W:// Akira Kurosawa
Few writer-directors combined the two disciplines so successfully as Akira Kurosawa. Indeed, Kurosawa himself famously said, “If you want to be a great director, be a great screenwriter.” Above all, Kurosawa was a great storyteller.
In his films, Kurosawa created so many cinematic archetypes, from Seven Samurai (1954) to The Hidden Fortress (1958) to Yojimbo (1961), that they were invariably remade, both in Hollywood and in Europe. Only Rashomon (1950), the greatest cinematic meditation on truth-telling and its rarity, was so singular that it could not be replicated.
In his films, Kurosawa created so many cinematic archetypes, from Seven Samurai (1954) to The Hidden Fortress (1958) to Yojimbo (1961), that they were invariably remade, both in Hollywood and in Europe. Only Rashomon (1950), the greatest cinematic meditation on truth-telling and its rarity, was so singular that it could not be replicated.
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- DirectorKajirô YamamotoStarsHideko TakamineChieko TakehisaKamatari FujiwaraIne Onoda, the eldest daughter of a poor family of farmers, raises a colt from birth and comes to love the horse dearly. When the horse is grown, the government orders it auctioned and sold to the army. Ine struggles to prevent the sale.
- DirectorOsamu FushimizuStarsSetsuko HaraHisako YamaneDen ÔhinataIt was supposed to be about a love story, but it was and was not. An aircraft mechanic working for the government is matched by his boss with the latter man's daughter (Setsuko Hara) who is both beautiful and aggressive. Yet, he picks a woman who is less assertive as his bride.
- DirectorSatsuo YamamotoStarsJôji OkaTakako IrieRanko Hanai
- DirectorAkira KurosawaStarsDenjirô ÔkôchiSusumu FujitaYukiko TodorokiSugata, a young man, struggles to learn the nuance and meaning of judo, and in doing so comes to learn something of the meaning of life.
- DirectorAkira KurosawaStarsTakashi ShimuraSôji KiyokawaIchirô SugaiWorld War II film about female volunteer workers at an optics plant who do their best to meet production targets.
- DirectorAkira KurosawaStarsDenjirô ÔkôchiSusumu FujitaRyûnosuke TsukigataSugata returns to prove his judo mastery in a match against Western opponents.
- DirectorAkira KurosawaStarsDenjirô ÔkôchiSusumu FujitaKen'ichi EnomotoA Japanese general and his men disguise themselves as monks in order to pass an enemy border patrol.
- DirectorAkira KurosawaStarsSetsuko HaraSusumu FujitaDenjirô ÔkôchiThe daughter of a politically disgraced university professor struggles to find a place for herself in love and life, in the uncertain world of Japan leading into WWII.
- DirectorKajirô YamamotoKenta YamazakiTeinosuke KinugasaStarsRyô IkebeYoshiko KugaMichiyo KogureAnthology film in four parts: First Love, Separating's Fun, Too, Love is Easy, and Love Circus.
- DirectorAkira KurosawaStarsIsao NumasakiChieko NakakitaAtsushi WatanabeDuring a Sunday trip into war-ravaged Tokyo, despairing Yuzo and optimistic Masako look for work and lodging, as well as affordable entertainments to pass the time.
- DirectorSenkichi TaniguchiStarsToshirô MifuneTakashi ShimuraYoshio KosugiThree bank robbers on the run from the police hide out in a remote mountain lodge high up in the snowy Japanese Alps.
- DirectorAkira KurosawaStarsTakashi ShimuraToshirô MifuneReizaburô YamamotoA drunken doctor with a hot temper and a violence-prone gangster with tuberculosis form a quicksilver bond.
- DirectorKeisuke KinoshitaStarsKuniko IgawaKuniko MiyakeMitsuko MiuraA couple plan to take advantage of an artist and his family, but his kind nature causes problems in their plan.
- DirectorAkira KurosawaStarsToshirô MifuneTakashi ShimuraMiki SanjôA surgeon gets syphilis from a patient when he cuts himself during an operation. The doctor's life is destroyed, but unlike the patient, he doesn't destroy others along with him.
- DirectorSenkichi TaniguchiStarsToshirô MifuneRyûnosuke TsukigataYuriko HamadaIn a village subsisting on it herring fishery, a one-eyed criminal named Jakoman terrorizes the inhabitants. One of them, the son of the head of one of the fish companies by the name of Tetsu, decides to overthrow Jakoman and his cohorts.
- DirectorAkira KurosawaStarsToshirô MifuneTakashi ShimuraKeiko AwajiDuring a sweltering summer, a rookie homicide detective tries to track down his stolen Colt pistol.
- DirectorSenkichi TaniguchiStarsRyô IkebeShirley YamaguchiEitarô OzawaMikami, a Japanese soldier serving in China, is captured by the Chinese. Although he is able to escape, his troubles are far from over. He returns to his unit but is treated with contempt for the disgrace of having been captured. Mikami falls in love with Harumi, a prostitute. She tries to convince him to desert from the army, with fatal results.
- DirectorAkira KurosawaStarsToshirô MifuneShirley YamaguchiYôko KatsuragiA celebrity photograph sparks a court case as a tabloid magazine spins a scandalous yarn over a painter and a famous singer.
- DirectorAkira KurosawaStarsToshirô MifuneMachiko KyôMasayuki MoriThe rape of a bride and the murder of her samurai husband are recalled from the perspectives of a bandit, the bride, the samurai's ghost and a woodcutter.
- DirectorMasahiro MakinoStarsUtaemon IchikawaRyûnosuke TsukigataIsuzu YamadaStage sword-fighting and fencing instructor and choreographer, or 'tateshi', Ichikawa Danpei was a man so focused on his art and job at hand that he fails to notice how the times are passing him by and the moving tastes of the audiences, which are calling for more realism, are contributing to less demand for his skills. This is the story of changing times.
- DirectorSenkichi TaniguchiStarsRyô IkebeMitsuko MitoToshirô MifuneA young man, convicted of a crime and imprisoned in the penitentiary, comes to believe that his wife is being unfaithful to him. He contrives his escape from the prison in order to seek her out and learn the truth, but the police give chase and he must flee into the mountains.
