The great Akira Kurosawa was born 100 years ago today. He was by all accounts one of the very best directors in the history of cinema. What many don't realize is that he was also one of the best film editors. It's amazing to think that the same studio that released many of his greatest films, Toho Pictures, also made Godzilla!
His movies have arguably proved more influential than those of any other director. He is a hero and an inspiration to people like Spielberg, Scorsese, Lucas, and many others. The direct and indirect references to Kurosawa films in modern cinema are too numerous to list.
Kurosawa films have been remade countless times by others, the most notable being:
"The Seven Samurai" was remade in the US as a western called "The Magnificent Seven". It was also remade as Pixar's "A Bug's Life". And it's being remade again right now in Hollywood with its original name.
"Yojimbo" was also made into a western, this time with Clint Eastwood, called "A Fistful of Dollars".
"The Hidden Fortress" was the inspiration for much of the movie Star Wars. There are many similarities, including Lucas' use of the famous Kurosawa "Screen Wipe" for scene transitions (remember, Kurosawa was also an editor).
"Rashomon" was redone (not very well) as "The Outrage".
Mike Nichols is currently directing a remake of "High and Low".
Steven Spielberg is in development of a remake of "Ikiru" at DreamWorks.
And many more. Then there are the more subtle nods, such as the little girl in "Schindler's List" whose red coat reflects a similar device used in "High and Low". There are literally thousands of Kurosawa's fingerprints on hundreds of various movies made over the last 50 years.
In general terms, Kurosawa is considered to be the creator of the modern "goal-oriented adventure film", and he was the first to use an onrushing horde cresting the top of a mountain as a device for ominous foreboding.
Technically, he was very adept at scene composition. The subjects in his field of view are arranged with the care of a still life painting, yet he was also a master of kinetic action like no director before or since. His battle scenes are legendary for their controlled chaos - tornados of action compressed together with his trademark telephoto lenses into seething masses of energy...mind-boggling and yet somehow comprehensible.
Kurosawa loved extremes. His films are filled with incredibly drawn characters, amazing situations, and imposing weather (he loaded up the reels with torrential rains, storm clouds, and mud). Struggle is a bedrock feature of his films, as is the ongoing search for what it means to be human. He made very touching films, filled with hardship and loss and the bittersweet victories that are really the only kind of victories we have in life.
In the end, there was always a lesson in each of his films. He was very good at making us understand what is truly worth fighting for and what is illusion.
I could go on, but many others have done so for me. There are dozens of books about Kurosawa's life and art, and his techniques are taught in film schools the world over. Suffice it to say that everything you've read about this man's talent, vision, and drive for perfection is true and then some. He was an uncompromising master of cinema, and the 30 films he left us are treasures beyond measure.
We're going to see "Rashomon" at the Detroit Institute of Arts theater in April. This film, a study of the nature of truth and its dependency on personal viewpoint, is just as vibrant and alive today as it was when it won all those big awards back in 1950. Sixty years ago.
I wonder how many of today's films will be relevant in 2070.
3 comments:
100 years! He was ahead of his time!
You forgot another famous remake based on his work "Samarai Night Fever"
Jim Belushi's "Samurai Delicatessen" caracter on SNL was based on one of the samurai, Toshiro Mifune.
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