanese Cinema in Search of a Discipline is itself worth acquiring the book. But the remainder is even more fascinating: after having cleared the space from unwanted cliches and cumbersome interpretations, Yoshimoto then attempts to build his own strand of film studies through a fine-grained and detailed analysis of each and every movie directed by Akira Kurosawa. Each chapter, of variable length, provides a unique perspective to Kurosawa's movies. The book will prove a valuable read not only to film studies scholars, but also to every Kurosawa fan who will discover more reasons to revere their favorite director.

Much more than a study on Kurosawa.......2006-03-23

Although the book covers every film of Kurosawa's career, this is not a work of 'auteur' criticism. In fact, Yoshimoto addresses the very shortcomings of such an approach in the introduction of his text. As suggested by the book's secondary title, the work tackles something much more broad in scope and does so more critically than any other work related to the films of Kurosawa.

First and foremost, what sets this work apart from most studies of either Kurosawa or more generally Japanese cinema (that are published in English) is Yoshimoto's close and careful attention to history. Not only does he 'historicize' both Kurosawa-as-author and his catalogue of films but he also does the same to the recent tradition of criticism on Japanese cinema that has become so popular in Western academia. He convincingly critiques the previous work of Donald Richie, Noel Burch, Stephen Prince (and more briefly David Desser and James Goodwin), and his analysis of Western criticism on Japan as falling into 3 phases (humanist - formalist/marxist - 'cross-cultural') is most helpful.

When I suggest that he 'historicizes' these three methods of critique, I mean he demonstrates how these approaches perhaps worked not to better illuminate the objects 'Kurosawa' and 'Japanese cinema' but to 'naturalize' or legitimate other historical developments 'outside' the intended object of scrutiny. For instance, Yoshimoto argues that humanist and auteur forms of criticism (that were popular in the 1960s) when applied to Kurosawa's films did less to interpret the films-themselves and instead worked to legitimate the contemporaneous formation of 'film studies' as a proper field of scholarship. He goes on to critique the other phases of critical approach in a similar fashion.

Yoshimoto also performs historical critiques of other interpretive frameworks that are often assumed to make sense of Japanese film production. He puts into question the category 'samurai film' as assumed by critics like David Desser by demonstrating its 'orientalist' function in recent 'cross-cultural' discourse. He challenges careless appeals to 'zen' that do less to make sense of films and more to 'essentialize' certain contingent aspects of Japanese culture. Also, he reads the typical grouping of Japanese film into two genres, 'jidaigeki' and 'gendaigeki', in the context of current historical struggles by showing this division to function as a kind of effacement of certain contradictions and invasions that took place in recent global events. These are only some of the enlightening points made throughout this book - mainly the ones that really stuck with me.

As stated before, this book is more than an investigation of Kurosawa - this is a convincing challenge to the practice of 'Japanese film studies' as a discipline. However, in relation to Kurosawa, the highlites (in my opinion) are his readings of 'Stray Dog', 'Seven Samurai', 'Throne of Blood', and 'High and Low'. Personally, I wish there was more on both 'Rashomon' and 'Yojimbo' - but that, in no way, alters my high opinion of this work. By far, this is the best work on Japanese film I have ever read. His writing is clear - his arguments are convincing, and his ideas are original. This is a 5 star work of scholarship.

Also, I recommend reading his article "The Difficulty of Being Radical: The Discipline of Film Studies and the Postcolonial World Order" in 'boundary 2' (Autumn 1991).

A 'vade mecum' for Kurosawa film studies and Japan as such.......2004-02-01

You can turn to the chapter in this sweeping tome of a book on Kurosawa's body of work, focusing on the magnificently situated national/transnational film "High and Low" ([1962] 'heaven and hell,' class warfare within the corporatizing Japan of the postwar city); and read this chapter along with the film's narrative and carefully articulated cinematics of gaze, city, body, and spatial formation. Splendid, wry, compelling, Kurosawa studies are made new by this book, but more importantly postmodern and postwar Japan as such is made to register a whole range of globa/ local/nation-state re-structurations in the (existentially moralized) samurai-struggles and self-other obligated warfares of capital. "National Shoes" beats Andy Warhol's pink glitter versions of the post-Van Gogh-artisinal plight...

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The Filmmaker/Critic's bible.
Initially promising but ultimately disappointing
Excellent study of a master filmmaker
One of the best Books On Kurosawa!

The Warrior's Camera
Stephen Prince
Manufacturer: Princeton University Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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Similar Items:

The Films of Akira Kurosawa, Third Edition, Expanded and Updated
Something Like An Autobiography
Kurosawa: Film Studies and Japanese Cinema (Asia-Pacific)
A Hundred Years of Japanese Film: A Concise History, with a Selective Guide to DVDs and Videos
Waiting on the Weather: Making Movies With Akira Kurosawa

ASIN: 0691010463

Book Description

The Japanese film director Akira Kurosawa, who died at the age of 88, has been internationally acclaimed as a giant of world cinema. Rashomon, which won both the Venice Film Festival's grand prize and an Academy Award for best foreign-language film, helped ignite Western interest in the Japanese cinema. Seven Samurai and Yojimbo remain enormously popular both in Japan and abroad. In this newly revised and expanded edition of his study of Kurosawa's films, Stephen Prince provides two new chapters that examine Kurosawa's remaining films, placing him in the context of cinema history. Prince also discusses how Kurosawa furnished a template for some well-known Hollywood directors, including Martin Scorsese, Steven Spielberg, and George Lucas.

Providing a new and comprehensive look at this master filmmaker, The Warrior's Camera probes the complex visual structure of Kurosawa's work. The book shows how Kurosawa attempted to symbolize on film a course of national development for post-war Japan, and it traces the ways that he tied his social visions to a dynamic system of visual and narrative forms. The author analyzes Kurosawa's entire career and places the films in context by drawing on the director's autobiography--a fascinating work that presents Kurosawa as a Kurosawa character and the story of his life as the kind of spiritual odyssey witnessed so often in his films. After examining the development of Kurosawa's visual style in his early work, The Warrior's Camera explains how he used this style in subsequent films to forge a politically committed model of filmmaking. It then demonstrates how the collapse of Kurosawa's efforts to participate as a filmmaker in the tasks of social reconstruction led to the very different cinematic style evident in his most recent films, works of pessimism that view the world as resistant to change.

Customer Reviews:

ok.......2007-09-30

This product was in really good conditions almost new, it just didnt arrive as i expected because of the address was written wrong apparently by the postoffice. Anyways sender was very helpful in tracking the package and eventually got it. Thanks

The Filmmaker/Critic's bible........2007-01-29

This is one of my favorite books on film in existance. Stephen Prince gives a beautiful analysis of Kurosawa's entire career. The way he goes into detail about each film and the meta-textual/contextual support he gives to one of cinema's greatest directors is fantastic. His writings on Yojimbo were definately the high point of the book for me (it only further cemented it as my favorite Kurosawa film).

I wish more film scholars produced such cultural and over arching comparatives as Prince presents here.

Initially promising but ultimately disappointing.......2006-03-25

Contrary to the last reviewer, this is not, in some exclusive sense, a book "designed for film majors to study," and if one is interested, you'll do fine without any previous study of Dostoevsky, Eisenstein, or Bertolt Brecht. Some previous knowledge helps for sure - but don't let such elevated requirements discourage you from exploring Prince's work of Kurosawa scholarship. I am not a "film major"; I have read few works of Dostoevsky; I have seen only 2 Eisenstein films and read only fragments of his writings. I know more about Brecht than the other two figures, but with this said, I still gained much insight and understanding from Prince's arguments and observations. If you're still worried about it, don't hesitate to put to use one of the greatest research inventions ever: the internet.

Now on to my review: This book begins with much promise but ultimately ends in disappointment. Prince begins by stressing the importance of historically-based analysis. He suggests that one understand Kurosawa's films as "address[ing] the Japan shattered by World War II and [as helping] reshape society." (8) This is a most interesting, preliminary claim that initially promises certain fascinating paths of reading. Also, Prince begins by criticizing 'auteurism' and naive assumptions of 'authorship'. He notes that the formation of 'film studies' as an academic field imposed a "major code" that reduced all Kurosawa films to "the ideal of humanism". Now this is also promising - finally, a comprehensive work on Kurosawa, other than that of Donald Richie, that gets beyond 'auteurism'.

Unfortunately, Prince's book does not live up to these introductory assertions. First, Prince continually makes use of terms like "Zen Buddhism", "heroic ideal", "warrior ideal", instead of terms like "humanist universalism" as if they were more accurate interpretive concepts for understanding Kurosawa's films (see pp. 10, 11, 28, 30, 115). However, he never 'historicizes' these very concepts but treats them as somewhat static and a-historical. I don't think that one would find it completely convincing or that interesting if some critic put to use concepts like "Christian providence" or "protestant individualism" for the purposes of deciphering the work of Orsen Welles without demonstrating first the historic intricacies of such empty concepts and second their specific, contextual relevance to a given Welles' film-text. Thus, it must be asked: why make use of analogous empty signifiers of Japanese history and culture so carelessly in relation to Kurosawa's films? Ultimately, Prince's interpretive framework remains less than convincing , for his initial imperative to read "against the grain of history" is violated repeatedly throughout the book.

Also, it is disappointing that right after Prince criticizes the usual appeal to authorship or auteurism he categorically states, "Kurosawa's films form a series of inquiries on the place and the possibilities of the autonomous self within a culture whose social relations stress group ties and obligations." (27) From this Prince establishes his own master code for interpreting the totality of Kurosawa's work based upon the supposed `intentions' of Kurosawa-as-author. It is a code that reads Kurosawa's films as being primarily about the negotiation of the ego in the modern world. Prince continues, throughout the work, to make sense of the rich diversity of films in terms of this restricted framework. He writes, "Kurosawa's world is an arena where his characters must be tested , where they must be victorious in their goals or must be broken and defeated." (116) Later, he reduces the entire complexity of Kurosawa films into a `meta-narrative' that is "...the passage from willed optimism of the early films to the ethic of resignation and despair that pervades the late works..." (154) The meaning that Prince detects in these films is not wrong per say but way too limited and reductive. There is a vast complexity of meaning and significance in Kurosawa's diverse catalogue of films, and some of it is in direct contradiction to Prince's `auteurist' thesis. I cannot say that I was satisfied with Prince's analysis for these reasons. However, if one is sympathetic to auteur forms of criticism, then this book may be for you. Just remember what Foucault says in `What is an Author?': "the author serves to neutralize the contradictions that are found in a series of texts." Personally, I think the "contradictions" that one might locate in a series of texts serve as the sites of most interest in any interpretive investigation; thus, they should not be effaced by way of some reductive narrative of authorship.

I give this book 3 instead of say 2 stars because it is quite an extensive project providing a vast amount of helpful information, and the analyses of certain films is thorough and somewhat technical. It just had so much potential to be better. Read this alongside Mitsuhiro Yoshimoto's book.

Excellent study of a master filmmaker.......2002-04-03

"The Warrior's Camera" is not a casual book for fans of "Yojimbo" and "The Seven Samurai." It is a dense, scholarly tome designed for film majors to study. The book takes for granted that you are familiar with the films of Eisenstein, the books of Dostoyevsky and the plays of Bertold Brecht, as well as the personal philosophies of each of these Kurosawa influences.

This is also not a biography, and none of Kurosawa's personal life is put on display. Films are dissected shot by shot in tight detail.

However, if you are prepared, "The Warrior's Camera" lends tremendous insight into a fascinating director. Each chapter focuses on philosophical themes central to Kurosawa's work, and dives into the films that most represent these personal philosophies. The strength of the individual, and the ability for personal choice, is outlined by "Drunken Angels," "No Regrets for Our Youth" and "Stray Dog." Strength of will is shown in "Ikiru" and "Red Beard." As this is a scholarly work, each chapter presents an argument and then presents evidence to support the argument.

I have come away from this book with a much deeper understanding of Kurosawa and what he was trying to accomplish with his films. Highly recommended, but be prepared to work for your knowledge.

One of the best Books On Kurosawa!.......2001-01-28

The Warrior's Camera is a really intelligently written book with very important information about the groundbreaking director. The book is worth buying just for the Legacy section of the book, which is a wonderfully written section about Kurosawa's legacy. This section also has some great quotes from other film directors, such as Steven Spieldberg and George Lucas, and prominent film critics. The book also has some great info on his style and the way to view a Kurosawa film. If you are writing a report on Kurosawa or if you are just a big fan, make sure that you pick up this book along with his biography.

The Seven Samurai: And Other Screenplays (Classic Screenplay Series)

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Akira Kurosawa is the most important Asian filmmaker.

The Seven Samurai: And Other Screenplays (Classic Screenplay Series)
Akira Kurosawa
Manufacturer: Faber & Faber
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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Something Like An Autobiography
The Warrior's Camera
The Films of Akira Kurosawa, Third Edition, Expanded and Updated
GOOD WILL HUNTING: A SCREENPLAY
Seven Samurai - Criterion Collection - 3-Disc Remastered Edition

ASIN: 057116224X

Book Description

These three screenplays are based on Kurosawa's shooting scripts.

Ikiru (1952) tells the painful and intimate story of a Japanese civil servant coming to terms with old age and death. In Seven Samurai (1954) the inhabitants of a small Janpanese village employ a roaming band of samurai to defend them. In Throne of Blood (1957), based on Macbeth, a samurai is encouraged by his wife to kill his lord.

This edition also includes a critical introduction to each screenplay.

Customer Reviews:

Akira Kurosawa is the most important Asian filmmaker........2002-02-08

Not only because he is a great director, but because he knows Asian literature. In Seven Samurai, Kurosawa quotes from an important book: Water Margin. Water Margin has influenced Asian thinking throughout the centuries. As a matter of fact, there is a part where a teacher organizes seven volunteers. Obviously, an influence on Seven Samurai. Take it from Kurosawa, who knows his stuff.

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What an experience!
Memorable, important cinema
Now I see why my friends love this so much.
The only time I've ever upgraded a DVD was with this Criterion edition...
Ran

Ran
Akira Kurosawa
Manufacturer: Shambhala
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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Seven Samurai - Criterion Collection - 3-Disc Remastered Edition
Kagemusha - Criterion Collection
Rashomon - Criterion Collection
Throne of Blood - Criterion Collection
Ugetsu - Criterion Collection

ASIN: 0877733872
Release Date: 1986-09-12

Customer Reviews:

What an experience!.......2007-10-01

(This review is for the Masterworks edition.)

This is the type of film that's so intense and powerful that afterwards the viewer may feel like s/he needs to unwind emotionally, to recover and come down from such a powerhouse of a cinematic experience. It's also the type of film that just gets better and better with each new viewing, as the viewer becomes more and more familiar with the story and characters and keeps picking up on new things s/he might not have paid much attention to before. And though the film is over two and a half hours long, it's one of those films where the time goes by like that, not a dull or wasted moment. Even those who haven't read 'King Lear' can enjoy the story and get into it, though familiarity with the play does help a bit in one's understanding of some of the basics. Shakespeare really was a writer for all time, with his play able to be adopted so well hundreds of years later in an entirely different culture and milieu, the story of the old king and his three children just as compelling and relevant when it's transformed into a tale of feudal Japan. And while there are some things which are left out, most of the story stays pretty faithful to the original. One of the slight changes I loved was how the character of the Fool was a much more important character; when I first studied the play as a highschool senior, my entire class and even the teacher really liked that character and didn't understand why he just disappears so suddenly before the play is even over. I can't think of a single flaw in this film; the pacing is great, the color and cinematography are beautiful, there are so many great characters, everyone's acting is great, the music is very powerful (particularly during the scene of the battle at the Third Castle midway through, when there's no sound except for the music), and the themes are ones for all time, just as relevant today as they were in feudal Japan or when the film was made. Overall, it's the type of film one can't really appreciate the greatness of for oneself until one actually sees it. Hearing a lot of words of praise just can't hold a candle to having that experience for oneself.

The extras are trailers, weblinks, a demo of the restoration used (the difference between the color on this version and the earlier one is stunning), a filmography, production notes, and audio commentaries. Of the commentaries, my favorite was the one by Stephen Price, which added a lot to the viewing of the film. The second one, by Peter Grilli, has its moments, but is more about the making of the film and Kurosawa's personality than the actual story itself, in contrast to the other commentary. There are also way too many long, long, long pauses in this commentary, so it doesn't add as much to one's understanding and appreciation of the film. Since I don't really understand or deeply care about the differences between certain types of aspect ratios, I can't really comment on the version used for this transfer, but it does sound like the print used on the newer Criterion edition is even more beautiful than this one. The extras on that version also sound far superior to the extras on the Masterworks edition, so it seems like the Criterion DVD is the only one to get for those who love this film and want it to get the deluxe treatment it deserves.

Memorable, important cinema.......2007-09-14

"Ran" is long, like a number of Kurosawa's great films, but its imagery is beautiful, majestic, and stunning -- also harrowing. Of course, this is Kurosawa's "King Lear," but the Japanese twist is both intelligent and elegantly delivered. It's a little like Stravinsky's neo-classic works -- the references to Shakespeare are sometimes sardonic or ironic, usually meaningfully reverent, and never stoop to parody. The result is an imaginative reinterpretation that crosses cultures.

A+ direction and acting, and do notice the film score!

Now I see why my friends love this so much........2007-08-13

"Ran" is the first film I've watched by Akira Kurosawa. Now I'm a huge fan of his work thanks to my Amazonian friends who had already seen it. When a legend like Kurosawa, does a King Lear adaptation at the tender age of 75, one would expect a small-scale film concentrating on the human elements of the story. That he produced an epic of such proportions makes a further evaluation of the great man's contribution to cinema necessary.

"Ran" is set in medieval Japan and follows the basic King Lear narrative closely. Lord Hidetora is an aging warlord and, wanting a peaceful retirement, decides to divide his kingdom up amongst his three sons. After banishing the youngest, Saburo, for pouring scorn on the idea, Hidetora finds himself an unwanted obstacle to the older two. After repeated humiliations, pride forces Hidetora into vain wanderings on the open plain, his state of mind declining as rapidly as his entourage.

The film sets itself the unenviable task of trying to explain the precarious position man holds within the universe. Man is seen to be elevating himself to such a level that he dreams of challenging the very laws of nature. Hidetora has achieved his status through deception, callousness and violence; his notion to wash away the blood he has spilt in happy retirement is scornfully thrown back by the elements. The speed and manner in which he is forced to lie in the bed he has made for himself should serve as a warning to all.

The films large set pieces, particularly two quite stunning battle sequences, are staged magnificently, but 'Ran' is no empty epic. The characters and their motivations are fully explored and the tension built up by the dialogue fully compliments the action. With an ending which offers no redemption 'Ran' paints a bleak picture - the colors and brushstrokes it employs however, turn it into a dazzling masterpiece. The battle scenes are some of the best I have seen. One point - the second main battle reminds me of 'Zulu' with the soldiers lined up on the skyline shouting down. The makeup used on Hidetora to mimick the Noh theatre makes this film that much more dramatic.

Don't expect to be uplifted with a standard samurai flick. This is one of the most historic beautiful films I've ever seen. Before you watch this try placing this on big screen with good color registration and good sound because Kurosawa uses as much of the screen as he can.

The only time I've ever upgraded a DVD was with this Criterion edition..........2007-07-11

This is the only DVD in which I've ever "doubled dipped". I had the original Fox Lorber DVD, which was atrocious, even by Fox Lorber's horrible standards. They were issuing DVD's when the DVD format first started out, and nearly 90 percent of their transfers were wretched, like the one for Ran. Luckily, Criterion restored this film (along with Kagemusha) to a proper, 1.85:1 aspect ratio. The older DVD copies had a black bar across the bottom of the screen, but not one on the top (resulting in an awkward transfer), and the subtitles weren't the greatest either. There were no extras (except for a trailer and a very scant filmography). Now, with the Criterion edition, you get a great transfer (this is the first time I've seen the film properly), and you get Chris Marker's great documentary A.K. (on the 2nd disc). Marker's documentary reminds me of Wim Wenders's wonderful Tokyo-Ga, which was made a few years earlier than A.K. (and has a very rare cameo by Marker himself, who is notoriously shy). It's fascinating to see Kurosawa do his magic, and I've always liked older filmmaking documentaries, because they were generally rare in those days, and most of them are done in a very cinematic style (and people don't play for the cameras).

As for the film itself, it's Kurosawa's greatest work (made when he was 75). Kurosawa did make 3 films after this one (Dreams, Rhaspody in August, and Madadayo), and while they're great (especially Dreams and Madadayo), this was really Kurosawa's last great epic film. It's my favorite Kurosawa film and one of my top ten favorites. This is a masterpiece, and the Criterion DVD does it justice.

Ran.......2007-07-09

Kurosawa's late-career triumph is a vibrant, colorful epic, its drama magnified by an awesome visual sweep encompassing both period pageantry and setting. Shakespeare's fundamental themes of loyalty and betrayal play out with full force, thanks to superb performances by both Nakudai (a Kurosawa veteran) and Ryu in the pivotal roles. Another breathtaking achievement from this revered master of cinema.

Perspectives on Akira Kurosawa (Perspectives on Film)

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A Fitting Tribute To A Genius

Perspectives on Akira Kurosawa (Perspectives on Film)

Manufacturer: G. K. Hall & Company
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0816119937

Customer Reviews:

A Fitting Tribute To A Genius.......2000-06-09

The depth and care given to this tribute to Akira KUrosawa is nothing short of breathtaking. The early portion of the book with tributes from Mifune and others is a standing witness to the influence that Kurosawa had. The second half of the book is an interesting incite into his directing process. I definitely recommend this book to any film student or enthusiast alike.

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