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AKIRA KUROSAWA: A GIANT AMONG FILMMAKERS AND AMONG MEN
(continued)
Kurosawa fans will no doubt argue forever about which of his other films should be called masterpieces. Many will say RASHOMON (1950) because it was the film that awoke the world to the power and artistry of Japanese cinema; others admire STRAY DOG (1949) or HIGH AND LOW (1963) for their narrative brilliance in a film noir mode of detective drama; still others claim that the swashbuckling samurai dramas YOJIMBO (1961) and SANJURO (1962) are the finest action pictures ever made. Some film fans consider THRONE OF BLOOD (1957) and RAN (1985) to be the best adaptations of Shakespearean drama for the screen, despite the fact that both films are set in medieval Japan and represent great cultural departures from the world of the English playwright. Still others find in films like THE BAD SLEEP WELL (1960), RED BEARD (1965), and DODES'KA-DEN (1970) a humanism and yearning for social justice that set them apart as classic works of art. Thus, Kurosawa appeals in many ways to many viewers -- but all of them recognize in his work a power and authority matched by few other directors anywhere in the world.
Akira Kurosawa was fortunate in finding a company of actors and technicians
superbly equipped to help him fulfill his vision. The film performances
of Toshiro Mifune, Takashi Shimura, Tatsuya
Nakadai, Isuzu Yamada, and Machiko Kyo -- to name only a few actors
featured in his films -- have established themselves in the eternal
cinema memories of filmgoers all over the world. Similarly, the work
of script writers, cameramen, composers, art directors, costume designers,
and other dedicated artists in Kurosawa's
crew has set standards of excellence rarely matched in other film
industries. A few have names that are known beyond the studios of
Japan, but the dedication of these hundreds of largely unknown film
technicians is another measure of Kurosawa's greatness. Some journalists
may have dubbed him "Tenno" (Emperor), scornful of his imperious authority
on a film set, but those who knew him better recognized his extraordinary
skill -- working as a general in the complex battle that is filmmaking
-- and his genius for eliciting from all his troops work even greater
than they themselves felt capable of producing.
Film directing, according to some, is the toughest art of all. It demands a wisdom, a breadth of vision, and a control over hundreds of subordinates that elude younger artists, and yet it requires the vigor of youth and a stamina and physical energy that few can sustain beyond middle age. Akira Kurosawa, in a career lasting several decades, defied nearly all such conventional wisdom. Films made in his 30s and 40s reveal a maturity and understanding of the human condition far beyond his age. And shortly before his death on September 6, 1998, at the age of 88, he was still writing scripts with a vigor, skill, and inventiveness that would be envied by many screenwriters just beginning their careers.
Top banner photos: A scene from Akira Kurosawa's
RED BEARD (Toshiro Mifune, Yuzo Kayama, and Terumi Niki), and a production still from DRUNKEN ANGEL (Michiyo Kogure and Toshiro Mifune). Photos courtesy of Photofest. |
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Akira Kurosawa during an interview
with the BBC. |
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Lord Jiro (Jinpachi Nezu) leads his
army in RAN. Photo: Studio Canal Image. |
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This program is available on DVD. |
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