Akira Kurosawa
Directing
Born March 23, 1910 in Shinagawa, Tokyo Prefecture, Japan
Akira Kurosawa (黒澤 明) was a Japanese filmmaker and painter who directed thirty films in a career spanning over five decades. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest and most influential filmmakers in the history of cinema. He displayed a bold, dynamic style, strongly influenced by Western cinema yet distinct from it; he was involved with all aspects of film production. Kurosawa entered the Japanese film industry in 1936, following a brief stint as a painter. After years of working on numerous films as an assistant director and scriptwriter, he made his debut as a director during World War II with the popular action film Sanshiro Sugata (1943). After the war, the critically acclaimed Drunken Angel (1948), in which Kurosawa cast the then little-known actor Toshiro Mifune in a starring role, cemented the director's reputation as one of the most important young filmmakers in Japan. The two men would go on to collaborate on another fifteen films. Rashomon (1950), which premiered in Tokyo, became the surprise winner of the Golden Lion at the 1951 Venice Film Festival. The commercial and critical success of that film opened up Western film markets for the first time to the products of the Japanese film industry, which in turn led to international recognition for other Japanese filmmakers. Kurosawa directed approximately one film per year throughout the 1950s and early 1960s, including a number of highly regarded (and often adapted) films, such as Ikiru (1952), Seven Samurai (1954), Throne of Blood (1957), Yojimbo (1961) and High and Low (1963). After the 1960s he became much less prolific; even so, his later work—including two of his final films, Kagemusha (1980) and Ran (1985)—continued to receive great acclaim. In 1990, he accepted the Academy Award for Lifetime Achievement. Posthumously, he was named Asian of the Century in the Arts, Literature, and Culture category by AsianWeek magazine and CNN, cited there as being among the five people who most prominently contributed to the improvement of Asia in the 20th century. His career has been honored by many retrospectives, critical studies and biographies in both print and video, and by releases in many consumer media.
Filmography
Highest 2 Lowest
Searching For Kurosawa
The Draft!
Living
Morceaux de Cannes
Babenco: Tell Me When I Die
Self (archive footage)
The Magnificent Seven
What Is Cinema?
Self
At the Gate of the Ghost
Kurosawa's Way
Self (archive footage)
The Last Princess
Tsubaki Sanjuro
Ikiru
High and Low
Samurai 7
Akira Kurosawa: It Is Wonderful to Create: 'Ran'
Self
Akira Kurosawa: It Is Wonderful to Create: 'Throne of Blood'
Self
Akira Kurosawa: It Is Wonderful to Create: 'The Hidden Fortress'
Self
Akira Kurosawa: It Is Wonderful to Create: 'Kagemusha'
Self
Akira Kurosawa: It Is Wonderful to Create: 'The Lower Depths'
Self
Akira Kurosawa: It Is Wonderful to Create: 'Seven Samurai'
Self
Akira Kurosawa: It Is Wonderful to Create: 'Yojimbo'
Self
Akira Kurosawa: It Is Wonderful to Create: 'Sanjuro'
Self
Akira Kurosawa: It Is Wonderful to Create: 'High and Low'
Self
Akira Kurosawa: It Is Wonderful to Create: 'Dodes'ka-den'
Self
Akira Kurosawa: It Is Wonderful to Create: 'The Bad Sleep Well'
Self
Akira Kurosawa: It Is Wonderful to Create: 'Stray Dog'
Self
Akira Kurosawa: It Is Wonderful to Create: 'Drunken Angel'
Self
Akira Kurosawa: It Is Wonderful to Create: 'Ikiru'
Self
Akira Kurosawa: It Is Wonderful to Create: 'Red Beard'
Self
The Sea Is Watching
Kurosawa
Self
Dora-heita
A Message from Akira Kurosawa: For Beautiful Movies
Self
After the Rain
Ghost Dog: The Way of the Samurai
Kurosawa: The Last Emperor
Last Man Standing
In Love With and Living Within Movies - Akira Kurosawa and Hayao Miyazaki
Self
Madadayo
Akira Kurosawa: My Life in Cinema
Self
Rhapsody in August
Making of 'Dreams'
Self
Dreams
Runaway Train
Ran
A. K.
Self
Making of Ran
Self
Battle Beyond the Stars
Kagemusha
Dersu Uzala
Spécial cinéma
Self
Stray Dog
The Magnificent Seven Ride!
Dodes'ka-den
Song of the Horse
Zatoichi Meets Yojimbo
Guns of the Magnificent Seven
The Last Day of Hsianyang
Return of the Seven
Sanshiro Sugata
Red Beard
The Outrage
A Fistful of Dollars
Jakoman and Tetsu
Legacy of the 500,000
High and Low
The Fencing Master
Sanjuro
Yojimbo
Play of the Week: Rashomon
The Magnificent Seven
The Bad Sleep Well
Saga of the Vagabonds
The Hidden Fortress
Advance Patrol
The Lower Depths
Throne of Blood
I Live in Fear
Tomorrow I'll Be a Fire-Tree
Vanished Enlisted Man
Seven Samurai
My Wonderful Yellow Car
Ikiru
Sword for Hire
The Men Who Tread on the Tiger's Tail
Vendetta of a Samurai
The Den of Beasts
The Idiot
Beyond Love and Hate
Rashomon
Fencing Master
Jiruba no Tetsu
Scandal
Escape at Dawn
Stray Dog
Jakoman and Tetsu
Flirtation in Spring
The Quiet Duel
Lady From Hell
The Portrait
Drunken Angel
Snow Trail
One Wonderful Sunday
Four Love Stories
No Regrets for Our Youth
Those Who Make Tomorrow
Sanshiro Sugata, Part Two
The Admirable Isshin Tasuke!
The Most Beautiful
Wrestling-Ring Festival
World of Love
Sanshiro Sugata
Wings of Victory
Currents of Youth
Horse
The Monkey King
Roppa's Honeymoon
Easy Alley
Enoken’s Shrewd Period
Enoken's Surprising Life
Composition Class
Tojuro's Love
Subterranean Heat
The Beautiful Hawk
Enoken's Chikiri Kinta Part 2 – Returning Is Scary, but the Weather Will Clear If You Wait
Enoken's Chikiri Kinta Part 1 – Momma, the Hat: The Nice Way
Avalanche
Japanese Women's Textbook
A Husband's Chastity: Fall Again
A Husband's Chastity: If Spring Comes & Fall Once Again
A Husband's Chastity: If Spring Comes
Saga of the Vagabonds, Part Two: Forward at Dawn
Saga of the Vagabonds, Part One: Tiger and Wolf
Tokyo Rhapsody
Enoken’s Ten Millions Sequel
Enoken’s Ten Millions
Paradise of the Virgin Flowers