Akira Kurosawa
'The best director of Toho,
the best screenplay writer of Japan,
the best cutter in the world.'
il tenno
In this section detailed info only on the Kurosawa movies I have seen.
This may mean only that I have had the privilege of seeing it in a luxurious Paris showroom (Sanjuro);
that I had a copy sent to Holland and had it screened for a vast audience of at the most 20 people (The Bad Sleep Well);
that I had it accepted for screening in a film festival (Red Beard);
or that I actually had it released in Dutch movie theaters (High and Low)
— and then all the way down to crummy VHS-tapes.
Below all Kurosawa's movies are listed, and some books on or by him.
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| SANJURO | THE BAD SLEEP WELL Warui Yatsu Hodo Yoku Nemuru |
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Books on Kurosawa
Donald Richie: The Films of Akira Kurosawa
The standard classic's third edition; contains descriptions of and commentaries on all Kurosawa movies.
Very thorough and complete—Richie knows what he's writing about.
University of California Press, 1996
Akira Kurosawa: Something Like an Autobiography
Also highly recommended. Alas, it stops with Rashomon.
Will go to show you Kurosawa was just a regular, unconceited, beer-drinking guy.
Vintage Books, 1983
All Kurosawa movies
chronological list
| year | original title | title | production |
| 1943 | Sugata Sanshiro | Judo Saga | Toho, Japan |
| 1944 | Ichiban Utsukushiku | The Most Beautiful | Toho, Japan |
| 1945 | Zoku Sugata Sanshiro | Sanshiro Sugata, part II | Toho, Japan |
| 1945 | Tora no O o Fumu Otokachi | They Who Step on the Tiger's Tail | Toho, Japan |
| 1946 | Asu o Skuru Hitobito | Those Who Make Tomorrow | Toho, Japan |
| 1946 | Waga Sheishun ni Kuinashi | No Regrets for Our Youth | Toho, Japan |
| 1947 | Subarashi Nichiyobi | One Wonderful Sunday | Toho, Japan |
| 1948 | Yoidore Tenshi | Drunken Angel | Toho, Japan |
| 1949 | Shizukanaru Ketto | The Quiet Duel | Daiei, Japan |
| 1949 | Nora Inu | Stray Dog | Shintoho, Japan |
| 1950 | Shubun | Scandal | Shochiku, Japan |
| 1950 | Rashomon | Rashomon | Daiei, Japan |
| 1951 | Hakuchi | The Idiot | Shochiku, Japan |
| 1952 | Ikiru | Living aka Doomed | Toho, Japan |
| 1954 | Shichinin no Samurai | Seven Samurai | Toho, Japan |
| 1955 | Ikimono no Kiroku | Record of a Living Being aka I Live in Fear | Toho, Japan |
| 1957 | Kumonosu-jo | Throne of Blood | Toho, Japan |
| 1957 | Donzoko | The Lower Depths | Toho, Japan |
| 1958 | Kakushi Toride no San-Akunin | The Hidden Fortress | Toho, Japan |
| 1960 | Warui Yatsu Hodo Yoko Nomuru | The Bad Sleep Well | Toho, Japan |
| 1961 | Yojimbo | Yojimbo | Toho, Japan |
| 1962 | Tsubaki Sanjuro | Sanjuro | Toho, Japan |
| 1963 | Tengoku to Jigoku | High and Low | Toho, Japan |
| 1965 | Akahige | Redbeard | Toho, Japan |
| All later Kurosawa movies are in color | |||
| 1970 | Dodesukaden | Dodes'ka-den | Kai/Toho, Japan |
| 1975 | Derusu Usara | Dersu Usala | Mosfilm, USSR |
| 1980 | Kagemusha | The Shadow Warrior | Toho, Japan |
| 1985 | Ran | Ran | Toho, Japan |
| 1990 | Yume | Dreams | Spielberg/Warner, USA |
| 1991 | Hachigatsu no Kyoshikoku | Rhapsody in August | Shochiku, Japan |
| 1993 | Madâ dâ yo | Madadayo | Daiei/Dentsu, Japan |
Quiet Duel
In Akira Kurosawa's stark drama, Toshiro Mifune is a young, virgin doctor working in a small hospital who contracts syphilis from a patient. Troubled by his conscience, Mifune decides to secretly treat himself and not marry the woman he had planned to. With Takashi Shimura.
Kagemusha
Sprawling Akira Kurosawa epic of a petty thief in feudal Japan who is spared from death in order to impersonate a recently killed warlord, and who begins to take on the fiery drive of his predecessor as he leads his clan into battle. Tatsuya Nakadai, Tsutomu Yamazaki star.
160 min. Widescreen
Ran
Akira Kurosawa's spellbinding transposition of "King Lear" to feudal Japan chronicles Lord Hidetora's attempt to pass down his kingdom to his sons, which results in its violent and chaotic downfall. Tatsuya Nakadai stars, with Akira Terao, Jinpachi Nezu and Daisuke Ryu as his sons, and Mieko Harada as ruthless Lady Kaede.
160 min. Widescreen
Rhapsody In August
Akira Kurosawa's sensitive drama tells of four children whose visit to their grandmother rekindles her frightening memories of August 9th, 1945, when an atomic bomb was dropped on Nagasaki. The children learn about the horrors of war, and when an American cousin arrives, more dark secrets of the past are revealed. Sachiko Murase, Hidetaka Yoshioka and Richard Gere star.
98 min. Widescreen (
Madadayo
The final work from legendary filmmaker Akira Kurosawa is a gentle, lyrical drama set in '40s Japan. An elderly teacher, revered by his now-grown students, steps down to devote his final years to his writing. Despite losing his home in an air raid and other hardships, the steadfast "sensei" refuses to give up on life with a valiant cry of "Madadayo" ("not yet"). Tatsuo Matsumura, Kyoko Kagawa star.
134 min.
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