Kurosawa Movies

When Kurosawa does a modern film, he does it with all the same grace and beauty of his time pieces and epics. Ikiru is a gorgeous movie, built to emphasize the ups and downs of life around the character who is looking to experience both before his doomed ending. Shimura is absolutely solid. The film's first act inspires us to laugh more than be glum, but in the second act the true meaning of his life and the piece come through, to an optimistically heartbreaking conclusion.

If you need to adapt a Shakespeare play, look no furthur that Kurosawa to do it for you. He really knows how to hit every single note, and bring all of the proper emotions into his own world, even contributing and editing it into a more perfect shape than it might have been originally. In Throne Of Blood, Kurosawa is playing. He's investigating what he can do with cuts and edits, he's seeing how far he can take us down the path the original play went before losing us, and he's seeing how much he can really haunt us with this tale that may seem dated and historical. He succeeds on absolutely every count. Kurosawa sweeps us through fog, makes castles dissapear and reappear, and shoots arrows through necks seamlessly as he does things with his camera that no director should've been able to do in the fifties. But it's not just about the technique, it's about the feeling of mystery and the supernatural that we're given, and we need that to enter the mind of Toshiro Mifune's character, as he becomes more and more disturbed by the world around him; the ghosts of the forest, the pressing evil of his wife, and the knowledgeof his own crimes. Speaking of Mifune, his blend of lunacy and theatrics work perfectly as he portrays the eccentric mutiner who rises to power out of blood and goes too far. I've seen few black and white movies as visually stunning as Throne of Blood, almost transcending the color spectrum with its vivid layout, and it's probably the closest you'll ever get with a Shakespeare adaptation. You'll be scared, you'll be affected, and you'll know that somehow, everything you feel is applicable.

Kurosawa takes his landmark film making out of Japan and into Russia to show us a Goldi woodsman name Dersu form a beautiful and true friendship with a Russian explorer. The development of the two is personal and touching, and it reaches deeply. Kurosawa paints the wilderness like a portrait, with beauty in each perfectly framed shot. Although the movie lags at a few points, it remains beautiful by almost any standard.

The colors are so wonderfully brought out by Kurosawas painters brush. The visuals match dramatic Shakespeare caliber story with contrasting and breathtaking visual landscapes. The script is moving, and an outstanding re-thinking of King Lear. The music is simple and in the style of Kurosawa, but evokes such powerful emotion. This movie is one of the most beautiful things I have ever seen.