Akira Kurosawa

Started by xerxes, January 10, 2003, 12:56:53 AM

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Stefen

Quote from: bigideaswhat about the film that was recently released by criterion?
i think it was Ikiru? but i might be wrong.
anyway, i was really surprised that the Hasting's here had it. i think whoever orders the videos there really likes Kurosawa because Throne of Blood is there to and several of the Criterions are there to buy.

I used to work at hastings. It's great. They order all these great movies then the customers don't buy them. So retail price for customer is still the same but the employee discount goes way down. I got most of my criterions for under 10 dollars new. As for Ikiru. I never got it. I had a question in this thread when it was released asking how the dvd was but no one answered. If you have the dvd let me know how it is.
Falling in love is the greatest joy in life. Followed closely by sneaking into a gated community late at night and firing a gun into the air.

modage

so what youre saying is you want to start feeding the whole board criterions for under 10$ because you can?  right?  ...      RIght?
Christopher Nolan's directive was clear to everyone in the cast and crew: Use CGI only as a last resort.

Stefen

Quote from: themodernage02so what youre saying is you want to start feeding the whole board criterions for under 10$ because you can?  right?  ...      RIght?

I do not work there anymore. I would if I still did. I'd be kind of like a drug dealer. But the kind of drug dealer who cares about the enviroment and stuff.
Falling in love is the greatest joy in life. Followed closely by sneaking into a gated community late at night and firing a gun into the air.

analogzombie

Quote from: StefenAs for Ikiru.  If you have the dvd let me know how it is.

It's quite nice really. The extras include an exerpt from the Kurosawa documentary that Criterion have been spreading on their releases. The commentary track is really the star though. Nice, crisp transfer, and clear audio.
"I have love to give, I just don't know where to put it."

modage

okay all you kurosawa heads, i've only seen Seven Samurai, Rashomon and Hidden Fortress.  and since april is kurosawa month for me i'm planning on seeing ikiru, throne of blood, yojimbo, sanjuro, and high and low.  am i on the right track?  anyone want to disuade me against those or persuade me to swap one out?  i'm trying to focus on earlier stuff right now as opposed to Ran or any 80s stuff.
Christopher Nolan's directive was clear to everyone in the cast and crew: Use CGI only as a last resort.

Stefen

Quote from: themodernage02okay all you kurosawa heads, i've only seen Seven Samurai, Rashomon and Hidden Fortress.  and since april is kurosawa month for me i'm planning on seeing ikiru, throne of blood, yojimbo, sanjuro, and high and low.  am i on the right track?  anyone want to disuade me against those or persuade me to swap one out?  i'm trying to focus on earlier stuff right now as opposed to Ran or any 80s stuff.

You are on the right track. I've only seen High and Low (my fave) Seven Samurai, Hidden Fortress, and Ikiuru. But you can't go wrong with those. It's not that I don't want to see the others, I just have limited time. I hope you enjoy.
Falling in love is the greatest joy in life. Followed closely by sneaking into a gated community late at night and firing a gun into the air.

The Perineum Falcon

Quote from: themodernage02okay all you kurosawa heads, i've only seen Seven Samurai, Rashomon and Hidden Fortress.  and since april is kurosawa month for me i'm planning on seeing ikiru, throne of blood, yojimbo, sanjuro, and high and low.  am i on the right track?  anyone want to disuade me against those or persuade me to swap one out?  i'm trying to focus on earlier stuff right now as opposed to Ran or any 80s stuff.
Great choices, but if you can find Red Beard deffinately get it. It's one of his very best.
We often went to the cinema, the screen would light up and we would tremble, but also, increasingly often, Madeleine and I were disappointed. The images had dated, they jittered, and Marilyn Monroe had gotten terribly old. We were sad, this wasn't the film we had dreamed of, this wasn't the total film that we all carried around inside us, this film that we would have wanted to make, or, more secretly, no doubt, that we would have wanted to live.

tpfkabi

Quote from: ranemaka13Great choices, but if you can find Red Beard deffinately get it. It's one of his very best.

and it's Bill Murray's favorite movie! haha. i think it says that on the Rushmore Criterion.

anywho, how about Ikiru as a Kurosawa film? i didn't mean about the DVD per se. i've only seen K's samurai films to this point and i'm pretty sure this one is set in modern times.
I am Torgo. I take care of the place while the Master is away.

xerxes

Quote from: bigideas

anywho, how about Ikiru as a Kurosawa film? i didn't mean about the DVD per se. i've only seen K's samurai films to this point and i'm pretty sure this one is set in modern times.

it's one of his best films

and just might be my favorite

samsong

Red Beard generally goes overlooked but, like ranemaka13 said, it's one of his very best.  It's a quiet, human epic of incredible beauty... and Toshiro Mifune is at the top of his form... quite possibly my favorite performance of his.

One of his early films called The Scandal is a great one too.  Kurosawa had his composer implement the single-trumpet-as-score "technique" which of course is common in spaghetti westerns.  Takashi Shimura is so good in this film, second only to his heartbreaking and unbearably beautiful work in Ikiru (my favorite Kurosawa).    

oh and for those who haven't seen Sanjuro and Yojimbo, I highly recommend watching them back to back and in that order.  If you're a Sergio Leone fan you have Kurosawa to thank, as his influence is SO apparent in Leone's work.

Rhapsody in August is a nice, small film but far from great.  There's the scene it's infamous for -- the grandmother running in the rain -- is overwhelming and worth watching the entire film for.

after you familiarize yourself with Kurosawa check out Runaway Train, which is a good film in its own right.  He wrote the screenplay and it definitely comes through.

xerxes

Quote from: samsong
oh and for those who haven't seen Sanjuro and Yojimbo, I highly recommend watching them back to back and in that order.

why the second before the first???

samsong

Quote from: xerxes
Quote from: samsong
oh and for those who haven't seen Sanjuro and Yojimbo, I highly recommend watching them back to back and in that order.

why the second before the first???

hmmm... maybe because my dad's a fucking moron and made me watch it in that order two years ago (i haven't seen them since) and i never looked up the correct order myself.  :oops:

Ravi

Your dad make you watch Kurosawa, he not moron.

samsong

Quote from: RaviYour dad make you watch Kurosawa, he not moron.

touche

Find Your Magali

Quote from: Stefen
Quote from: themodernage02okay all you kurosawa heads, i've only seen Seven Samurai, Rashomon and Hidden Fortress.  and since april is kurosawa month for me i'm planning on seeing ikiru, throne of blood, yojimbo, sanjuro, and high and low.  am i on the right track?  anyone want to disuade me against those or persuade me to swap one out?  i'm trying to focus on earlier stuff right now as opposed to Ran or any 80s stuff.

You are on the right track. I've only seen High and Low (my fave) Seven Samurai, Hidden Fortress, and Ikiuru. But you can't go wrong with those. It's not that I don't want to see the others, I just have limited time. I hope you enjoy.

You should check out Dersu Uzala, too, from his Russian collaboration days. ... My copy is from Kino, and it's fine.