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Kurosawa Comes Back!

Faithful readers know that a retrospective of thirty Kurosawa movies was recently shown at the Film Forum in New York City's Houston Street, and we had the good fortune to get a running commentary, as meticulous as it was enthusiastic,from Kurosawa maven Lewis Saul.

Now Turner Classic Movies is about to show Kurosawa movies on three consecutive Tuesdays. On Tuesday March 16, 2010, at 8:00 PM  TCM is showing The Bad Sleep Well (1960) with its echoes of Hamlet. At 10:45 PM, it's High And Low (1963), also with Toshiro Mifune -- based on an Ed McBain police procedural. Red Beard  (1965) goes on at 1:15 AM., and I Live in Fear (1955) at 4:30 AM.

TCM is going to be all Kurosawa all the time on Tuesday March 23 -- with The Seven Samurai, Stray Dog, Rashomon and Yojimbo. Three more of his late pictures, including Ran, will play on March 30. And more to come in April.

Read or re-read Lew's posts after or before seeing any of these great movies, Click here, for example. or here (on Seven Samurai) or here (on High and Low).

XXVIII. The 30 Films of Akira Kurosawa: Dersu Uzala [1975] (by Lewis Saul)]

Ed note:  For the next several weeks, composer and film aficionado Lewis Saul has agreed to supply us with in-depth commentary about the films of Akira Kurosawa, now showing in an extended festival at the Film Forum. Even if you're unable to stop by the Forum, we think Lew's insights will deepen your appreciation of these important movies.

Dersu Uzala [1975]

PLAYED February 4th at The Film Forum

This is Kurosawa's 25th film.

After the failure of Dodesukaden (1970), Kurosawa attempted suicide, almost certainly because he felt that he would never again be permitted to direct a serious film.

At the time this was completely, brutally true ... and we can only thank God that Kurosawa's maid heard the running water and he was rescued in time ... to make films like this one!!!

In early 1973, the Soviet Union invited Kurosawa to make a Russian film. Of course, in some ways he had already made two (Hakuchi [The Idiot] {1951} and Donzoko [The Lower Depths] {1957}) -- but this would be his first film completely in a language other than Japanese!

The film is based on the autobiography of Vladimir Arseniev (a brilliant Yuri Solomin), a Russian soldier in charge of several surveying expeditions in the Ussuri region of Siberia in the early 1900's. He meets Dersu (Maksim Munzuk, you will never forget him!), a Goldi (Mongolian). Not much happens, other than what normally happens in Siberia on any given day in any given season by any given surveying crew at the start of the 20th century! If Kurosawa were simply intent on allowing us the pleasure of this travelogue ... dayenu, as my people say -- it would have been enough! But this incredible human interest story is so very pertinent today, 35 years later, as human beings continue to act as they did 100 years ago, which is when this story begins -- the year Kurosawa was born: 1910.

XXVII. The 30 Films of Akira Kurosawa: Tsubaki Sanjûrô [1962] (by Lewis Saul)]

• Ed note:  For the next several weeks, composer and film aficionado Lewis Saul has agreed to supply us with in-depth commentary about the films of Akira Kurosawa, now showing in an extended festival at the Film Forum. Even if you're unable to stop by the Forum, we think Lew's insights will deepen your appreciation of these important movies.

Tsubaki Sanjûrô [1962]

PLAYED February 3rd at The Film Forum

This is Kurosawa's 21st film.

It would be logical to assume that Kurosawa put this film together after the incredible success of Yojimbo [1961]. But it would not be true.

A samurai hero who uses his "brains more than his sword" (Galbraith, p. 324).

Along with regulars Hideo Oguni and Ryûzô Kikushima, Kurosawa had started to work on a screenplay (based on a story by Shûgorô Yamamoto -- Hibi Heian ["A Break in the Tranquillity"]) -- with such a character before shooting on Yojimbo began. Kurosawa wanted his friend Hiromichi Horikawa to direct, but Toho -- who must have sensed an awesome Criterion double-DVD -- insisted that Kurosawa direct.

The main difference between the two films is this: Yojimbo was set in a dusty town in the middle of nowhere where lawlessness ruled, whereas this film is set in a "castle town" -- that is, a world of lords and ladies, superintendents and chamberlains, young samurai retainers and ... of course, our hero, Sanjuro! (There is a fun debate on the IMDb about whether this film is a sequel or a prequel! To me, it seems to take place during an earlier time period than the one shown in Yojimbo.) However,

" ... it doesn't really matter. One of the most important things about adventure stories with a hero who isn't tied down, is that he can be reinvented with each new episode. If, though, one is going to play this game of figuring out which story comes first, then in my opinion, the deepening of Sanjuro's character that we see in this film suggests that its story is subsequent to the one in Yojimbo" [SP].

To my way of thinking, Galbraith nails it: the theme of this film is quite simple -- nothing is what it seems [p. 324]. Mutsuta, the chamberlain (Yûnosuke Itô) is ugly -- but he's the good guy; the handsome Hanbei Muroto (Tatsuya Nakadai) is the villain. The confident boy samurai are incompetent while the scruffy Sanjuro is a master. Et cetera. The theme drives the plot and the three writers made the character much more active than originally written and created a scenario which is -- at times -- very very funny.

XXVI. The 30 Films of Akira Kurosawa: Yojimbo [1961] (by Lewis Saul)]

Ed note:  For the next several weeks, composer and film aficionado Lewis Saul has agreed to supply us with in-depth commentary about the films of Akira Kurosawa, now showing in an extended festival at the Film Forum. Even if you're unable to stop by the Forum, we think Lew's insights will deepen your appreciation of these important movies.

Yojimbo [1961]

PLAYING February 3rd at The Film Forum

This is Kurosawa's 20th film.

Interestingly, Galbraith (whose book, after all, is a dual-biography of both Mifune and Kurosawa) begins this chapter ("Mulberries, Camellias, and Cacti" [the "cacti" refers to a film Mifune made in Mexico called Ánimas Trujano {El Hombre Importante} |1961|]) with this statement:

"Mifune's next film would be the picture that deeply etched his screen persona, to both good and bad effect, for the rest of his life." [p. 301].

In fact -- although Kurosawa was already an international star after Rashômon (In the Woods) [1950] -- this film perhaps cemented Kurosawa's reputation, as well. There is no way that Galbraith could overstate the degree to which Mifune became an international superstar after this film became so successful! A career-defining performance!

This movie is simply a blast to watch! One hundred and ten minutes pass and you wonder where the time went!

"The story opens in 1860. Mifune, a ronin named Sanjuro, is seen wandering under the opening titles in tight close-ups. His journey is interrupted by the appearance of a farmer's son (Yosuke Natsuki), a youth sick of the rural life, in want of fame and fortune. His father tries to dissuade him, but the farmer's son wants a 'short and exciting life' and runs off. Soon thereafter, Sanjuro reaches a small, hellish town. Windows slide open, and geisha and thugs stare at him suspiciously.

XXV. The 30 Films of Akira Kurosawa: Akahige (Red Beard) [1965] (by Lewis Saul)]

Ed note:  For the next several weeks, composer and film aficionado Lewis Saul has agreed to supply us with in-depth commentary about the films of Akira Kurosawa, now showing in an extended festival at the Film Forum. Even if you're unable to stop by the Forum, we think Lew's insights will deepen your appreciation of these important movies.

Akahige (Red Beard) [1965]

PLAYING February 2nd at The Film Forum

This is Kurosawa's 23rd film.

This is an important film for many reasons: it's the last film in his "middle period" (approx. post-Occupation [1952] to 1965); Toshirô Mifune's 16th and final appearance in a Kurosawa film; his last black & white film; his last film of a certain kind of style and visual design (fast cutting dolly shots, etc.) and -- like Shichinin no samurai (The Seven Samurai) [1954] -- the last film which would push the limits of what a filmmaker could do to an audience in three hours (185 minutes plus intermission -- over 3:05).

"'I had something special in mind when I made [Red Beard] because I wanted to make something . . . so magnificent that people would just have to see it.'" [Kurosawa quoted in Galbraith, p. 372].

"Set in 19th century Edo, the film is a clash between old and new. It tells the story of a young, conceited doctor, Yasumoto (Yûzô Kayama), sent by his father to visit a hospital-clinic for the poor. Here conditions are a far cry from the luxuries he enjoyed during his Dutch-influenced training in Nagasaki, and he is appalled by the dregs of human misery he finds. Paying his respects to the intimidating head of the clinic, Dr. Kyojo Niide, nicknamed 'Red Beard' (Mifune), the vain Yasumoto is shocked to learn that he has been assigned there as an intern. Through his wealthy family and various connections, Yasumoto had expected an assignment in the Imperial Court (as the Shogun's personal physician). Feeling the post far beneath his abilities, Yasumoto does everything in his power to incur the wrath of Red Beard and win his dismissal.

XXIV. The 30 Films of Akira Kurosawa: Dodesukaden [1970] (by Lewis Saul)]

Ed note:  For the next several weeks, composer and film aficionado Lewis Saul has agreed to supply us with in-depth commentary about the films of Akira Kurosawa, now showing in an extended festival at the Film Forum. Even if you're unable to stop by the Forum, we think Lew's insights will deepen your appreciation of these important movies.

Dodesukaden (1970)

PLAYING February 1st at The Film Forum

This is Kurosawa's 24th film, and his first color film!

This is a brand new 35mm print!

The Criterion DVD only came out last year (2009). Previous incarnations on DVD or VHS were printed in an incorrect aspect ratio (1:66:1 as opposed to the correct 1:33:1), and the color was terrible. The new DVD is like watching a totally different film.

In addition to the previously incorrect aspect ratio, Richie inadvertently stated that there was a 240-minute version which had been cut down to 140 minutes. That was a typo -- there is no missing footage from this film.

If you read my very first post, you might remember my discussion of Asu o tsukuru hitobito (Those Who Make Tomorrow) [1946], a film which Kurosawa co-directed with two others, and which he has disowned and steadfastly refused to consider it a part of his complete works.

But even disregarding that film, there was a good chance that Kurosawa might have made 31 films, instead of 30! That additional film would have been right before this one -- of course I'm referring to the joint U.S./Japanese co-production produced by 20th Century Fox -- Tora! Tora! Tora! [1970].

XXIII. The 30 Films of Akira Kurosawa: Hachigatsu no kyoshikyoku (Rhapsody in August) [1991] (by Lewis Saul)]

Ed note:  For the next several weeks, composer and film aficionado Lewis Saul has agreed to supply us with in-depth commentary about the films of Akira Kurosawa, now showing in an extended festival at the Film Forum. Even if you're unable to stop by the Forum, we think Lew's insights will deepen your appreciation of these important movies.

Hachigatsu no kyoshikyoku (Rhapsody in August) (1991)

PLAYING February 1st at The Film Forum

This is Kurosawa's 29th, penultimate film.

Welcome to Late Kurosawa!

You won't find any samurai in this picture (although look at the photo on the box to the left -- doesn't that look like a sword in her hands!); nor any contemporary corrupt governmental officials, and there is no romance whatsoever.

But what you will find is a thoughtful (frequently completely misunderstood) film about a survivor of the Nagasaki atom bomb, her children and grandchildren and the things (like money from pineapple) that make the world go round.

Forty years had passed since the Idiot fiasco ... perhaps Kurosawa was finally willing to forgive and forget ~ or perhaps he was just desperate for a distributor -- any distributor! So for the first time since 1951, Kurosawa made a film with Shochiku. [That Toho didn't just bite the bullet and take a risk on such a relatively small-scale film ($10M) is a disgrace, in my opinion. But I don't know all the details.]

The film was financed jointly by Shochiku and Film Enterprise No. 2, an investment partnership composed of no fewer than eighteen companies!

XXII. The 30 Films of Akira Kurosawa: Donzoko (The Lower Depths) [1957] (by Lewis Saul)]

Ed note:  For the next several weeks, composer and film aficionado Lewis Saul has agreed to supply us with in-depth commentary about the films of Akira Kurosawa, now showing in an extended festival at the Film Forum. Even if you're unable to stop by the Forum, we think Lew's insights will deepen your appreciation of these important movies.

Donzoko (The Lower Depths) [1957]

PLAYING on January 31st and February 1st at The Film Forum

This is Kurosawa's 17th film.

Maxim Gorky: THE LOWER DEPTHS ("Na dne")

(The above link will take you to the Google Books 1922 edition ~ I love reading old editions.)

Criterion has done us a wonderful favor here: two really good films based on the Gorky play in one package! Although I don't intend to review the Renoir version here and now, let me state for the record that it's a pretty darn good film! Not as good as Kurosawa's version (imho) but a nice entry in the Renoir canon ...

So read the original (a very easy read!) and then compare both cinematic versions! Kurosawa's version is startlingly faithful to the original -- unlike his Shakespeare adaptations (Macbeth/Throne of Blood, Hamlet/The Bad Sleep Well and King Lear/Ran) very little is either added or removed from the 1902 play. (You may recall that in Hakuchi (The Idiot) [1951], he tried to remain equally faithfully to the original Dostoyevsky, but was thwarted by the studio's insistence on making massive cuts to the film.)

The DVD packaging is quite clever; both the case and booklet are printed so that you have to turn the whole thing upside-down to read the other version! (Buy it, you'll see!)

There are two things about this film that have always fascinated me: one, that it is such a perfect ensemble piece -- there is no star, no character who is more important than another. Secondly, that it is so much fun to watch this film!!

This is a film about a bunch of really really really poor people who live in a really shitty little house together (90% of the film takes place in one room!) and bitch and fight with one another and they sing and dance and die. The End.

XXI. The 30 Films of Akira Kurosawa: Shichinin no samurai (The Seven Samurai) [1954] (by Lewis Saul)] (Part 1)

Ed note:  For the next several weeks, composer and film aficionado Lewis Saul has agreed to supply us with in-depth commentary about the films of Akira Kurosawa, now showing in an extended festival at the Film Forum. Even if you're unable to stop by the Forum, we think Lew's insights will deepen your appreciation of these important movies.

Shichinin no samurai (The Seven Samurai) [1954]

PLAYING on January 29th and 30th at The Film Forum

This is Kurosawa's 14th film.

Two hundred and seven minutes is 3:27. If AK did his job, it will seem like a very short three-and-a-half hours!

Galbraith: "A 16th century rural farming village learns bandits plan to invade and steal their crop. They hire seven ronin to protect them: Kambei (Takashi Shimura), their leader; Kikuchiyo (Mifune), a wild but brave warrior; Heihachi (Minoru Chiaki), a samurai with limited ability but whose affability will boost morale; Kyuzo (Seiji Miyaguchi), an expert swordsman; Shichiroji (Daisuke Katô), who with Kambei survived many battles; Gorobei (Yoshio Inaba), a wise samurai; and Katsushiro (Isao Kimura), disciple to Kambei. The samurai teach the farmers how to protect themselves, and the bandits are vanquished. But the price of freedom is heavy. Homes are lost and several farmers die in the attacks, as do four of the samurai." [p. 173].

Shinobu Hashimoto (eight films with AK) and Hideo Oguni (12) were as usual excellent collaborators! "After Ikiru," says Hashimoto in Galbraith, "we wanted to write a screenplay about a single samurai. We decided to show one day of a samurai's life, from the time that he woke up, prayed with incense, spent time with his family, went to the castle, and so on. At one point during the day he would make some kind of mistake, and at the end of the story he would commit seppuku" [p. 170].

After working on this for some time (along with Producer Sôjirô Motoki, and Production Supervisor, Hiroshi Nezu), Hashimoto told Kurosawa that he didn't think the idea would work. Kurosawa was furious about the time lost, but thankfully Hashimoto's ideas went into his script for the incredible 1962 Kobayashi film Seppuku (Harakiri).

XX. The 30 Films of Akira Kurosawa: Yume (Akira Kurosawa's Dreams) [1990] (by Lewis Saul)]

Ed note:  For the next several weeks, composer and film aficionado Lewis Saul has agreed to supply us with in-depth commentary about the films of Akira Kurosawa, now showing in an extended festival at the Film Forum. Even if you're unable to stop by the Forum, we think Lew's insights will deepen your appreciation of these important movies.

Yume (Akira Kurosawa's Dreams) [1990]

PLAYING January 28th at The Film Forum

This is Kurosawa's 28th film.

I cannot think of another Kurosawa film which engenders such wildly divergent feelings as this one.

For example, personally speaking, of the eight dreams, I can watch four of them endlessly. I find them beautiful and like to linger in their colorful worlds over and over again. I never get tired of them!

That leaves four additional dreams. I cannot put it any other way -- I detest these four sections, and at times like these, when I feel I must watch them again in order to write something coherent -- I realize just why I dislike them so much. I notice myself squirming in my seat waiting for it to be over and for one of my "favorites" to come up!

I'll let you know which is which in a few more sentences -- my opinions are far from universal; many of my favorite critics love the episodes I hate and vice versa.

As usual, the story behind the making of the film is pretty fascinating, and again it involves Kurosawa's nephew, Mike Inoue: "One day I got a call from my uncle, who said, 'I need your help. Why don't you come over?' He said to me, 'I received a letter from Steven Spielberg which doesn't make any sense.' So I went over to his home and he said that he had written a script called 'Such Dreams I Have Dreamed' and that he had sent a translation of that script to Spielberg for possible financing. I read Spielberg's reply, which said, 'Thank you for sending the synopsis, and if you do a script, please send it to me.' I said, 'Uncle, what did you send to him?' And he said, '[I didn't send a synopsis.] I finished the whole script and sent it to a translation company, and they sent it on.' I read the translation he sent. It was terrible and missing many important nuances from Kurosawa's original Japanese script. I then volunteered to re-translate. It took me over a month to complete my translation as I had to commute to his home frequently to ask him about the nuances he intended to express between the lines. A few days after we sent my translation to Spielberg, we received a fax from him stating that he was highly impressed with this script and offering his help to find a financier. He brought in Warner Brothers who gave us a Negative-Pickup guarantee for the film to be directed by Kurosawa." (Negative pickup means that WB bought the finished film but did not finance it. Kurosawa did so with bank loans) [Galbraith, p. 603].

• "Inoue and Kurosawa decided to meet with Spielberg at Universal Studios. When they greeted each other, they kept bowing, and Spielberg refused to sit down before Kurosawa did" [p. 604].
• The film cost $12 million.