DOCSLIB.ORG

The Hidden Fortress Delivers Kurosawa's Trademark Deft Blend of Wry Humor, Breathtaking Action, and Compassionate

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
The Hidden Fortress Delivers Kurosawa's Trademark Deft Blend of Wry Humor, Breathtaking Action, and Compassionate The Hidden Fortress delivers Kurosawa’s trademark deft blend of wry humor, breathtaking action, and compassionate humanity. A grand­scale adventure as only Akira Kurosawa could make one, The Hidden Fortress stars the inimitable Toshiro Mifune as a general charged with guarding his defeated clan’s princess (a fierce Misa Uehara) as the two smuggle royal treasure across hostile territory. Accompanying them are a pair of bumbling, conniving peasants who may or may not be their friends. This rip­roaring ride is among the director’s most beloved films and was a primary influence on George Lucas’s Star Wars. Starring Toshiro Mifune, Misa Uehara, Minoru Chiaki, Kamatari Fujiwara, Susumu Fujita In Japanese with English subtitles | Not Rated | 139 min | 1958 | Directed by Akira Kurosawa Registration is required. Presented with Japan Commerce Association of Washington, D.C., Inc. You are invited to J-Film: The Hidden Fortress Wednesday, March 14th, 2018 from 6:30 PM to 9:00 PM (EDT) Japan Information & Culture Center, Embassy of Japan 1150 18th Street Northwest Suite 100 Washington DC 20036 US CLICK HERE TO REGISTER This event is free and open to the public, but registration is required. In the event of a cancellation, please contact us at [email protected]. Program begins at 6:30 PM. Doors open 30 minutes before the program. No admittance after 7:00 PM. Registered guests will be seated on a first come, first served basis. Please note that seating is limited and registration does not guarantee a seat. The JICC reserves the right to use any photograph/video taken at any event sponsored by JICC without the expressed written permission of those included within the photograph/video..
Load more

Recommended publications
  • East-West Film Journal, Volume 3, No. 2
    EAST-WEST FILM JOURNAL VOLUME 3 . NUMBER 2 Kurosawa's Ran: Reception and Interpretation I ANN THOMPSON Kagemusha and the Chushingura Motif JOSEPH S. CHANG Inspiring Images: The Influence of the Japanese Cinema on the Writings of Kazuo Ishiguro 39 GREGORY MASON Video Mom: Reflections on a Cultural Obsession 53 MARGARET MORSE Questions of Female Subjectivity, Patriarchy, and Family: Perceptions of Three Indian Women Film Directors 74 WIMAL DISSANAYAKE One Single Blend: A Conversation with Satyajit Ray SURANJAN GANGULY Hollywood and the Rise of Suburbia WILLIAM ROTHMAN JUNE 1989 The East- West Center is a public, nonprofit educational institution with an international board of governors. Some 2,000 research fellows, grad­ uate students, and professionals in business and government each year work with the Center's international staff in cooperative study, training, and research. They examine major issues related to population, resources and development, the environment, culture, and communication in Asia, the Pacific, and the United States. The Center was established in 1960 by the United States Congress, which provides principal funding. Support also comes from more than twenty Asian and Pacific governments, as well as private agencies and corporations. Kurosawa's Ran: Reception and Interpretation ANN THOMPSON AKIRA KUROSAWA'S Ran (literally, war, riot, or chaos) was chosen as the first film to be shown at the First Tokyo International Film Festival in June 1985, and it opened commercially in Japan to record-breaking busi­ ness the next day. The director did not attend the festivities associated with the premiere, however, and the reception given to the film by Japa­ nese critics and reporters, though positive, was described by a French critic who had been deeply involved in the project as having "something of the air of an official embalming" (Raison 1985, 9).
    [Show full text]
  • Akira Kurosawa: IKURU 1952 140 Minutes
    October 9, 2007 (XV:7) Akira Kurosawa: IKURU 1952 140 minutes Directed by Akira Kurosawa Written by Shinobu Hashimoto, Akira Kurosawa, Hideo Oguni Produced by Sojiro Motoki Original Music by Fumio Hayasaka Cinematography by Asakazu Nakai Takashi Shimura...Kanji Watanabe Shinichi Himori...Kimura Haruo Tanaka...Sakai Minoru Chiaki...Noguchi Miki Odagiri...Toyo Odagiri, employee Bokuzen Hidari...Ohara Minosuke Yamada...Subordinate Clerk Saito Seiji Miyaguchi...Yakuza Boss Kamatari Fujiwara...Sub-Section Chief Ono Daisuke Katô...Yakuza Makoto Kobori...Kiichi Watanabe, Kanji's Brother Miki Hayashi...Second Yakuza Nobuo Kaneko...Mitsuo Watanabe, Kanji's son Fuyuki Murakami...Newspaperman Nobuo Nakamura...Deputy Mayor Hirayoshi Aono...Newspaperman Atsushi Watanabe...Patient Junpei Natsuki...Hand-Washing Cancer Patient Isao Kimura...Intern Toranosuke Ogawa...Park Section Chief Masao Shimizu...Doctor Akira Sera...Worker in General Affairs Yûnosuke Itô...Novelist Ichirô Chiba...Policeman Kumeko Urabe...Tatsu Watanabe, Kiichi's Wife Akira Tani...Bar Owner Kin Sugai...Housewife Yoko Kajima...Worker in Sewage Section Eiko Miyoshi...Housewife Haruko Toyama Fumiko Honma...Housewife Mie...Woman in Dance Hall Yatsuko Tanami...Bar Hostess Sachio Sakai...Yakuza Yoshie Minami...The Maid Toshiyuki Ichimura...Pianist Kyôko Seki...Kazue Watanabe, Mitsuo's wife Harue Kuramoto...Dancer Kusuo Abe...City Assemblyman Lasa Saya...Stripper Tomoo Nagai...Newspaperman (as Tomo Nagai) AKIRA KUROSAWA (23 March 1910, Omori, Tokyo, Japan—6 September 1998, Setagaya, Tokyo,
    [Show full text]
  • Japanese Videos - (Last Update September 13, 2019) Use the Find Function to Search This List
    Japanese Videos - (last update September 13, 2019) Use the Find function to search this list Aspects of the Kabuki Theater of Japan 198?, 20 minutes, English. Shows costumes, make up, and examples of Kabuki productions. Accompanied by traditional Kabuki music. JCU Library CALL NO. PN2924.5.K3.A86 Career Escalator, The – with notes Education and Job Competition. LLC Library CALL NO. JP 008 – C Double Suicide Double Suicide Director: Masahiro Shinoda. 1969, 105 minutes, B&W, Japanese with English subtitles. Compelling drama based on a traditional Bunraku puppet play which is performed within the film itself about a married man who plans a suicide pact with his mistress. LLC Library CALL NO. JP 012 Funeral, The Director: Juzo Itami. with Nobuko Miyamoto, Tsutomu Yamazaki. 1985, 114 minutes, Japanese with English subtitles. Darkly funny tale of a contemporary Japanese family’s skewed attempts to conduct a traditional Buddhist service for their late patriarch. Controversial, compelling comic effort on the part of director and actors. LLC Library CALL NO. JP 009 Japan Invades China PBS Video, 1989, 51 minutes. 1. Highlights Japan’s expansion into French Indochina, the Dutch Indies, Burma, Malaya and the Philippines. 2. Focuses on the diplomatic and economic pressure placed on Japan prior to the attack on Pearl Harbor. JCU Library CALL NO. D443.J36 Japanese Version, The 1991, 56 minutes. The film explores Japan’s fascination with things American, pointing out that in borrowing from other cultures, there emerges a distinct Japanese slant on such things as American baseball, the 1950’s, weddings, and love hotels. JCU Library CALL NO.
    [Show full text]
  • Masaki Kobayashi: HARAKIRI (1962, 133M) the Version of This Goldenrod Handout Sent out in Our Monday Mailing, and the One Online, Has Hot Links
    October 8, 2019 (XXXIX: 7) Masaki Kobayashi: HARAKIRI (1962, 133m) The version of this Goldenrod Handout sent out in our Monday mailing, and the one online, has hot links. Spelling and Style—use of italics, quotation marks or nothing at all for titles, e.g.—follows the form of the sources. DIRECTOR Masaki Kobayashi WRITING Shinobu Hashimoto wrote the screenplay from a novel by Yasuhiko Takiguchi. PRODUCER Tatsuo Hosoya MUSIC Tôru Takemitsu CINEMATOGRAPHY Yoshio Miyajima EDITING Hisashi Sagara The film was the winter of the Jury Special Prize and nominated for the Palm d’Or at the 1963 Cannes Film Festival. CAST Tatsuya Nakadai...Tsugumo Hanshirō (1979), Tokyo Trial* (Documentary) (1983), and Rentarō Mikuni...Saitō Kageyu Shokutaku no nai ie* (1985). He also wrote the screenplays Akira Ishihama...Chijiiwa Motome for A Broken Drum (1949) and The Yotsuda Phantom Shima Iwashita...Tsugumo Miho (1949). Tetsurō Tamba...Omodaka Hikokuro *Also wrote Ichiro Nakatani...Yazaki Hayato Masao Mishima...Inaba Tango SHINOBU HASHIMOTO (b. April 18, 1918 in Hyogo Kei Satō...Fukushima Masakatsu Prefecture, Japan—d. July 19, 2018 (age 100) in Tokyo, Yoshio Inaba...Chijiiwa Jinai Japan) was a Japanese screenwriter (71 credits). A frequent Yoshiro Aoki...Kawabe Umenosuke collaborator of Akira Kurosawa, he wrote the scripts for such internationally acclaimed films as Rashomon (1950) MASAKI KOBAYASHI (b. February 14, 1916 in and Seven Samurai (1954). These are some of the other Hokkaido, Japan—d. October 4, 1996 (age 80) in Tokyo, films he wrote for: Ikiru (1952),
    [Show full text]
  • Macbeth in World Cinema: Selected Film and Tv Adaptations
    International Journal of English and Literature (IJEL) ISSN 2249-6912 Vol. 3, Issue 1, Mar 2013, 179-188 © TJPRC Pvt. Ltd. MACBETH IN WORLD CINEMA: SELECTED FILM AND TV ADAPTATIONS RITU MOHAN 1 & MAHESH KUMAR ARORA 2 1Ph.D. Scholar, Department of Management and Humanities, Sant Longowal Institute of Engineering and Technology, Longowal, Punjab, India 2Associate Professor, Department of Management and Humanities, Sant Longowal Institute of Engineering and Technology, Longowal, Punjab, India ABSTRACT In the rich history of Shakespearean translation/transcreation/appropriation in world, Macbeth occupies an important place. Macbeth has found a long and productive life on Celluloid. The themes of this Bard’s play work in almost any genre, in any decade of any generation, and will continue to find their home on stage, in film, literature, and beyond. Macbeth can well be said to be one of Shakespeare’s most performed play and has enchanted theatre personalities and film makers. Much like other Shakespearean works, it holds within itself the most valuable quality of timelessness and volatility because of which the play can be reproduced in any regional background and also in any period of time. More than the localization of plot and character, it is in the cinematic visualization of Shakespeare’s imagery that a creative coalescence of the Shakespearean, along with the ‘local’ occurs. The present paper seeks to offer some notable (it is too difficult to document and discuss all) adaptations of Macbeth . The focus would be to provide introductory information- name of the film, country, language, year of release, the director, star-cast and the critical reception of the adaptation among audiences.
    [Show full text]
  • THE SUMMIT a Chronicle of Stones
    THE SUMMIT A Chronicle of Stones (TSURUGIDAKE: TEN NO KI) A Toei/Fuji TV Production Director: Daisaku Kimura Cast: Tadanobu Asano (“Mongol” “Invisible Waves” “Kabei - Our Mother”) Teruyuki Kagawa (“Tokyo Sonata” “Tokyo!”) Toru Nakamura (“2009 Lost Memories” “Purple Butterfly”) Ryuhei Matsuda (“Gohatto -Taboo-“ “Nightmare Detective”) Aoi Miyazaki (“Atsuhime” (TV) “Nana” “Heavenly Forest”) Koji Yakusho (“Babel” “Silk” “Memoirs of a Geisha”) In 1907, a band of men challenged Japan’s last unconquered mountain, in order to complete a map of their nation. Mt. Tsurugidake - Located in Tateyama mountain range in the Northern Alps in Toyama Prefecture, Mt. Tsurugidake stands 2999m above sea level. Tsurugidake is renowned as a difficult mountain and since the beginning of historical records, it has been designated as the “god” for those engaged in mountain asceticism-shamanism and sometimes referred as “needle mountain” or “mountain of death” for its inaccessibility. Neither for fame, nor for profit, the men staked their lives on an impossible mission, for nothing more than a map. This true story gives us a frank view of the noble spirit of devotion and royal spirit, gradually becoming lost to the society of today. “This work is certainly not a film about the mountains: rather, it is a tale of human emotions and feelings and a film about life, set against the background of the mountains.” －Dir. Daisaku Kimura To realistically depict the noble existence of the climbers, Daisaku Kimura, a veteran cinematographer who filmed “Mount Hakkoda” (1977) “Virus: Day of Resurrection (Fukkatsu no Hi)” (1980) and “Poppoya-Railroad Man” (1999) challenged the shooting together with the hand-picked staff and cast set off like a group of mountaineers to challenge the beautiful yet cruel Mt.
    [Show full text]
  • The Seven Samurai Is His Sixth Film in the Buffalo Film Seminars
    AKIRA KUROSAWA (23 March 1910, Omori, Tokyo, Japan — 6 September 1998, Setagaya, Tokyo, stroke) wrote or cowrote nearly all 31 of the films he directed and edited several of them as well. Some of them are: Ame Agaru/After the Rain 1993, Yume/Dreams 1990, Ran 1985, Kagemusha 1980, Dodesukaden 1970, Yojimbo 1961 (remade in 1964 as Per un pugno di dollari and in 1996 as Last Man Standing), Kakushi toride no san akunin 1958 (remade in 1977 as Star Wars), Kumonosu jo/Throne of Blood 1957 (based on Macbeth), Shichinin no samurai/Seven Samurai) 1954 (remade as The Magnificent Seven), Ikiru 1952, Rashomon 1950 (remade as The Outrage), and Nora inu/Stray Dog 1949. Kurosawa received three Academy Awards: best foreign language picture for Rashomon and Dersu Uzala, and a Lifetime Achievement Award (1990). He received a nomination for best director for Ran. The Seven Samurai is his sixth film in the Buffalo Film Seminars. 7 FEBRUARY 2006, XII:4 AKIRA KUROSAWA: The Seven Samurai/Shichinin For much of his career Kurosawa was appreciated far more in the no samurai 1954. 206 min. West than in Japan. Zhang Yimou (director of Red Sorghum and Raise Takashi Shimura...Kambei Shimada the Red Lantern) wrote that Kurosawa was accused “of making films Toshirô Mifune...Kikuchiyo for foreigners' consumption. In the 1950s, Rashomon was criticized as Yoshio Inaba...Gorobei Katayama exposing Japan's ignorance and backwardness to the outside world – a Seiji Miyaguchi...Kyuzo charge that now seems absurd. In China, I have faced the same Minoru Chiaki...Heihachi Hayashida scoldings, and I use Kurosawa as a shield.” He directed his first film Daisuke Katô...Shichiroji in 1943 but says Drunken Angel in 1948 was really his first film Isao Kimura...Katsushiro Okamoto because that was the first one he made without official interference.
    [Show full text]
  • The Jedi of Japan
    Trinity College Trinity College Digital Repository Trinity Publications (Newspapers, Yearbooks, The Trinity Papers (2011 - present) Catalogs, etc.) 2016 The Jedi of Japan David Linden Trinity College, Hartford Connecticut Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalrepository.trincoll.edu/trinitypapers Part of the Arts and Humanities Commons Recommended Citation Linden, David, "The Jedi of Japan". The Trinity Papers (2011 - present) (2016). Trinity College Digital Repository, Hartford, CT. https://digitalrepository.trincoll.edu/trinitypapers/45 The Jedi of Japan David Linden The West’s image today of the Japanese samurai derives in large part from the works of Japanese film directors whose careers flourished in the period after the Second World War. Foremost amongst these directors was Akira Kurosawa and it is from his films that Western audiences grew to appreciate Japanese warriors and the main heroes and villains in the Star Wars franchise were eventually born. George Lucas and the first six films of the Star Wars franchise draw heavily from Kurosawa’s films, the role of the samurai in Japanese culture, and Bushido—their code. In his book, The Samurai Films of Akira Kurosawa, David Desser explains how Kurosawa himself was heavily influenced by Western culture and motifs and this is reflected in his own samurai films which “embod[y] the tensions between Japanese culture and the new American ways of the occupation” (Desser. 4). As his directorial style matured during the late forties, Kurosawa closely examined Western films and themes such as those of John Ford, and sought to apply the same themes, techniques and character development to Japanese films and traditions.
    [Show full text]
  • Last Tango in Paris (1972) Dramas Bernardo Bertolucci
    S.No. Film Name Genre Director 1 Last Tango in Paris (1972) Dramas Bernardo Bertolucci . 2 The Dreamers (2003) Bernardo Bertolucci . 3 Stealing Beauty (1996) H1.M Bernardo Bertolucci . 4 The Sheltering Sky (1990) I1.M Bernardo Bertolucci . 5 Nine 1/2 Weeks (1986) Adrian Lyne . 6 Lolita (1997) Stanley Kubrick . 7 Eyes Wide Shut – 1999 H1.M Stanley Kubrick . 8 A Clockwork Orange [1971] Stanley Kubrick . 9 Poison Ivy (1992) Katt Shea Ruben, Andy Ruben . 1 Irréversible (2002) Gaspar Noe 0 . 1 Emmanuelle (1974) Just Jaeckin 1 . 1 Latitude Zero (2000) Toni Venturi 2 . 1 Killing Me Softly (2002) Chen Kaige 3 . 1 The Hurt Locker (2008) Kathryn Bigelow 4 . 1 Double Jeopardy (1999) H1.M Bruce Beresford 5 . 1 Blame It on Rio (1984) H1.M Stanley Donen 6 . 1 It's Complicated (2009) Nancy Meyers 7 . 1 Anna Karenina (1997) Bernard Rose Page 1 of 303 1 Fanny Hill: Memoirs of a Woman of Pleasure (1964) Russ Meyer 9 . 2 Vixen! By Russ Meyer (1975) By Russ Meyer 0 . 2 Deep Throat (1972) Fenton Bailey, Randy Barbato 1 . 2 A STREETCAR NAMED DESIRE (1951) Elia Kazan 2 . 2 Pandora Peaks (2001) Russ Meyer 3 . 2 The Lover (L'amant) 1992 Jean-Jacques Annaud 4 . 2 Damage (1992) Louis Malle 5 . 2 Close My Eyes (1991) Stephen Poliakoff 6 . 2 Casablanca 1942 H1.M Michael Curtiz 7 . 2 Duel in the Sun (film) (1946) I1.M King Vidor 8 . 2 The Bridge on the River Kwai (1957) H1.M David Lean 9 . 3 Caligula (1979) Tinto Brass 0 .
    [Show full text]
  • KUROSAWA Player.Bfi.Org.Uk
    OVER 100 YEARS OF JAPANESE CINEMA Watch now on PART 1: KUROSAWA player.bfi.org.uk Watch now on 1 @BFI #BFIJapan OVER 100 YEARS OF JAPANESE CINEMA We have long carried a torch for Japanese film here at the BFI. IN PARTNERSHIP WITH Since the first BFI London Film Festival opened with Akira Kurosawa’s Throne of Blood in 1957, we’ve played a vital role in bringing the cinema of this culturally rich nation to UK audiences through our festivals, seasons, theatrical distribution, books and video publishing. In this major season we spotlight filmmakers who have inspired admiration and With special thanks to: fascination around the world. We begin our story with Akira Kurosawa, and over the coming months we’ll present films from the Golden Age, a focus on Yasujiro Ozu, new wave rebels, the visionary creations of anime, the netherworlds of J-horror, and so much more from archive rarities to contemporary works and cult classics. This landmark season will take place on BFI Player from 11 May onwards, With the kind support of: with new online collections released each month, and we expect to present it Janus Films/The Criterion Collection, Kadokawa Corporation, at BFI Southbank and cinemas nationwide later this year. Kawakita Memorial Film Institute, Kokusai Hoei Co., Ltd, The Japanese Cinema Book, published by BFI & Bloomsbury to coincide Nikkatsu Corporation, Toei Co., Ltd with the season, is out now. Cover artwork: TOKYO STORY ©1953/2011 Shochiku Co., Ltd., OUTRAGE 2010 Courtesy of STUDIOCANAL, AUDITION 1999 © Arrow Films, HARAKIRI ©1962 Shochiku Co., Ltd. Watch now on 2 @BFI #BFIJapan PART 1: KUROSAWA WATCH ON NOW This retrospective collection on BFI Player helps to confirm Kurosawa’s status as one of the small handful of Japanese directors who truly belong to world cinema, writes Alexander Jacoby If Yasujiro Ozu is often called ‘the most Japanese of Japanese directors’, then one could almost identify Akira Kurosawa as the least Japanese of Japanese directors.
    [Show full text]
  • El Japonismo De Star Wars
    FILMHISTORIA Online Vol. 29, núms. 1-2 (2019) · ISSN: 2014-668X El japonismo de Star Wars ANTONIO MÍGUEZ SANTA CRUZ Universidad de Córdoba (España) Resumen El universo de Star Wars es tan popular que prácticamente se ha estudiado desde todas las perspectivas posibles. Sin embargo, la enorme cantidad de referencias visuales o filosóficas que conviven escondidas tras los atrezzos, los vestuarios, o el mismo guion de George Lucas, nos parece una asignatura pendiente a la hora de comprender completamente la profundidad de la afamada saga galáctica. En este caso, nosotros nos ocuparemos de comprobar hasta qué punto existe el japonismo en Star Wars, analizando las influencias o códigos procedentes del país del sol naciente más allá del obvio caso del yelmo de Darth Vader. Así pues, ¿tuvo tanta influencia La fortaleza escondida de Kurosawa en su concepción?; ¿son los jedi un trasunto de los guerreros samurái? O ¿son la Fuerza y el budismo más semejantes de lo que a priori podríamos creer? Sobre esas y otras muchas cuestiones girarán las siguientes páginas. Palabras clave: Influencia, Chambara, Samurái, Budismo, Asura. Star Wars Japonism Abstract Nowadays, The Star Wars saga is so popular that it has been studied from every possible perspective. However, the enormous amount of visual or philosophical references to be unraveled that coexist hidden behind the props, costumes, or the proper George Lucas script, it seems to us a pending subject if we want to fully understand the depth of the famous galactic saga. In this case, we will see how Japan is present in Star Wars analyzing the influences or codes coming from “the land of the Rising sun” beyond the obvious case of Darth Vader's helmet.
    [Show full text]
  • FIS 410 MAJOR FIGURES: Kurosawa
    FIS 410 MAJOR FIGURES: Kurosawa WEBCAMPUS Log into this class on WebCampus for assignments, announcements, grades and supplementary material. You may post the ten written ‘Discussions’ on or before the due date. No paper copies please. COURSE DESCRIPTION: During this term, we will examine the films of Japanese director Akira Kurosawa from the following perspectives: historical, social, cultural, political, artistic and humanistic, guiding students to a richer understanding of Japanese culture. Students will be introduced to basic aesthetic and technical film language, genres, and critical applications in analyzing the films. We will consider the cinematic accomplishments of Kurosawa through the screenings of his films in addition to writing and reading assignments. COURSE OVERVIEW We will view the films of Akira Kurosawa in chronological order to appreciate his growth as a director. We will analyze his stylistic contributions (cinematography, editing, narrative content and themes,) and his mastery of genres (samurai, drama) and the impact and influence that Kurosawa has generated in the international film community. Although most of his films were panned by Japanese critics for being too ‘Western’, he did not compromise the content or spirit of his stories, many of which are based on historical events, myths or legends. COURSE OBJECTIVES Introduce students to the films of Akira Kurosawa, the first Japanese filmmaker to achieve international honors and recognition. Discuss how his early life experiences influenced the subject matter of his films. Analyze Kurosawa’s storytelling style and the employment of specific themes in his films. Understand Kurosawa’s films within historical, political, social and cultural contexts. Evaluate the roles of gender in Japanese society that are mirrored in his films.
    [Show full text]