Bob Magaw
Footballguy
There have been a few previous aborted threads, and those seem to have been archived.
I'm going to try and cover his body of work in chronolgical order.
AK 100: 25 Films by Akira Kurosawa - I'll use this as a reference from Criterion's web site, as it is a comprehensive collection (if not complete - he directed approximately 30 films). Partly, because for any title, you can click on it and it leads to a critical essay/synoptic overview.
Three of the arguably biggest ommissions are Ran ('85, like Throne of Blood a Shakespeare "transposition", in this case of King Lear, which was at one time a Criterion stand alone title, but presumably wasn't included due to lapsed rights - his last epic, it was the most expensive Japanese production up to that time, and won an Oscar for Costume Design), Dersu Uzala ('75, Russian/Japanese co-production - first non-Japanese language and only 70 mm film - won an Oscar for best Foreign Language Film) AND Dreams ('90, aka Akira Kurosawa's Dreams - it was the first film for which he was the sole screenwriter, reportedly based on some of the director's recurring dreams and made possible with the help of long time admirers and fans, George Lucas [[star Wars heavily influenced by Hidden Fortress]], Francis Ford Coppola and Steven Spielberg). I'll try to cover them as well, at the appropriate time.
http://www.criterion.com/boxsets/678-ak-100-25-films-by-akira-kurosawa?q=autocomplete
Eclipse Series 23: The First Films of Akira Kurosawa By Stephen Prince. Many of the titles above have individual essays. This covers his first four - Sanshiro Sugata ('43, a martial arts film, though not samurai), The Most Beautiful ('44, a propaganda film in which he met his wife), Sanshiro Sugata, Part Two ('45, a sequel forced on him by the studio, I think the only one he ever did before Sanjuro to Yojimbo, and one he was far less enthusiastic about) and The Men Who Tread on the Tiger's Trail (also '45, appealed to the studio as a no-budget film staged like a play, plot has similarities to the later Hidden Fortress). These were rarely seen in the US prior to the above set and this sub-set. These were NOT juvenalia works, like Kubrick, and maybe even more so, his earliest work, if not quite fully formed (as he developed and grew as an artist for most of his career), had recognizeable elements of his later, mature mastery. Kurosawa was the product of a forward looking Japanese studio apprentice system (unlike the US), in which promising, budding directorial candidates basically worked in virtually every department as they moved up through the ranks, first as script writers, production designers, sound, editing, assistant cinematographers, second unit directors, before becoming actual directors.
These were made near or during the end of the war, and as with other movies immediately after this, Kurosawa had to navigate Japanese and/or American censorship during the production. This became increasingly less of an issue as he hit his mature peak from the '50s to mid-'60s, during the post-war economic boom. The above said (about juvenalia), I've seen everything but The Most Beautiful among these four films, and while there is some noteworthy work here, I personally found he hit his stride after his first half dozen films, with the noirs Drunken Angel and Stray Dog. They both featured the two greatest actors most closely associated with him, Takashi Shimura and Toshiro Mifune (Kurosawa/Mifune has been called the greatest director/actor pairing in cinematic history). Shimura was in 21 of 30 films directed by Kurosawa (most famously as the dying bureaucrat in Ikiru and the leader in Seven Samurai), Mifune in 16 (starring in Rashomon, Seven Samurai, Throne of Blood, Yojimbo/Sanjuro, High and Low and many others). Shimura started earlier and finished later. I think Mifune debuted in Drunken Angel, and Red Beard ('65) was the last time they worked together. There was a changing of the guard with Throne of Blood, in which Mifune came to the forefront and gained preeminence, and Shimura was relegated to roles of dwindling importance and became further marginalized.
http://www.criterion.com/current/posts/1539-eclipse-series-23-the-first-films-of-akira-kurosawa
Imo, Rashomon (winner of the Venice Film Festival Grand Prize, largely credited with breaking Japanese cinema [[including other giants later like Ozu and Mizoguchi]] in the US and internationally), Ikiru, Seven Samurai, Throne of Blood, Yojimbo and High and Low are among the greatest movies ever made. While he did somewhat specialize in period pieces and historical samurai films, the latter and Stray Dog are outstanding examples of contemporary (for their time) urban crime thrillers and police procedurals, so he did have a lot of breadth and range, in terms of his stylistic sensibility. In every film, he at least co-wrote the screenplay, and edited it. He made technical innovations, and is one of the most enduringly influential directors in the world. Like Kubrick and many other directorial greats, Kurosawa had a legendary eye for detail (for instance, when to his horror discovering set builders used modern nails on an expensive castle set which might have been revealed by his signature telephoto lens, he made them start over from scratch at great cost and loss of time).
* Most/all of these available streaming on Hulu Plus. Once or twice a year (definitely Black Friday weekend) Barnes and Noble has 50% off sales on Criterion tiles, and Criterion themselves will occasionally have 50% off flash sales a few times a year. Looks like eight titles are available on iTunes, including five masterpieces: Rashomon, Seven Samurai, Throne of Blood, Yojimbo and High and Low. These latter would not include the typically outstanding Criterion Blu Ray/DVD bonuses such as bio/docs, making of features, etc. (the commentary tracks on Seven Samurai and Throne of Blood by Japanese film historian Michael Jeck, in particular, are brilliant, probably the most exemplary I've ever heard - I learned a lot more about them and their cinematic/social/cultural/directorial context and background by running them after seeing the films proper).
I'm going to try and cover his body of work in chronolgical order.
AK 100: 25 Films by Akira Kurosawa - I'll use this as a reference from Criterion's web site, as it is a comprehensive collection (if not complete - he directed approximately 30 films). Partly, because for any title, you can click on it and it leads to a critical essay/synoptic overview.
Three of the arguably biggest ommissions are Ran ('85, like Throne of Blood a Shakespeare "transposition", in this case of King Lear, which was at one time a Criterion stand alone title, but presumably wasn't included due to lapsed rights - his last epic, it was the most expensive Japanese production up to that time, and won an Oscar for Costume Design), Dersu Uzala ('75, Russian/Japanese co-production - first non-Japanese language and only 70 mm film - won an Oscar for best Foreign Language Film) AND Dreams ('90, aka Akira Kurosawa's Dreams - it was the first film for which he was the sole screenwriter, reportedly based on some of the director's recurring dreams and made possible with the help of long time admirers and fans, George Lucas [[star Wars heavily influenced by Hidden Fortress]], Francis Ford Coppola and Steven Spielberg). I'll try to cover them as well, at the appropriate time.
http://www.criterion.com/boxsets/678-ak-100-25-films-by-akira-kurosawa?q=autocomplete
Eclipse Series 23: The First Films of Akira Kurosawa By Stephen Prince. Many of the titles above have individual essays. This covers his first four - Sanshiro Sugata ('43, a martial arts film, though not samurai), The Most Beautiful ('44, a propaganda film in which he met his wife), Sanshiro Sugata, Part Two ('45, a sequel forced on him by the studio, I think the only one he ever did before Sanjuro to Yojimbo, and one he was far less enthusiastic about) and The Men Who Tread on the Tiger's Trail (also '45, appealed to the studio as a no-budget film staged like a play, plot has similarities to the later Hidden Fortress). These were rarely seen in the US prior to the above set and this sub-set. These were NOT juvenalia works, like Kubrick, and maybe even more so, his earliest work, if not quite fully formed (as he developed and grew as an artist for most of his career), had recognizeable elements of his later, mature mastery. Kurosawa was the product of a forward looking Japanese studio apprentice system (unlike the US), in which promising, budding directorial candidates basically worked in virtually every department as they moved up through the ranks, first as script writers, production designers, sound, editing, assistant cinematographers, second unit directors, before becoming actual directors.
These were made near or during the end of the war, and as with other movies immediately after this, Kurosawa had to navigate Japanese and/or American censorship during the production. This became increasingly less of an issue as he hit his mature peak from the '50s to mid-'60s, during the post-war economic boom. The above said (about juvenalia), I've seen everything but The Most Beautiful among these four films, and while there is some noteworthy work here, I personally found he hit his stride after his first half dozen films, with the noirs Drunken Angel and Stray Dog. They both featured the two greatest actors most closely associated with him, Takashi Shimura and Toshiro Mifune (Kurosawa/Mifune has been called the greatest director/actor pairing in cinematic history). Shimura was in 21 of 30 films directed by Kurosawa (most famously as the dying bureaucrat in Ikiru and the leader in Seven Samurai), Mifune in 16 (starring in Rashomon, Seven Samurai, Throne of Blood, Yojimbo/Sanjuro, High and Low and many others). Shimura started earlier and finished later. I think Mifune debuted in Drunken Angel, and Red Beard ('65) was the last time they worked together. There was a changing of the guard with Throne of Blood, in which Mifune came to the forefront and gained preeminence, and Shimura was relegated to roles of dwindling importance and became further marginalized.
http://www.criterion.com/current/posts/1539-eclipse-series-23-the-first-films-of-akira-kurosawa
Imo, Rashomon (winner of the Venice Film Festival Grand Prize, largely credited with breaking Japanese cinema [[including other giants later like Ozu and Mizoguchi]] in the US and internationally), Ikiru, Seven Samurai, Throne of Blood, Yojimbo and High and Low are among the greatest movies ever made. While he did somewhat specialize in period pieces and historical samurai films, the latter and Stray Dog are outstanding examples of contemporary (for their time) urban crime thrillers and police procedurals, so he did have a lot of breadth and range, in terms of his stylistic sensibility. In every film, he at least co-wrote the screenplay, and edited it. He made technical innovations, and is one of the most enduringly influential directors in the world. Like Kubrick and many other directorial greats, Kurosawa had a legendary eye for detail (for instance, when to his horror discovering set builders used modern nails on an expensive castle set which might have been revealed by his signature telephoto lens, he made them start over from scratch at great cost and loss of time).
* Most/all of these available streaming on Hulu Plus. Once or twice a year (definitely Black Friday weekend) Barnes and Noble has 50% off sales on Criterion tiles, and Criterion themselves will occasionally have 50% off flash sales a few times a year. Looks like eight titles are available on iTunes, including five masterpieces: Rashomon, Seven Samurai, Throne of Blood, Yojimbo and High and Low. These latter would not include the typically outstanding Criterion Blu Ray/DVD bonuses such as bio/docs, making of features, etc. (the commentary tracks on Seven Samurai and Throne of Blood by Japanese film historian Michael Jeck, in particular, are brilliant, probably the most exemplary I've ever heard - I learned a lot more about them and their cinematic/social/cultural/directorial context and background by running them after seeing the films proper).
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My favorite as well.
). Kubrick began as a photographer, and was a prodigy, selling photos to magazines like LIFE while still a teen.
