- Unknown Binding: 218 pages
- Publisher: California U.P.Cambridge U.P (1965)
- Language English
- ASIN: B001NMXPE2
- Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
Did you know you can trade in your old books for an Amazon.co.uk Gift Card to spend on the things you want? Plus, get an extra £5 Gift Certificate when you trade in books worth £10 or more before June 30, 2012. Visit the Books Trade-In Store for more details. |
Product details |
More About the Author
Inside This Book
(Learn More)
Browse and search another edition of this book.
Browse and search another edition of this book.
First Sentence
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
Explore More
Concordance
Browse Sample PagesConcordance
Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Index | Back Cover
Suggested Tags from Similar Products(What's this?)Be the first one to add a relevant tag (keyword that's strongly related to this product)
|
Sell a Digital Version of This Book in the Kindle Store
If you are a publisher or author and hold the digital rights to a book, you can sell a digital version of it in our Kindle Store.
Learn more
What Other Items Do Customers Buy After Viewing This Item?
Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
12 of 13 people found the following review helpful
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.
10 of 11 people found the following review helpful
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 1 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
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...
Would you like to see more reviews about this item?
Were these reviews helpful?
Let us know
Listmania!
Look for similar items by category
Feedback
- Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?
- I am the Author, and I want to comment on my book.
- I am the Publisher, and I want to comment on this book.
