Rashomon (1950)

5/5

Rashomon was the first Kurosawa movie I'd ever seen, and it blew me away. The movie is based on a short story called "In a Grove," which describes an incident that takes place in the woods. The incident involves the death of a samurai (Mori) and the rape of his wife (Kyo) after an encounter with the bandit Tajomaru (Mifune). But the exact details of what transpired there we may never know. The movie proper begins at Rashomon Gate in a torrential downpour. We see a priest (Chiaki) and woodcutter (Shimura), who both witnessed the court hearings and walked away baffled. After hearing each individual's conflicting account of the incident, each more self-incriminating than the last, the priest is on the verge of losing his faith in mankind.

The movie I remember is better than the movie I saw. The movie I analyzed is better than the movie I saw. That is not to disparage Rashomon at all, as it is a great film that has stood the test of time, but rather a mark on its characteristics. It is more art than entertainment, more stimulating to discuss than enjoyable to see. Whereas I could rewatch No Country for Old Men 100 times for the sheer fun of it, Rashomon more appropriately aims to contribute through its complex thematic possibilities. It is a movie that discusses insight and ideas first and foremost and then tries to tack on the human element afterward. The acting serves to advance the plot, and fails at realism or empathy. Unlike The Rules of the Game, the dialogue contains hardly any quotable gems. But there is something inimitable and profound about this movie that I cannot shake, something that sparked a fire in me and inspired me to search out art house cinema. Rashomon turned me on to Kurosawa, and to the moving pictures as works of art, and for that I will always be indebted to this film.

IMDb link: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0042876/

Drunken Angel (1948)

3/5

Drunken Angel is an early Kurosawa film, billed as a film noir but playing more like a character study. The story follows Dr. Sanada (Shimura), a gruff physician working in a poverty-stricken district with a trash-infested swamp serving as the centerpiece for the village (and thematically probably much more, although I can't figure out what). He works not for money or prestige, but for the inherent reward of helping people in need. He begins an uneasy friendship with a gangster named Matsunaga (Mifune) after diagnosing him with tuberculosis. Tensions heighten when Okada (Yamamoto) returns from prison, declaring power over Matsunaga's turf and claiming ownership of a young woman who works for Dr. Sanada (Nakakita).

The movie is surprisingly unique, and for whatever reason I could not predict what would happen next. Kurosawa has a way of making movies that envelop you in them, that place you in the action, so that you enjoy the story instead of analyze it. Even so, I was disappointed in the film. Some characters were written flat while others felt like explosive caricatures. The titular doctor has an unusual habit of throwing bottles at his patients and calling them fools. The compositions were second-rate (made worse by the sub-standard Criterion transfer), the camerawork was shoddy, and the editing was choppy. Much of the medicine in the movie is unintentionally comic, likely because it is old medicine and not because of bad writing. Overall the movie just felt a little less put-together than his later films. You could see sparks of genius and the direction he wanted to take it, but without the proper tools to get him there. A fine effort, but there is much better Kurosawa to be had.

IMDb link: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0040979/

Kagemusha (1980)

4/5

Akira Kurosawa's Kagemusha, which translates to Shadow Warrior, is a historical epic during the 1500's that focuses on Lord Shingen (Nakadai) as he combats Lords Ieyasu (Yui) and Nobunaga (Ryu) to unite and rule Japan. Shingen's brother Nobukado (Yamazaki) rescues a thief from crucifixion due to his resemblance to Shingen and his potential to be used as a kagemusha, or double. During a battle, Shingen is shot and killed; his dying wish is for his death to be kept a secret for three years. And so the thief begins to impersonate Lord Shingen, but deceiving his grandson, mistresses, and untameable horse is not a simple task.

The movie is technically impressive. The seven-minute single-take intro shot transfixes you. The use of colors is brilliant, beautiful, and awe-inspiring. There is one shot in the movie that rivals the best single shot I have ever seen in any movie--and it's immediately followed by another ridiculous shot. The acting and dialogue are all phenomenal as well. However, the editing drags a bit. The film should have been at least 15-30 minutes shorter. There is almost 10 minutes of pointless repetition in the penultimate scene of the movie. And there is not much closure at the end. This may be because the film is a historical epic (and a rather accurate one, from what I can gather) and not a samurai movie, as I had first thought. It's important to realize that, because there are very different expectations in characterization, atmosphere, and plot progression between the two. Be sure you know what you're getting into when you start this movie, or you may be disappointed. Still, I highly recommend you see it.

IMDb link: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0080979/

Dersu Uzala (1975)

2/5

Akira Kurosawa's Dersu Uzala follows the friendship between Russian explorer Arseniev (Solomin) and Goldi hunter Dersu Uzala (Munzuk). There is no real story to speak of--it is instead a series of short adventures the two share while exploring--and there is no real end in sight, which makes the 2.5 hour runtime feel that much more painful and soporific. His use of long takes felt like wasted time in the already long and boring movie. He would have had to cut a lot more than an hour off to make this movie interesting and compelling enough for me to recommend.

The characters feel simple, superficial, and contrived. The acting isn't that great and is thankfully left mostly in the background. The cinematography was surprisingly underwhelming. Maybe I just expect too much of Kurosawa's camera, but this does not look like a Kurosawa picture. Not by a long shot. His black and white films reveal his acute eye, but in this movie I see only bland, washed-out colors reminiscent of generic 70's films. If I could go back in time and meet up with Kurosawa, I would have suggested he avoid Russian writing, because this film and The Idiot are by far his worst ones. I find little to value in this picture, and cannot imagine many people will either.

IMDb link: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0071411/

Red Beard (1965)

4/5

Red Beard would be a laudable movie by any other director, but is somewhat disappointing coming from Kurosawa. It follows a small town doctor nicknamed Red Beard (Mifune) and his arrogant new intern Dr. Yasumoto (Kayama), who would rather serve as the shogun's personal doctor instead of working in the free clinic. Through the few months of his training, he witnesses several life-altering and humbling stories that convince him to stay. Much like MASH, the film feels extremely episodic and there is neither a typical story arc nor a predictable end point. Each individual vignette is quite satisfying, exposing the human motivation behind seemingly malevolent or cruel actions, but they don't really cohere into a satisfying whole. I can easily see this being turned into a sappy melodramatic TV series by money-hungry producers.

The technical aspects of this film are of the highest caliber. Kurosawa's camera is impeccable. It moves naturally and smoothly through long takes to effortlessly compose scenes of stunning beauty and power. The editing, for the most part, is practically invisible. In combination with his camerawork, you never feel like you're watching a movie--you're simply watching events happen before your eyes. But there were also a few times where the editing was striking, jarring, and altogether confusing; luckily they were few and far between. His use of music is exciting and appropriate without going overboard, although it did approach that fine line several times. The acting by all parties is pitch-perfect and worthy of praise. Not a single player disappoints. I am always impressed by Mifune, and here he lives up to my high expectations. All in all, this is a terrific film on technical grounds with inspiring short stories. But the stories, when taken together, are below par for Kurosawa. This is worth watching, but know that it isn't among Kurosawa's best.

IMDb link: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0058888/

Ikiru (1952)

5/5

Akira Kurosawa's Ikiru, which means "to live," is a tender portrait of an aging bureaucrat (Shimura) who's wasted 30 years of his life, discovers he has cancer, and fights to reclaim meaning and relevance before he dies. Through the eyes of his coworkers and family, we see a man who has lost his excitement for life attempt to find it again--in alcohol, strip clubs, and young women--but cannot. Instead his search leads him ultimately to redemption through his job in the government, where he makes up his mind to get a park built for a local community. His achievement doesn't improve the government's inefficiency, his death doesn't change most of his coworkers' opinions of him, but for a select few, he has made a world of difference.

The structure of the film is unique, because the last hour or so takes place after his death. And this is where the film is truly elevated out of the melodramatic sentimentality modern-day Hollywood would have turned it into. At his wake we finally get to see what people really think of him, without his feelings and the possibility of hurting them to get in the way. We are frustrated at everyone who doesn't understand what he was doing, we are infuriated at them for trying to cheat him out of his accomplishment, and we want to yell at the screen: "THIS IS A GOOD MAN WHO DIED! RESPECT HIM!" But Kurosawa's brilliant directing controls it all. Our final image of the man is one of serenity, a smile on his face as he swings back and forth in the park he managed to build for people who needed it. He doesn't care about the credit; he just knows he did a good deed and can die peacefully.

The entire story is told in evocative shot compositions and Shimura's expressive face. We see a paper on improving government efficiency that he wrote 20 years prior, and we see him tear off its cover page to use as a tissue before throwing it away. Does he even remember writing that? In the waiting room at the doctor's office, he listens as a man describes the symptoms of stomach cancer and callously correlates them to life expectancy. His horror mangles his face. When he comes home to tell his son he's going to die, he overhears him greedily talking about his pension and loses the heart to tell him. Through a few quick flashbacks we see a father full of joy, pride, shame, and guilt, but unable to change how his son looks at him.

Ikiru is a slow-paced and often silent film, which demands patience of its audience for the 2 hour and 20 minute runtime. And it is a sad story for most of its length--but it ends with one of the most poignant, uplifting finales I have ever seen. Could it have stood to be edited a bit tighter? Yes. Could some short vignettes have been cut? Of course. But the picture overcomes its minor drawbacks and envelops you; it enriches your life. And after you see this movie, you might be one of the coworkers who doesn't much change, but you also might be the one who sees the whole world with new eyes.

IMDb link: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0044741/

The Bad Sleep Well (1960)

5/5

Akira Kurosawa's The Bad Sleep Well is a complex re-envisioning of Shakespeare's Hamlet. It uses corruption as its backdrop and noir as its accent. Written with precision, directed with skill, and acted with dexterity, this is a masterpiece as only Kurosawa can pull off. As in all noirs, the plot is labyrinthine, the subject matter is dark, and the mood is fatalistic. However, this revenge story does not have all the elements of noir: a femme fatale is absent, replaced instead by a wholly kind and honest soul. Her presence makes the ending all the more heartbreaking and poignant.

Like any good noir, we see every character, both the "good" guys and the "bad" guys, get what's coming to them. But like the very best noirs, we feel a palpable tension creep up on us, get under our skin, and make us shudder with apprehension, wishing it didn't have to happen. We watch as each character uses deceit and duplicity to build the foundations for their greedy and vengeful goals; we watch as leaks start to spring up and they lose a bit of control; we watch as they duct-tape the pieces back together and lie to themselves about its stability; and we watch as it eventually collapses due to their own shoddy, sleazy craftsmanship. It represents everything film noir aspires to, from the technical aspects like cinematography to the nebulous qualities like mood, and does so with aplomb.

When I put the movie into the DVD player, I did not know that it would be a film noir. And I am, unfortunately, not as familiar with Hamlet as I should be or would like to be. While watching it, I assumed it would be a different kind of movie and did not find it as compelling or enveloping as I thought it should have been. But looking back on it, in the context of a noir, I see it as one of the best to emerge outside of America. I cannot yet judge the film as far as adaptations go, but I am excited to watch it again after reading through and discussing Hamlet. This is one film I know I will revisit many times to come.

IMDb link: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0054460/

I Live In Fear (1955)

4.9/5

Akira Kurosawa's I Live In Fear takes a simple premise and makes it powerful, unique, and memorable. Toshiro Mifune stars as an aging foundry owner in post-war Japan who fears that his and his family's life are in danger from a nuclear holocaust. He becomes so frightened that he tries to force his family to move with him to Brazil, where he thinks they will be safe. They take him to family court, where Takashi Shimura plays a mediator, to petition his fiscal activities on the grounds of mental incompetence. But who's really crazy, who's being helped, and who's being hurt? The thematics are rich, involved, and compelling. It explores the seemingly basic topic so fully and thoroughly that you are surprised at the amount of depth it contains.

Technically, the movie lives up to the Kurosawa name. He uses fluid camera movement and pristine blocking to give us amazing visual compositions. The editing smartly cuts out useless, empty shots yet also lets scenes sit patiently when called for. The acting by Mifune is simply outstanding--simply unparalleled. Despite the monstrous "old person" makeup he was wearing, he infused his character with empathy and warmth to make him completely and wholly believable. His performance is a marvel to behold. As with every Kurosawa movie, this one is more than just the sum of its parts. Every aspect of this movie combines to form something extraordinary. It rises way past its minor flaws to produce the singular masterpiece that it is.

IMDb link: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0048198/

The Idiot (1951)

2/5

Akira Kurosawa's adaptation of Fyodor Dostoevsky's The Idiot follows an epileptic named Kameda who is a "positively good man" that gets crushed by society. After being falsely accused of murder, he is sent behind a firing squad and is rescued just seconds before his death. He loses his mind as a result of that event, and all that seems to be left is the good inside of him. It is his inability to understand society and his ability to speak only what's in his heart that makes two women fall in love with him, each with their own separate suitors. He too must come to terms with how he feels about each woman.

Cut by the studio from its original running time of 265 minutes down to 165 minutes, the movie is unsurprisingly jumbled and disconnected (and surprisingly bad given the big names behind it). There are a lot of scenes that don't make sense or feel out of place. The parts that are left in have been paced for a four and a half hour film, so they feel really slow in the shorter two and three quarters hour film. There is a lot of silence (like pregnant pauses that simply end instead of give birth to something meaningful) and a lot of overacting and a lot of melodrama. There is little subtlety and little left to your imagination, except trying to figure out what parts of the movie were cut by the studio. On the upside, the cinematography is excellent as always, with flawless blocking and camera movements. And I love his use of reflections. On the whole, I simply cannot recommend that anyone see this movie. However, perhaps if you've read the book and you like Kurosawa, you can fill in the blanks yourself and maybe make the film amount to something meaningful for you.

IMDb link: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0043614/

Scandal (1950)

3/5

Akira Kurosawa's Scandal is a rather middling film, I am disappointed to say. The plot follows a tabloid scandal alleging a love affair between painter Aoe (Mifune) and singer Saijo (Yamaguchi). Furious, Aoe threatens to sue the tabloid's publisher (Ozawa) and hires attorney Hiruta (Shimura) to help. But Hiruta's gambling addiction compromises their case. While the movie is more than a simple legal drama, it fails to satisfy on that basic level. After watching so much Boston Legal lately, my expectations for the genre have risen exponentially. And Scandal fails to meet them.

On a technical level, there is little to impress. I remember next to nothing of the cinematography and editing. Even the performances by Mifune and Shimura felt a bit like staged overacting given the rest of the piece. Where Kurosawa excels is in the human drama. The heart of the movie is Hiruta's relationship with his dying daughter. The man's vice fills him with guilt and he has no idea how to express it appropriately. All he can do is call himself a worm and beg for his daughter's mercy. It is a sentimental tale that ends ultimately in redemption, but not without a heavy dose of sadness along the way. As I said of One Wonderful Sunday, Scandal is not as good as Kurosawa's more famous works, so you should wait to watch it until after you've seen the rest of his oeuvre.

IMDb link: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0042958/

One Wonderful Sunday (1947)

3/5

Akira Kurosawa's One Wonderful Sunday spends the first 80 minutes detailing a depressing, terrible Sunday. Two young lovers, Yuzo and Masako, in post-war Japan lead an honest but poor existence. They go on dates each Sunday; on this one, they have just 35 yen combined. The hopelessly optimistic Masako wants them to make the most of it, using their imagination if they must, but the cynical Yuzo feels like an inadequate boyfriend and becomes depressed over the situation. He is difficult to get along with, and Masako leaves. But that is in the first 80 minutes. After that, the movie does a complete reversal. As the film metamorphes, it becomes filled with tender moments. Yuzo finally succumbs to Masako's tireless optimism and lets his imagination run wild. Kurosawa here exhibits his brilliance, as he refrains from showing on screen what they imagine, but instead lets us use our imaginations with them. And it truly does turn into a wonderful Sunday.

Technically, the movie is a mixed bag. We witness the beginnings of Kurosawa's greatness, in conception but not in execution. Every so often we see raw, amateurish attempts at elegant camerawork, heartfelt acting, and evocative music. But the camera lingers just a bit too long, making the movements feel unnatural instead of fluid. And the editing is just a little off, making the acting feel staged. And the sound quality went in and out, making the music overdramatic instead of subtly on-point. There is one point where Kurosawa breaks the fourth wall and communicates with his audience, and it almost works. It is so close, but just not quite there yet. Over the next few years he refines his work to the mastery we now associate with him. But One Wonderful Sunday is not as good as his more famous work. Don't watch this until after you've seen the rest of his oeuvre.

IMDb link: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0039871/