Akira Kurosawa
Also Known As: أكيرا كوروساوا, อะกิระ คุโระซะวะ, 黑澤明, Kurosawa Akira, 아키라 구로사와, 쿠로사와 아키라, 아키라 쿠로사와, آکیرا کوروساوا
Biography: Akira Kurosawa (黒澤 明) was a Japanese filmmaker and painter who directed thirty films in a career spanning over five decades. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest and most influential filmmakers in the history of cinema. He displayed a bold, dynamic style, strongly influenced by Western cinema yet distinct from it; he was involved with all aspects of film production. Kurosawa entered the Japanese film industry in 1936, following a brief stint as a painter. After years of working on numerous films as an assistant director and scriptwriter, he made his debut as a director during World War II with the popular action film Sanshiro Sugata (1943). After the war, the critically acclaimed Drunken Angel (1948), in which Kurosawa cast the then little-known actor Toshiro Mifune in a starring role, cemented the director's reputation as one of the most important young filmmakers in Japan. The two men would go on to collaborate on another fifteen films. Rashomon (1950), which premiered in Tokyo, became the surprise winner of the Golden Lion at the 1951 Venice Film Festival. The commercial and critical success of that film opened up Western film markets for the first time to the products of the Japanese film industry, which in turn led to international recognition for other Japanese filmmakers. Kurosawa directed approximately one film per year throughout the 1950s and early 1960s, including a number of highly regarded (and often adapted) films, such as Ikiru (1952), Seven Samurai (1954), Throne of Blood (1957), Yojimbo (1961) and High and Low (1963). After the 1960s he became much less prolific; even so, his later work—including two of his final films, Kagemusha (1980) and Ran (1985)—continued to receive great acclaim. In 1990, he accepted the Academy Award for Lifetime Achievement. Posthumously, he was named Asian of the Century in the Arts, Literature, and Culture category by AsianWeek magazine and CNN, cited there as being among the five people who most prominently contributed to the improvement of Asia in the 20th century. His career has been honored by many retrospectives, critical studies and biographies in both print and video, and by releases in many consumer media.
Department: Directing
Place of Birth: Shinagawa, Tokyo Prefecture, Japan
Birthday: March 23, 1910
Deathday: September 06, 1998
Adult: No
Gender: Male
Popularity:
Known For:
Akira Kurosawa: It Is Wonderful to Create: 'Ran'
Overview: Documentary made by Toho for the Masterworks reissue of all of its Kurosawa films. This one focuses on “Ran” (1985).
Genres: Documentary
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 2002-10-25
Popularity:
Kurosawa
Overview: Documentary on film maker Akira Kurosawa
Genres: Documentary
Original Language: en
Release Date: 2000-12-24
Popularity:
A Message from Akira Kurosawa: For Beautiful Movies
Overview: A Documentary in 10 parts covering the film making of Kurosawa around the theme of making the perfect movie or as he says: A Beautiful Movie.
Genres: Documentary
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 2000-04-01
Popularity:
Chris on Chris
Overview: A short film on Chris Marker
Genres: Documentary
Original Language: en
Release Date: 2002-01-01
Popularity:
Dersu Uzala. Russian Dreams of Kurosawa
Overview: In 1971, the frustrated Akira Kurosawa made an unsuccessful attempt to cut his veins. His life was restored by the opportunity offered by Mosfilm: to make the first Soviet-Japanese collaborative film "Dersu Uzala". The documentary reflects the challenging shooting period and captures the memories of crew members more than 40 years later.
Genres: Documentary
Original Language: ru
Release Date: 2020-09-04
Popularity:
Life Work of Akira Kurosawa
Overview: Acclaimed filmmaker Akira Kurosawa has been misunderstood. Despite his public perception an a perfectionist who would clash with anyone in his way, the real Kurosawa was actually a very gentle and soft-spoken director. This documentary depicts the human being Akira Kurosawa on the set of his masterpiece "Ran".
Genres: Documentary
Original Language: en
Release Date: 2022-11-25
Popularity:
Making of Ran
Overview: Behind the scenes of Akira Kurosawa's Ran, produced by Kurosawa Productions.
Genres: No genres available
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1985-01-01
Popularity:
A. K.
Overview: An intimate chronicle of the shooting of Ran (1985), a film directed by the legendary Japanese filmmaker Akira Kurosawa.
Genres: Documentary
Original Language: fr
Release Date: 1985-05-20
Popularity:
Making of 'Dreams'
Overview: This 150-minute documentary, directed by Nobuhiko Ôbayashi on the set of Akira Kurosawa's Dreams, features behind-the-scenes footage and interviews with cast and crew.
Genres: Documentary
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1990-11-02
Popularity:
Akira Kurosawa: My Life in Cinema
Overview: Nagisa Oshima interviews Akira Kurosawa, leading him to share his thoughts about filmmaking, his life and works, and numerous anecdotes relating to his films and his various film activities.
Genres: Documentary TV Movie
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1993-01-01
Popularity:
Akira Kurosawa: It Is Wonderful to Create: 'Throne of Blood'
Overview: Documentary made by Toho for the Masterworks reissue of all of its Kurosawa films. This one focuses on "Throne of Blood" (1957).
Genres: Documentary
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 2002-10-25
Popularity:
Akira Kurosawa: It Is Wonderful to Create: 'The Hidden Fortress'
Overview: Documentary made by Toho for the Masterworks reissue of all of its Kurosawa films. This one focuses on "The Hidden Fortress" (1958).
Genres: Documentary
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 2002-10-25
Popularity:
Akira Kurosawa: It Is Wonderful to Create: 'Kagemusha'
Overview: Documentary made by Toho for the Masterworks reissue of all of its Kurosawa films. This one focuses on "Kagemusha" (1980).
Genres: Documentary
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 2002-10-25
Popularity:
Akira Kurosawa: It Is Wonderful to Create: 'The Lower Depths'
Overview: Documentary made by Toho for the Masterworks reissue of all of its Kurosawa films. This one focuses on "The Lower Depths" (1957).
Genres: Documentary
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 2002-10-25
Popularity:
Akira Kurosawa: It Is Wonderful to Create: 'Seven Samurai'
Overview: Documentary made by Toho for the Masterworks reissue of all of its Kurosawa films. This one focuses on "Seven Samurai" (1954).
Genres: Documentary
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 2002-10-25
Popularity:
Akira Kurosawa: It Is Wonderful to Create: 'Yojimbo'
Overview: Documentary made by Toho for the Masterworks reissue of all of its Kurosawa films. This one focuses on "Yojimbo" (1961).
Genres: Documentary
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 2002-10-25
Popularity:
Akira Kurosawa: It Is Wonderful to Create: 'Sanjuro'
Overview: Documentary made by Toho for the Masterworks reissue of all of its Kurosawa films. This one focuses on "Sanjuro" (1962).
Genres: Documentary
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 2002-10-25
Popularity:
Akira Kurosawa: It Is Wonderful to Create: 'High and Low'
Overview: Documentary made by Toho for the Masterworks reissue of all of its Kurosawa films. This one focuses on "High and Low" (1963).
Genres: Documentary
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 2002-10-25
Popularity:
Akira Kurosawa: It Is Wonderful to Create: 'Dodes'ka-den'
Overview: Documentary made by Toho for the Masterworks reissue of all of its Kurosawa films. This one focuses on "Dodes'ka-den" (1970).
Genres: Documentary
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 2002-10-25
Popularity:
Akira Kurosawa: It Is Wonderful to Create: 'The Bad Sleep Well'
Overview: Documentary made by Toho for the Masterworks reissue of all of its Kurosawa films. This one focuses on "The Bad Sleep Well" (1960).
Genres: Documentary
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 2002-10-25
Popularity:
Akira Kurosawa: It Is Wonderful to Create: 'Stray Dog'
Overview: Documentary made by Toho for the Masterworks reissue of all of its Kurosawa films. This one focuses on "Stray Dog" (1949).
Genres: Documentary
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 2002-10-25
Popularity:
Akira Kurosawa: It Is Wonderful to Create: 'Drunken Angel'
Overview: Documentary made by Toho for the Masterworks reissue of all of its Kurosawa films. This one focuses on "Drunken Angel" (1948).
Genres: Documentary
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 2002-10-25
Popularity:
The World of Kazuo Miyagawa
Overview: Renowned cinematographer Kazuo Miyagawa collaborated with a number of great Japanese filmmakers, including Akira Kurosawa, Kenji Mizoguchi, Kon Ichikawa, and Yasujiro Ozu. The following excerpts from the Japanese television documentary THE WORLD OF KAZUO MIYAGAWA explore Miyagawa and Kurosawa’s working relationship on RASHOMON.
Genres: Documentary
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 2012-01-01
Popularity:
And the Oscar Goes To...
Overview: The story of the gold-plated statuette that became the film industry's most coveted prize, AND THE OSCAR GOES TO... traces the history of the Academy itself, which began in 1927 when Louis B. Mayer, then head of MGM, led other prominent members of the industry in forming this professional honorary organization. Two years later the Academy began bestowing awards, which were nicknamed "Oscar," and quickly came to represent the pinnacle of cinematic achievement.
Genres: Documentary TV Movie
Original Language: en
Release Date: 2014-02-01
Popularity:
What Is Cinema?
Overview: Using the words and ideas of great filmmakers, from archival interviews with Alfred Hitchcock and Robert Bresson to new interviews with Mike Leigh, David Lynch, and Jonas Mekas, Oscar-winning filmmaker Chuck Workman shows what these filmmakers and others do that can't be expressed in words - but only in cinema.
Genres: Documentary
Original Language: en
Release Date: 2013-09-06
Popularity:
In Love With and Living Within Movies - Akira Kurosawa and Hayao Miyazaki
Overview: An hour-long conversation between Akira Kurosawa and Hayao Miyazaki which took place in Kurosawa's home near Mt. Fuji.
Genres: Documentary
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1993-12-31
Popularity:
Babenco: Tell Me When I Die
Overview: Besieged by cancer and nearing the end, the genius Argentine-Brazilian filmmaker Héctor Babenco (1946-2016) asks Bárbara Paz, his wife, for one last wish: to be the protagonist of his own death.
Genres: Documentary
Original Language: pt
Release Date: 2020-11-26
Popularity:
Akira Kurosawa: It Is Wonderful to Create: 'Ikiru'
Overview: Documentary made by Toho for the Masterworks reissue of all of its Kurosawa films. This one focuses on "Ikiru" (1952).
Genres: Documentary
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 2002-10-25
Popularity:
Akira Kurosawa: It Is Wonderful to Create
Overview: An in depth look at the making of Kurosawa's films.
Genres: Documentary
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 2002-10-25
Popularity: