Standard bio on Akira Kurosawa, but high standard. A British project, first seen Stateside on PBS/Great Performances, Adam Low’s film is particularly good on the director’s early years, helped by Kurosawa’s SOMETHING LIKE AN AUTOBIOGRAPHY (excerpts read by Paul Scofield, an odd vocal choice that works), which unfortunately for the film ends with the international release of ROSHOMON/’50. Those childhood years: difficult father; beloved older brother (a silent film ‘narrator,' double suicide with fiancé); the 1923 Tokyo earthquake with enough destructive force to match the Hiroshima bombing; fascinating stuff. Then the roll-call of films, regrettably skewed toward the over-praised late epics which came pre-approved by awe-struck Hollywood turks of the day (Spielberg, Lucas, Scorsese, Coppola), leaving better work (THE BAD SLEEP WELL; SANJURO/’62 - the superior sequel to YOJIMBO; HIGH AND LOW/’63) unmentioned. Even THE HIDDEN FORTRESS/’58, fodder for George Lucas’s STAR WARS given a pass. On the other hand, usually irrelevant Hollywood star interviews earn their spot with James Coburn linking SEVEN SAMURAI/’54 to his THE MAGNIFICENT SEVEN/’60 and Clint Eastwood rhyming YOJIMBO/’61 and A FISTFUL OF DOLLARS/’64. For once, a bio both useful and interesting. But newbies to Kurosawa should keep in mind that many of the earlier films look far better now than they do here thanks to recent restorations.
DOUBLE-BILL/LINK: There’s more than Samurai Warriors to Kurosawa. Surprise yourself as he channels Frank Capra (I kid you not) on an outlier pic, SCANDAL/50, made immediately before ROSHOMON. https://maksquibs.blogspot.com/2010/11/shubun-scandal-1950.html
READ ALL ABOUT IT: As mentioned, Kurosawa’s unusual auto-bio SOMETHING LIKE AN AUTOBIOGRAPHY.
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