... the Art of Akira Kurosawa

One of the finest Japanese Directors, Akira Kurosawa (1910-1998) came to the notice of the West when his revolutionary Rashomon (1950) won the ‘Golden Lion’ at the Venice Film Festival, but he is perhaps best known for his historical masterpiece Seven Samurai (1954) which was re-made as a Hollywood western, The Magnificent Seven (1960). Kurosawa acknowledged the films of such directors as Capra, Wyler and especially John Ford, influenced his approach, and he, in turn, inspired such diverse directors as Lucas, Ford-Coppola, Peckinpah and Scorsese. Kurosawa’s historical epics included Ran (1983) which was loosely based on Shakespeare’s King Lear, Kagemusha (1980), financed in part by Ford-Coppola and Lucas, and Dersu Uzala (1975) the only film he made outside Japan, at the invitation of Mosfilm of the then-soviet Russia. Below are four of Kurosawa’s lesser known works, two contemporary, two historical. Like many Hollywood directors, Kurosawa had a ‘family’ of actors he frequently worked with, including Toshiro Mifune, Takashi Shimura and Minoru Chiaki.

Throne of Blood (1957)
Based on Shakespeare’s Macbeth, the movie follows the rise to power of a lesser feudal lord in sixteenth century Japan. In the ‘cob-web’ forest two mounted Samurai are haunted by a forest ghost spirit (inspired by the characters from Japanese Noh theatre) and the Spirit prophesizes great things for both Washizu (Toshiro Mifune) and the descendents of Miki (Minoru Chiaki) his loyal companion. When the predictions prove true all too soon, Washizu’s nagging wife (Isuzu Yamada) pushes him down a path of bloodly betrayal. (Kurosawa’s recurring connections to nature is at its best here, much of the film was shot on location in and around Mount Fiji. )

Stray Dog (1949)
In post-WWII Tokyo, former soldier turned policeman Murakami (Toshiro Mifune) earns a promotion to detective. During his first few days in plain-clothes, he loses his gun to a pick-pocket on a bus. Shamed, he attempts to resign, but both his department head and his partner-mentor Sato (Takashi Shimura) tell him to deal with it. Then a series of robberies and a murder occur, all using Murakami’s pistol. An chase to capture the fugitive, through a war-ravaged, heat-racked, world-weary Japan.

Drunken Angel (1948)
In his first role for Kurosawa, Toshiro Mifune plays Matsunaga, a tubercular member of the Yakuza (gangsters). Sanada (Takashi Shimura) a grumpy doctor who likes his beer, doggedly attempts to get the reluctant gangster to take the cure, after he treats him (none too softly) for a gun-shot wound. Amidst the harsh underworld of the post-war black-market, ministering to patients living around a more than symbolic cesspool, Sanada does his best for the misfortunates in his care, despite the temptations of a new hospital being staffed by a former colleague. (Mifune, newly released from army service, is suitably emaciated for his role.)

The Hidden Fortress (1958)
After being heavily defeated in battle and bearly escaping with their lives, General Makabe (Toshiro Mifune) is tasked with getting his tribal Princess Yuki (Misa Uehara) and a hidden stash of gold across enemy territory to the safety of their allies. Travelling incognito, the aristocrats are joined by two meddling peasants Tahei (Minoru Chiaki) and Matakishi (Kamatari Fujiwara) whom they accept as travel companions merely to provide cover. But after the peasants aid an escaped slave-girl (Toshiko Higuchi), the General finds himself burdened with getting all five of them to safety. (George Lucas is on record as saying that this movie inspired the basis of his Star Wars Trilogy.)