In an epilogue provided for his incomparable study of Akira Kurosawa (1910-1998), Donald Richie reflects on Kurosawa's life work of thirty feature films and describes his last, unfinished project, a film set in the Edo period to be called The Ocean Was Watching. Kurosawa remains unchallenged as one of the century's greatest film directors. Through his long and distinguished career he managed, like very few others in the teeth of a huge and relentless industry, to elevate each of his films to a distinctive level of art. His Rashomon--one of the best-remembered and most talked-of films in any language--was a revelation when it appeared in 1950 and did much to bring Japanese cinema to the world's attention. Kurosawa's films display an extraordinary breadth and an astonishing strength, from the philosophic and sexual complexity of Rashomon to the moral dedication of Ikiru, from the naked violence of Seven Samurai to the savage comedy of Yojimbo, from the terror-filled feudalism of Throne of Blood to the piercing wit of Sanjuro.
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"A perceptive, detailed, and richly illustrated volume, it examines Kurosawa's choice of themes, story-telling techniques, camera work, and directorial style."--"Cinema Canada
About the Author
Donald Richie is the Arts Critic for The Japan Times.
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Akira Kurosawa was born in Tokyo in 1910. Read the first page
Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Index | Back Cover
Akira Kurosawa was born in Tokyo in 1910. Read the first page
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Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Index | Back Cover
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13 of 14 people found the following review helpful
By A Customer
Format:Paperback
This is simply an excellent book. It thouroughly chronicles all of Akira Kurosawa's movies. It's chock full of detailed breakdowns of the story, production and post production of all of Kurosawa's films. Let me add that ALL of Kurosawa's movies are discussed in detail.
There is also a section towards the end in which Kurosawa talks about his philosophy on the elements of filmmaking. I found this section to be extremely invaluable. I understand why filmmakers like Steven Speilberg and George Lucas were influenced by his work. If you love Akira Kurosawas films, this is the book to get. Do yourself a favor and pick it up.
11 of 12 people found the following review helpful
By A Customer
Format:Paperback
Akira Kurosawa is my favorite director. He alos made my favorite move. "Seven Samurai". Donald Richie's book examines each of Kurosawa's films in fine detail and shows us what makes a truly great director.
Richie's insights and analysis had me buying, unseen, copies of "Ikiru" and "Sleeping Dogs". He made want to see these movies that much. All of Kurosawa's films through "Rhapsody In August" are covered here. The chapters on "Ran" and "Dreams" are excellent and show that Kurosawa's talent has not diminished with age. (If you haven't seen these two films, I urge you to do son along with the underrated "Dersu Uzala")
If you are unfamiliar with the brilliance of Akira Kurosawa, this book will introduce you to the works of a world class director whose works should be appreciated more. His influence on Peckinpah, Scorsese, John Sayles, George Miller, John Woo and others is apparent. George Lucas and Francis Coppola helped finance "Kagemusha" when financing in Japan became difficult. Steven Spielberg presented Kurosawa with a lifetime achievment Academy Award. These directors know this is one of film history's greatest artists. The rest of us should know this as well.
0 of 4 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
I can't believe someone ever could get this text published...its interest amounts to almost nothing (only a few quotations from A. Kurosawa's Autobiography do give some real information)...
The whole book is only a synopsis of each film (some of them oddly misunderstood in basic aspects)...which makes it useless if you've already watched them, and if you haven't, it spoils the experience by revealing the whole plot and ending.
Then, Richie gives his own opinion, interpretation and criticism of each film...to this point, the book was empty, but with this, it becomes simply offensive! He contradicts himself, often in the same paragraph, as he also contradits Kurosawa's reports about the films, shooting, actors, results, etc...
Richie, eager to say something witty apparently at any cost, points at supposed, sometimes stilted and sometimes hackneyed symbolisms, everywhere (Kurosawa politely wrote a kind preface to this book, but did add to it that he doesn't always agree with Richie's statements on his work), while he despises most moments of emotion in these films...
He intends to write an hermeneutic pseudo-philosophical textbook on something that isn't correctly approached by these means: film and art...
And writes about his own reactions to the films, explaining his own (mysteriously restrained) tastes, which can't be of much interest to any reader interested in Kurosawa's work rather than in Mr. Richie...
The book barely contains any information about the making of the films, conception of the idea and the script, etc, in any case much less than you can find in Kurosawa's interviews or own Autobiography.
It lacks interest, reliability and respect to an unbelievable extend in a book...
The whole book is only a synopsis of each film (some of them oddly misunderstood in basic aspects)...which makes it useless if you've already watched them, and if you haven't, it spoils the experience by revealing the whole plot and ending.
Then, Richie gives his own opinion, interpretation and criticism of each film...to this point, the book was empty, but with this, it becomes simply offensive! He contradicts himself, often in the same paragraph, as he also contradits Kurosawa's reports about the films, shooting, actors, results, etc...
Richie, eager to say something witty apparently at any cost, points at supposed, sometimes stilted and sometimes hackneyed symbolisms, everywhere (Kurosawa politely wrote a kind preface to this book, but did add to it that he doesn't always agree with Richie's statements on his work), while he despises most moments of emotion in these films...
He intends to write an hermeneutic pseudo-philosophical textbook on something that isn't correctly approached by these means: film and art...
And writes about his own reactions to the films, explaining his own (mysteriously restrained) tastes, which can't be of much interest to any reader interested in Kurosawa's work rather than in Mr. Richie...
The book barely contains any information about the making of the films, conception of the idea and the script, etc, in any case much less than you can find in Kurosawa's interviews or own Autobiography.
It lacks interest, reliability and respect to an unbelievable extend in a book...
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