DOCSLIB.ORG

Akira Kurosawa's Heroes: Rebels, Saints and Killers on the Social Front Line Robert Levine Denison University

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
Akira Kurosawa's Heroes: Rebels, Saints and Killers on the Social Front Line Robert Levine Denison University Articulāte Volume 3 Article 8 1998 Akira Kurosawa's Heroes: Rebels, Saints and Killers on the Social Front Line Robert Levine Denison University Follow this and additional works at: http://digitalcommons.denison.edu/articulate Part of the English Language and Literature Commons Recommended Citation Levine, Robert (1998) "Akira Kurosawa's Heroes: Rebels, Saints and Killers on the Social Front Line," Articulāte: Vol. 3 , Article 8. Available at: http://digitalcommons.denison.edu/articulate/vol3/iss1/8 This Article is brought to you for free and open access by Denison Digital Commons. It has been accepted for inclusion in Articulāte by an authorized editor of Denison Digital Commons. Akira Kurosawa's Heroes 49 twenty year evolution of the Kurosawa hero, from petitive individualism" (Desser 63). Sanshiro is cer- AKIRA KUROSAWA'S HEROES: REBELS, SAINTS AND KILLERS ON THE his birth, to his consummation, to his eventual sa- tainly a competitive individual; he begins the film by SOCIAL FRONT LINE tirical subversion. These are Sanshiro Sugata (1943), demanding to be taught jujitsu. Then, upon seeing Stray Dog (1^49), Ikiru (1952), and Yojimbo (1961). his entire clan of mentors embarrassingly thwarted BY ROBERT LEVINE '00 Sanshiro Sugata is considered Kurosawa's first by a single master of judo, he immediately asks to be Akira Kurosawa is Japan's foremost filmmaker. welfare are necessary attributes for any fictional em- film. He had been supervising the creation of fea- trained in this other technique. The judo master, With his kinetic mastery of the camera, his flawless, bodiment of gallantry, comic book super-hero, me- ture films for several years beforehand, but it was not named Yano, takes Sanshiro on as a student, and trains exact cutting, and his unpretentious predilection to- dieval knight or otherwise. Should this be the extent until 1943 that he was given the official title of di- him until his skills are at a peak. Unfortunately, once ward the rousing codes and devices of the West, it is of their assets, few characteristics would exist that rector. Sanshiro Sugata is the story of the title char- his skills are honed, Sanshiro proceeds to flaunt them. only appropriate that Kurosawa, in winning first prize could be considered truly unique to the director's acter, a brash, overly anxious martial arts student who He becomes a show-off, as exhibited in a deftly ed- at the 1951 Venice Film Festival for Rashomon, was brand of hero. It is with the addition of one more is edified in a new fighting technique and through it ited scene in which Sanshiro chases intimidated citi- the first to breach the isolationist levee surrounding regular stylistic ingredient that Kurosawa is able to matures into a noble, out-going human being. zens up and down the town square, tossing wary vil- Japanese cinema and join the ranks of the world's fashion his hero into a truly distinct and viable en- Kurosawa had chosen to "begin his career with a film lagers to the ground with malevolent glee. With this finest film artisans. He is "one of the few artists to tity: the filmmaker consciously places his protago- about the junction of the old Japan and the new," sequence, Kurosawa is "describing his central char- achieve international communication while at the nists into a diegetic context of social and historical with the cultural changes represented by the conflicts acter and making clear the vanity and self-interest same time remaining true to his own highly distinc- dynamism. between two diametrically opposed forms of martial that Sanshiro will have to discard in his growth and tive and insular national culture" (Mellen 42). Be- Each lead character who lives, struggles, and arts (Desser 63). The revolutionary new technique, pursuit of enlightenment" (Prince 45). Yano is infu- sides acting as the global cinematic ambassador for succeeds under the omnipotent arm of the Creator judo, is based upon defense, and contrasts drastically riated with the actions of his pupil. He chastises the Land of the Rising Sun, Kurosawa, in the twenty- Kurosawa finds himself doing so during a time of with the currently prevalent and more strategically Sanshiro for abusing the art of judo. "To act as you eight films that constitute his career, has cultivated sweeping historical change and jarring social up- offensive jujitsu. do," Yano asks, "without meaning or purpose, to hate an impressive, unmistakable signature style that has heaval. The Kurosawa hero is a vehicle for involved Immediately in the film, Kurosawa introduces and attack — is that the way of life? No — the way consistently challenged and enhanced the established perspective; he is both a witness to and a product of his heroic convention of an individualist protagonist is loyalty and love.. .only through it can a man face norms of his native cinema and society. the times in which he lives. The director shapes his set in a time of transition. However, Kurosawa made death." Sanshiro, unreceptive to his teacher's lessons, One of the most discernible recurring constitu- protagonists as ambassadors between two distinct Sanshiro Sugata under the auspices of the Japanese insubordinately replies, "I can face death! I am not ents of Kurosawa's groundbreaking artistic legacy is periods of time and existence, each of which is char- militarist government of that time, and was required afraid to die right now!" He immediately rises, throws his penchant for a certain type of protagonist— a de- acterized by definite moral, ethical, and spiritual to meet a certain propaganda requirement, which open the sliding door of Yano's home, and, in an velopment of and adherence to a specific mold of norms that, more often than not, lie in direct con- most likely deterred him from the unsettling social impulsive, impudent display of rebellion, leaps into hero. Kurosawa often described himself as "the last flict with each other. The historical disharmony in commentary that would characterize his later works a pond below. of the samurai," and he consistently informs and in- the film can be a direct representation of the times in (Desser 62). Politically and socially tinged narratives The following scene, set under the glimmering stills his heroes with the principles of the samurai which it was made or an allegorical narrative using a were not allowed due to the wartime environment. moonlight of a brisk evening, is key to the thematic warrior, placing particular emphasis on courage, in- period during the past as a model for the current state Many of Kurosawa's scripts had already been rejected outlay of the film. Sanshiro, clinging to an upright tensity, fortitude, and fealty (Prince 118). Kurosawa of the world. Either way, in a Kurosawa film, the for production, and he was only allowed to direct pole in the middle of the water, bears the perilous heroes are men of honor distinguished by a physical past and the present do not gently coalesce, and the Sanshiro Sugata because of the safe period quality of chill of the water in a fit of youthful stubbornness. and/or spiritual strength. In addition to this "em- hero is challenged to maneuver through this rocky the novel on which it was based (Richie 14). Alas, During this time, his master ignores him, and the phasis on individual willpower and physical might," terrain without relinquishing the wholesome, decent Sanshiro Sugata would have to serve less as a work of boy, becoming increasingly aware of his immaturity, Kurosawa adds "an abiding commitment to securing ideals he knows to be right. By directly entwining social critique and more as an introduction for is subject to a profound spiritual revelation, which die basic needs of other human beings" (Prince 118). the quest of the heroes with the plight of the times, Kurosawa's exceptional new cinematic style. As a re- Kurosawa illustrates semiotically. Sanshiro experi- However, the Kurosawa heroes are never complete; Kurosawa employs his protagonists "as explicit role sult, Sanshiro stands as the incipient Kurosawa hero, ences a "moment of satori," which is essentially "a they are still unformed and developing as human models for the audience" (Prince 40). Through them, a character embryo embodying many of the traits that discovery of self ... predicated upon attaining the beings. They are always "beset by a series of moral, Kurosawa prescribes his own social and spiritual would be given greater dimension in later protago- devotion and humility that ... are the truth of life" and often physical traumas, and the narratives study agenda for dealing with the transitions of history. nists by the incorporation of more potent social back- (Prince 50). This scene conveys a primary dilemma the progress of the protagonists toward enlighten- By examining four significant entries in drops. of die Kurosawa hero: "the discovery of self is a lonely ment" (Prince 48). Kurosawa's filmography, one can trace the line of the Sanshiro Sugata is set in 1882, "during the Meiji process which no one else can assist, yet a life with- In reference to the aforementioned catalogue filmmaker's quintessential heroic figure. Each of these period, when Western influences were altering the out devotion to an ideal, and frequently to a teacher, of qualities, it seems that the virtues of courage, films and their respective primary protagonists con- sense of what it meant to be Japanese" (Prince 39). is a life of selfishness and vanity" (Prince 50). This strength, determination, and concern for general stitute an important developmental stage in the In the film, the competition between the established type of scene, wherein the key character is removed form of jujitsu and the newly revealed form of judo Robert Levine is a sophomore cinema major and English minor.
Load more

Recommended publications
  • Bibliography for the Study of Shakespeare on Film in Asia and Hollywood
    CLCWeb: Comparative Literature and Culture ISSN 1481-4374 Purdue University Press ©Purdue University Volume 6 (2004) Issue 1 Article 13 Bibliography for the Study of Shakespeare on Film in Asia and Hollywood Lucian Ghita Purdue University Follow this and additional works at: https://docs.lib.purdue.edu/clcweb Part of the Comparative Literature Commons, and the Critical and Cultural Studies Commons Dedicated to the dissemination of scholarly and professional information, Purdue University Press selects, develops, and distributes quality resources in several key subject areas for which its parent university is famous, including business, technology, health, veterinary medicine, and other selected disciplines in the humanities and sciences. CLCWeb: Comparative Literature and Culture, the peer-reviewed, full-text, and open-access learned journal in the humanities and social sciences, publishes new scholarship following tenets of the discipline of comparative literature and the field of cultural studies designated as "comparative cultural studies." Publications in the journal are indexed in the Annual Bibliography of English Language and Literature (Chadwyck-Healey), the Arts and Humanities Citation Index (Thomson Reuters ISI), the Humanities Index (Wilson), Humanities International Complete (EBSCO), the International Bibliography of the Modern Language Association of America, and Scopus (Elsevier). The journal is affiliated with the Purdue University Press monograph series of Books in Comparative Cultural Studies. Contact: <[email protected]> Recommended Citation Ghita, Lucian. "Bibliography for the Study of Shakespeare on Film in Asia and Hollywood." CLCWeb: Comparative Literature and Culture 6.1 (2004): <https://doi.org/10.7771/1481-4374.1216> The above text, published by Purdue University Press ©Purdue University, has been downloaded 2531 times as of 11/ 07/19.
    [Show full text]
  • 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]
  • Title Call # Category
    Title Call # Category 2LDK 42429 Thriller 30 seconds of sisterhood 42159 Documentary A 42455 Documentary A2 42620 Documentary Ai to kibo no machi = Town of love & hope 41124 Documentary Akage = Red lion 42424 Action Akahige = Red beard 34501 Drama Akai hashi no shita no nerui mizu = Warm water under bridge 36299 Comedy Akai tenshi = Red angel 45323 Drama Akarui mirai = Bright future 39767 Drama Akibiyori = Late autumn 47240 Akira 31919 Action Ako-Jo danzetsu = Swords of vengeance 42426 Adventure Akumu tantei = Nightmare detective 48023 Alive 46580 Action All about Lily Chou-Chou 39770 Always zoku san-chôme no yûhi 47161 Drama Anazahevun = Another heaven 37895 Crime Ankokugai no bijo = Underworld beauty 37011 Crime Antonio Gaudí 48050 Aragami = Raging god of battle 46563 Fantasy Arakimentari 42885 Documentary Astro boy (6 separate discs) 46711 Fantasy Atarashii kamisama 41105 Comedy Avatar, the last airbender = Jiang shi shen tong 45457 Adventure Bakuretsu toshi = Burst city 42646 Sci-fi Bakushū = Early summer 38189 Drama Bakuto gaijin butai = Sympathy for the underdog 39728 Crime Banshun = Late spring 43631 Drama Barefoot Gen = Hadashi no Gen 31326, 42410 Drama Batoru rowaiaru = Battle royale 39654, 43107 Action Battle of Okinawa 47785 War Bijitâ Q = Visitor Q 35443 Comedy Biruma no tategoto = Burmese harp 44665 War Blind beast 45334 Blind swordsman 44914 Documentary Blind woman's curse = Kaidan nobori ryu 46186 Blood : Last vampire 33560 Blood, Last vampire 33560 Animation Blue seed = Aokushimitama blue seed 41681-41684 Fantasy Blue submarine
    [Show full text]
  • The Rhetorical Significance of Gojira
    UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones 5-2010 The Rhetorical Significance of Gojira Shannon Victoria Stevens University of Nevada, Las Vegas Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalscholarship.unlv.edu/thesesdissertations Repository Citation Stevens, Shannon Victoria, "The Rhetorical Significance of Gojira" (2010). UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones. 371. http://dx.doi.org/10.34917/1606942 This Thesis is protected by copyright and/or related rights. It has been brought to you by Digital Scholarship@UNLV with permission from the rights-holder(s). You are free to use this Thesis in any way that is permitted by the copyright and related rights legislation that applies to your use. For other uses you need to obtain permission from the rights-holder(s) directly, unless additional rights are indicated by a Creative Commons license in the record and/ or on the work itself. This Thesis has been accepted for inclusion in UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones by an authorized administrator of Digital Scholarship@UNLV. For more information, please contact [email protected]. THE RHETORICAL SIGNIFICANCE OF GOJIRA by Shannon Victoria Stevens Bachelor of Arts Moravian College and Theological Seminary 1993 A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Master of Arts in Communication Studies Department of Communication Studies Greenspun College of Urban Affairs Graduate College University of Nevada, Las Vegas May 2010 Copyright by Shannon Victoria Stevens 2010 All Rights Reserved THE GRADUATE COLLEGE We recommend the thesis prepared under our supervision by Shannon Victoria Stevens entitled The Rhetorical Significance of Gojira be accepted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts in Communication Studies David Henry, Committee Chair Tara Emmers-Sommer, Committee Co-chair Donovan Conley, Committee Member David Schmoeller, Graduate Faculty Representative Ronald Smith, Ph.
    [Show full text]
  • Katsuhiro Otomo Grand Prix D’Angoulême 2015
    KATSUHIRO OTOMO Grand Prix d’ANGOULÊME 2015 En choisissant d’attribuer le Grand Prix de la 42e édition du Festival international de la bande dessinée à Katsuhiro Otomo, la communauté des auteur(e)s qui a exprimé ses suffrages lors des deux tours du vote organisé par voie électronique en décembre 2014 puis janvier 2015 a accompli un geste historique. C’est la première fois en effet que cette récompense, la plus prestigieuse du palmarès du Festival, est attribuée à un auteur japonais, soulignant ainsi la place prise par le manga dans l’histoire du 9e art. Katsuhiro Otomo couronné, c’est le meilleur du manga qui se voit ainsi légitimement célébré en Europe. Né au Japon en 1954, Katsuhiro Otomo se met à dessiner professionnellement très tôt, au sortir de l’adolescence, et signe dès les années 70 ses premiers récits courts, souvent d’inspiration SF ou fantastique. Ainsi Domu - Rêves d’enfant (1981), traduit bien plus tard en langue française, qui se signale déjà par une maîtrise narrative, des innovations formelles et une science du cadrage remarquables chez un si jeune auteur. Le travail d’Otomo, d’emblée, exprime son goût de toujours pour le cinéma, qu’il aura par la suite de multiples occasions de satisfaire en devenant également cinéaste. Mais c’est à partir de 1982, alors que le jeune mangaka a déjà derrière lui près d’une décennie d’expérience, que le phénomène Otomo se déploie véritablement. Dans les pages du magazine Young, alors qu’il n’a que 28 ans, il entreprend un long récit post-apocalyptique d’une intensité et d’une ampleur visionnaire saisissantes : Akira.
    [Show full text]
  • Bornoftrauma.Pdf
    Born of Trauma: Akira and Capitalist Modes of Destruction Thomas Lamarre Images of atomic destruction and nuclear apocalypse abound in popular culture, familiar mushroom clouds that leave in their wake the whole- sale destruction of cities, towns, and lands. Mass culture seems to thrive on repeating the threat of world annihilation, and the scope of destruction seems continually to escalate: planets, even solar systems, disintegrate in the blink of an eye; entire populations vanish. We confront in such images a compulsion to repeat what terrifies us, but repetition of the terror of world annihilation also numbs us to it, and larger doses of destruction become necessary: increases in magnitude and intensity, in the scale and the quality of destruction and its imaging. Ultimately, the repetition and escalation promise to inure us to mass destruction, producing a desire to get ever closer to it and at the same time making anything less positions 16:1 doi 10.1215/10679847-2007-014 Copyright 2008 by Duke University Press positions 16:1 Spring 2008 132 than mass destruction feel a relief, a “victory.” Images of global annihilation imply a mixture of habituation, fascination, and addiction. Trauma, and in particular psychoanalytic questions about traumatic rep- etition, provides a way to grapple with these different dimensions of our engagement with images of large-scale destruction. Dominick LaCapra, for instance, returns to Freud’s discussion of “working-through” (mourning) and “acting out” (melancholia) to think about different ways of repeating trauma. “In acting-out,” he writes, “one has a mimetic relation to the past which is regenerated or relived as if it were fully present rather than repre- sented in memory and inscription.”1 In other words, we repeat the traumatic event without any sense of historical or critical distance from it, precisely because the event remains incomprehensible.
    [Show full text]
  • The Inventory Ofthe Donald Richie Collection
    The Inventory ofthe Donald Richie Collection #1134 Howard Gotlieb Archival Research Center Richie, Donald, 1924- April 1994 #77A Box 1 I. MANUSCRIPT A. THE JAPAN JOURNALS. 1947-1994. Leza Lowitz editor. Photocopy of typescript. Finished Draft dated March, 1994. 411 p. Vol I. pp. 1-195, (#1) Vol I I . pp. 19 6-411, ( # 2) ., Richie, Donald Preliminary Listing 2/25/97; 2/26/97 Box2 I. Manuscripts A. Unpublished novels by DR 1. HATE ALL THE WORLD, 1944, t.s. with holograph editing, 300 p., unbound 2. AND WAS LOST, AND IS FOUND, 1949, t.s. with holograph editing, 3rd draft, 60 p., bound 3. THE WAY OF DARKNESS, 1952, carbon t.s. with holograph editing, 250 p., bound, includes newspaper tearsheets 4. MAN ON FIRE, 1963, carbon t.s. with holograph editing, 265 p, bound 5. THE DROWNED, 1983 1. T.s., 108 p. 2. T.s., p/c, with holograph editing, 108 p.; includes notes from "Dick" 6. "The Inland Sea," screenplay, 1993; t.s., 2 copies, one with holograph editing; includes correspondence and related materials II. Play/Ballet Material A. "Edward II" by Christopher Marlowe, 1968 1. Acting version for Troupe Hana, bound; t.s. stage directions with pasted dialogue lines; includes b/w photographs 2. Envelope containing "Edward II" material in Japanese 3. Eight contact sheets, Nov. 1968 B. "An Evening of Four Verse Plays," 1975 1. Director's copy script, halft.s., half pasted in 2. Related materials--posters, pamphlets, photos C. Collection of ballet publicity material-- l 980's previous box: SB 18B Richie, Donald Preliminary Listing 5/21/97 Box2 I.
    [Show full text]
  • Yojimbo | Le Garde Du Corps
    Fiche pédagogique Yojimbo (Le Garde du corps) Projeté dans le cadre de « Planète Cinéma » Film long métrage, Japon, 1961 Résumé Peu à peu, ayant pris le parti de ne pas en prendre, il se Réalisation : Akira Kurosawa Dans le Japon du XIXe met à dresser un gang contre siècle, un rônin (samouraï sans l'autre, en faisant semblant de Interprètes : maître) chemine où le vent le vendre ses services au plus Toshiro Mifune (Kuwobatake porte. Il parvient dans une ville au offrant. Les factions rivales font Sanjuro, le garde du corps/ ronin) nord de l'ancienne Tokyo, livrée monter les enchères pour se Tatsuya Nakadai (Unosuke, le aux caprices de deux clans rivaux disputer le garde du corps, quitte samouraï au pistolet) qui se sont déclaré la guerre. Un à l'assassiner ensuite. Yoko Tsukasa (Nui) policier corrompu y racole les Isuzu Namada (Orin) gens de passage pour les enrôler Mais le sage Sanjuro est Takashi Shimura (Tokuemon) dans un des deux gangs et fait prisonnier et torturé pour avoir Daisuke Kato (Inokichi)… toucher sa commission. S'il veut libéré une femme, que son mari être engagé, Sanjuro le garde du venait de perdre au jeu. Le Scénario : Ryuzo Kikushima et corps a le choix entre le souteneur bienfaiteur trouve cependant le Akira Kurosawa perfide Seibei et l'aubergiste félon moyen de s'échapper, et Musique : Masaru Sato Ushi-Tora. Le samouraï solitaire réapparaît au milieu de la rue prend le temps de réfléchir, à centrale, pour participer au duel Production : Ryuzo Kikushima, l'intérieur d'une gargote déserte. final, seul contre une poignée de Akira Kurosawa, Tomoyuki gangsters.
    [Show full text]
  • From 'Scottish' Play to Japanese Film: Kurosawa's Throne of Blood
    arts Article From ‘Scottish’ Play to Japanese Film: Kurosawa’s Throne of Blood Dolores P. Martinez Emeritus Reader, SOAS, University of London, London WC1H 0XG, UK; [email protected] Received: 16 May 2018; Accepted: 6 September 2018; Published: 10 September 2018 Abstract: Shakespeare’s plays have become the subject of filmic remakes, as well as the source for others’ plot lines. This transfer of Shakespeare’s plays to film presents a challenge to filmmakers’ auterial ingenuity: Is a film director more challenged when producing a Shakespearean play than the stage director? Does having auterial ingenuity imply that the film-maker is somehow freer than the director of a play to change a Shakespearean text? Does this allow for the language of the plays to be changed—not just translated from English to Japanese, for example, but to be updated, edited, abridged, ignored for a large part? For some scholars, this last is more expropriation than pure Shakespeare on screen and under this category we might find Kurosawa’s Throne of Blood (Kumonosu-jo¯ 1957), the subject of this essay. Here, I explore how this difficult tale was translated into a Japanese context, a society mistakenly assumed to be free of Christian notions of guilt, through the transcultural move of referring to Noh theatre, aligning the story with these Buddhist morality plays. In this manner Kurosawa found a point of commonality between Japan and the West when it came to stories of violence, guilt, and the problem of redemption. Keywords: Shakespeare; Kurosawa; Macbeth; films; translation; transcultural; Noh; tragedy; fate; guilt 1.
    [Show 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..
    [Show full text]
  • Masaki Kobayashi: KWAIDAN (1965, 183M) the Version of This Goldenrod Handout Sent out in Our Monday Mailing, and the One Online, Has Hot Links
    March 10, 2020 (XL:10) Masaki Kobayashi: KWAIDAN (1965, 183m) 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. Directed by Masaki Kobayashi Writing Credits Yôko Mizuki (screenplay), Lafcadio Hearn (novel) (as Yakumo Koizumi) Produced by Takeshi Aikawa, Shigeru Wakatsuki Music by Tôru Takemitsu Cinematography by Yoshio Miyajima Film Editing by Hisashi Sagara The film won the Jury Special Prize and was nominated for the Palme d’Or at the 1965 Cannes Film Festival and was nominated for an Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film at the 1966 Academy Awards. CAST for the Palme d'Or at Cannes, and Samurai Rebellion “The Black Hair” (1967), and Kwaidan (1964), for which he, once again, Michiyo Aratama…First wife both won the Jury Special Prize and was nominated for the Misako Watanabe…Second Wife Palme d’Or. He was also nominated for the Palm d’Or for Rentarō Mikuni…Husband Nihon no seishun (1968). He also directed: Youth of the Son (1952), Sincerity (1953), Three Loves* (1954), “The Woman of the Snow” Somewhere Under the Broad Sky (1954), Beautiful Days Tatsuya Nakadai…Minokichi (1955), Fountainhead (1956), The Thick-Walled Room Jun Hamamura…Minokichi’s friend (1956), I Will Buy You (1956), Black River (1957), The *Keiko Kishi…the Yuki-Onna Inheritance (1962), Inn of Evil (1971), The Fossil (1974), Moeru aki (1979), Tokyo Trial* (Documentary) (1983), “Hoichi” and Shokutaku no nai ie* (1985).
    [Show full text]
  • DVD Press Release
    DVD press release Kurosawa Classic Collection 5-disc box set Akira Kurosawa has been hailed as one of the greatest filmmakers ever by critics all over the world. This, the first of two new Kurosawa box sets from the BFI this month, brings together five of his most profound masterpieces, each exploring the complexities of life, and includes two previously unreleased films. An ideal introduction to the work of the master filmmaker, the Kurosawa Classic Collection contains Ikiru (aka Living), I Live in Fear and Red Beard along with the two titles new to DVD, the acclaimed Maxim Gorky adaptation The Lower Depths and Kurosawa’s first colour film Dodes’ka-den (aka Clickety-clack). The discs are accompanied by an illustrated booklet of film notes and credits and selected filmed introductions by director Alex Cox. Ikiru (Living), 1952, 137 mins Featuring a beautifully nuanced performance by Takashi Shimura as a bureaucrat diagnosed with stomach cancer, Ikiru is an intensely lyrical and moving film which explores the nature of existence and how we find meaning in our lives. I Live in Fear (Ikimono no Kiroku), 1955, 99 mins Made at the height of the Cold War, with the destruction of Hiroshima and Nagasaki still a recent memory, Toshiro Mifune delivers an outstanding performance as a wealthy foundry owner who decides to move his entire family to Brazil to escape the nuclear holocaust which he fears is imminent. The Lower Depths (Donzonko), 1957, 120 mins Once again working with Toshiro Mifune, Kurosawa adapts Maxim Gorky’s classic play of downtrodden humanity.
    [Show full text]