watch all of Akira Kurowsawa's films

The last of Kurowsawa’s films. Makes me wonder if he himself uttered “madadayo” during his own ending…..

I just bought the anime series Samurai 7. Not sure when I will get to it, but eventually i will!

In 1572, there is a civil war in Japan, and three powerful clans, leaded by the lords Shingen Takeda (Tatsuya Nakadai), Nobunaga Oda (Daisuke Ryu) and Ieyasu Tokugawa (Masayuki Yui), dispute the conquest of Kyoto. When Shingen is mortally wounded, the Takeda clan hides the incident and uses a poor thief to be the double of the strategist Shingen and keep the respect of their enemies. Along the years, Kagemusha incorporates the spirit of the warrior of the dead warlord.

Great film!

This is essentially eight separate short films, though with some overlaps in terms of characters and thematic material – chiefly that of man’s relationship with his environment. ‘Sunshine Through The Rain’: a young boy is told not to go out on the day when both weather conditions occur, because that’s when the foxes hold their wedding procession, which could have fatal consequences for those who witness it. ‘The Peach Orchard’: the same young boy encounters the spirits of the peach trees that have been cut down by heartless humans. ‘The Blizzard’: a team of mountaineers are saved from a blizzard by spiritual intervention. ‘The Tunnel’: a man encounters the ghosts of an army platoon, whose deaths he was responsible for. ‘Crows’: an art student encounters Vincent Van Gogh and enters the world of his paintings. ‘Mount Fuji in Red’: nuclear meltdown threatens the devastation of Japan. ‘The Weeping Demon’: a portrait of a post-nuclear world populated by human mutations. ‘Village of the Watermills’: a sunny portrait of a village whose population is entirely at one with nature.

This is a Japanese adaptation of Shakespeare’s King Lear. An aging warlord decides to split his kingdom between his three sons, who will live in three separate castles. The two eldest sons are quite happy, but the youngest thinks his father has gone mad, and predicts that it won’t be long until the two older brothers are fighting with each other.

Murukami, a young homicide detective, has his pocket picked on a bus and loses his pistol. Frantic and ashamed, he dashes about trying to recover the weapon without success until taken under the wing of an older and wiser detective, Sato. Together they track the culprit.

A transposition of Shakespeare’s ‘Macbeth’ to medieval Japan. After a great military victory, Lords Washizu and Miki are lost in the dense Cobweb Forest, where they meet a mysterious old woman who predicts great things for Washizu and even greater things for Miki’s descendants. Once out of the forest, Washizu and Miki are immediately promoted by the Emperor. Washizu, encouraged by his ambitious wife, plots to make even more of the prophecy come true, even if it means killing the Emperor…

This was pretty bloody! Isuzu Yamada who portrays the wife is quite chilling in the film.

Toshiro Mifune! My favourite! George Lucas said that this film is the best of mysteries! I love black and white movies!

An executive mortgages all he owns to stage a coup and gain control of the National Shoe Company, with the intent of keeping the company out of the hands of incompetent and greedy executives. He needs the same money, though, to pay the ransom that will possibly save a child’s life. His resolution of that dilemma - the certain loss of the company vs. the probable loss of the child - makes for one distinct drama, and an ensuing elaborate police procedure makes for a second.

This film was a powerful film for me. It really makes you stop and think. That is what I want in a film more than anything else. Takashi Shimura is brilliant in this film. One of my most fave films! I think I know a lot of people like the character Watanabe that he plays. You will ask yourself a lot of questions about your own role in this world.

Kanji Watanabe is a longtime bureaucrat in a city office who, along with the rest of the office, spends his entire working life doing nothing. He learns he is dying of cancer and wants to find some meaning in his life. He finds himself unable to talk with his family, and spends a night on the town with a novelist, but that leaves him unfulfilled. He next spends time with a young woman from his office, but finally decides he can make a difference through his job… After Watanabe’s death, co-workers at his funeral discuss his behavior over the last several months and debate why he suddenly became assertive in his job to promote a city park, and resolve to be more like Watanabe.

This is one of my fave Kurowsawa films. I really love films that make us think, and think and think and maybe feel like we want to change something in our lives. The film is about a young Doctor (Yasumoto) who is a recent grad that is assigned to a rural clinic for post grad training. He is pissed because he wants to join the elite team of physicians caring for the Japanese Shogunate. Now he is serving the impoverished local population with Dr. Niide aka “RED Beard”, a demanding boss who is very brusque and abrupt, but thoroughly devoted to his poor patients. Slowly Yasumoto is changed with more exposure to Red Beard. He learns the true meaning of helping others and being a Doctor. Seeing patients as humans who are suffering and whose individual lives he can improve and heal with his care. Great ending! Prepare the Kleenex!