Kurosawa tribute-recommendations?

[MissGoddess]

I've tried to watch Derzu Usala but was plagued with interruptions and had to give up, seeing what you've written Miss G, I know I'm going to have to give it another go.

I hope you do, CCFan. I wish I'd recorded it. It seems like such a personal film, with a subject that probably is only going to appeal to a limited number of people, but if they give it a chance, it's so ravishing looking and so touching. I was really weeping when Derzu had to come with his friend, the Captain, to live in town with the Captain's family. They thought they were doing what was best for him, but Derzu was slowly dying in the city, without his beloved forest and the "men of the forest" (he referred to the animal folk as "men", so cute!) And to see how much his friend, the Captain, loved and admired him just tore me apart.

And I wanted to strangle the beaurocrat at the end. You'll see what I mean.

[rudyfan]

I've tried to watch Derzu Usala but was plagued with interruptions and had to give up, seeing what you've written Miss G, I know I'm going to have to give it another go.

I hope you do, CCFan. I wish I'd recorded it. It seems like such a personal film, with a subject that probably is only going to appeal to a limited number of people, but if they give it a chance, it's so ravishing looking and so touching. I was really weeping when Derzu had to come with his friend, the Captain, to live in town with the Captain's family. They thought they were doing what was best for him, but Derzu was slowly dying in the city, without his beloved forest and the "men of the forest" (he referred to the animal folk as "men", so cute!) And to see how much his friend, the Captain, loved and admired him just tore me apart.

And I wanted to strangle the beaurocrat at the end. You'll see what I mean.

I could not agree more. Derzu was the first Kurosawa film I saw and I saw it on the big screen. Thank you to my high school teacher for this. Turned me on to Kurosawa and I've never looked back.

[MissGoddess]

MissGoddess, I think Dersu Uzala is one of those films that will linger in the memory. The opening is a bit slow, at times the tension sags a little, and yet the character of Dersu, how he lives in a harsh environment, and how alien our world seems to him--all this is so well done.

Sometimes we come across moments in films that like great passages in poetry seem to illuminate our lives. One of them for me is the climax of Stray Dog, whether policeman and criminal, two possibilities for one character, confront each other in field covered with wildflowers. In one of the nearby houses a woman plays a beautiful melody on the piano. The final struggle between two men who no longer hate each other set in the midst of an ordinary daily beauty simply overwhelms me.

Another such moment occurs late in Seven Samurai. The youngest samurai watches as the young peasant woman he loves goes to the rice fields with the other villagers. Most directors would have settled for cutting back and forth between the young couple. Kurosawa does something more profound. He lingers for quite some time on the two other samurai, who wait patiently for the young man to be ready to leave. Above them on the hill are the graves of their comrades. It's the patience of the older samurai that moves me most, the hard-won wisdom of a calm acceptance of the way things are.

My goodness, you have me nearly in tears, kr, with your moving words. I wish now I had watched Stray Dog and Seven Samurai, but I will most certainly get to them via DVD, if possible. When a film can move me emotionally like you described, it becomes a favorite. When a director can consistently provide me with films like that over the course of a career, he becomes cherished. I think Kurosawa might be a director like that for me. It's emotional reactions like this that cause me to cling so tightly to classic films.

[Mr. Arkadin]

Some rambling comments about Kurosawa films: Mr. Arkadin, many thanks for recommending the four Kurosawa noirs--High and Low, The Bad Sleep Well, Drunken Angel, and Stray Dog. In addition to his many other talents, Kurosawa is now one of my favorite noir directors.

You're more than welcome. Few things make me happier than sharing what I love with someone else and seeing them enjoy it.

Sometimes we come across moments in films that like great passages in poetry seem to illuminate our lives. One of them for me is the climax of Stray Dog, whether policeman and criminal, two possibilities for one character, confront each other in field covered with wildflowers. In one of the nearby houses a woman plays a beautiful melody on the piano. The final struggle between two men who no longer hate each other set in the midst of an ordinary daily beauty simply overwhelms me.

Nicely written. Kurosawa again emphasizes duality and possibly the Chinese concept of Taoism, as he reveals the potential for good and evil in all of us.

I hope you recorded Red Beard, as I am anxious to hear what you think of it.

[MikeBSG]

I just watched "Kill!" a 1968 movie directed by Kihachi Okamoto. The surprising thing is that it is based on the same novel that inspired Kurosawa's "Sanjuro." I have no idea why two films would be based on the same novel within less than a decade.

there is a similarity between the two films. The hero is a disreputable ronin who takes it upon himself to protect a group of young idealistic samurai. (In Kurosawa's, the youngsters are very naive. In "Kill!" they have some problems.)

Typically I find Kihachi's samurai films suffer from too much convoluted plot. "Kill" was really straightforward for him, although it did seem like everyone was plotting against everyone else. Still, this was his most satisfyingly plotted film for me. I really enjoyed it. It has been a while since I've seen "Sanjuro."

[MikeBSG]

"Stray Dog" is a good movie. It would probably make a nice double feature with "The Naked City."

I was interested in seeing how important baseball was in postwar Japan. (The stadium looked pretty big, there were plenty of fans. I certainly didn't expect to see that in the late Forties.)

Also I liked the scene in which the cop was shot. The set up (we know the crook is upstairs, the cop doesn't know) was very suspenseful.

[MissGoddess]

For those in NYC, Film Forum will be showing DERSU UZALA April 14th (9 days). FilmForum.org posted these critics quotes on the film:

"Direction as calm and matter-of-act in its elegiacs as the best of John Ford."
-- Tom Milne

"Signaled a new style for the sensei and presaged the lion-in-winter glories of his Shakespearean Ran. Kurosawa's monumental sort of dynamism-- he plots out the action to the farthest corners of the screen-- superbly expresses his view of man's eroding relationship to nature... now it seems prescient."
-- Michael Sragow, The New Yorker

"One of the most beautifully composed and photographed of Kurosawa's films."
-- Donald Richie

More information:
http://www.filmforum.org/films/kurosawa2.html

[Mr. Arkadin]

The balance of the film is indeed critical. In the wrong hands, Red Beard could easily fall into soap opera or snoozeland, but Kurosawa’s investment in his characters makes the story work and his intelligent use of themes, life experience, and philosophy create a very different interpretation of existence than what is often portrayed in modern culture.

While are lots of great scenes that define this, perhaps my favorite early on is the death of Rokuskue, where we see the value Red Beard places on life and his understanding of death. We also realize Rokuskue’s influence upon others, which is in effect, a microcosm of the film. It’s these stories or parables, which are woven together, much like our lives (what is life but a story?) that connect us not only to the film, but each other in a new understanding of humanity.

Here’s another interesting thread on Asian movies:
http://silverscreenoasis.com/oasis3/vie ... =22&t=2841

[charliechaplinfan]

I took a copy of the book The Emperor and the Wolf on holiday, I'm really glad I did, it gave me greater insight into Kurosawa's work and made me want to watch all of his movies again, especially Seven Samurai which I don't think I appreciated first time around. I wanted to share every chapter of the book and get back to this thread. I still don't have a favorite Kurosawa film, but if pushed I'd probably say Ikiru.

I understand now more of the dynamics between Mifune and Kurosawa, there was no falling out but simply that Mifune moved into production, perhaps not the wisest choice but he seems to have been a loyal employer. This precluded him from taking part in Kurosawa's productions which took months to produce, his time away would endanger his fledgling company. It seems Kurosawa never realised this and was a bit hard on Mifune.

Mifune was very different than I'd imagined, a gentle man, a man who needed to inhabit the character for the whole of the filming to be able to give a good performance. He must have been delightful on Red Beard, don't think I'd have liked to have been around for Drunken Angel though.

Kurosawa was more like the man I'd imagined him to be, the most surprising thing about his career is that his later films had to be propped up by film makers like George Lucas. The Japanese film industry being run very different from Hollywood, smaller budget pictures were what the companies were interested in making. Thank heavens for George Lucas and Steven Speilberg, not often I say that.

[charliechaplinfan]

Dear Nancy recorded me some of the Kurosawa flims that were showing during this tribute, the ones not available commercially, it appreciate it so much

I watched The Lower Depths and left a review on the general thread. With Kurosawa sometimes I don't think that I'm seeing much but then I realised that it's a great piece of storytelling from one of the masters. Must try again with Derzu Usala.

A few days ago I watched Kurosawa's adaptation of The Lower Depths, based on a Maxim Gorky play, it's very stagey at first but Kurosawa manages to bring the characters to life using inventive editing and his great cast of actors, they include an old drunk actor, a gambler, a thief, a prostitute, a cobbler and his dying wife. All are destitute and living in a shed rented off the landlord who pretends to be a friend to them yet robs them blind. A beggar shows up, a benevolent man, who tells the drunk of a cure, listens to the prostitutes tales, comforts the dying woman, counsels the thief.

Kurosawa had a great set built across his studio from which he colud film wither side, he filmed with inventive diagonals and angles that trapped characters heightening their despair. There's comedy and social commentary here, it's not a good film to view if you want an introduction to Kurosawa, for that look at Seven Samurai, Ikiru, Rashomon but it explains more about the man Kurosawa was and what he was trying to achieve in his film making career.

This is also one of the most accomplished parts that Mifune ever played and he played many very well, his thief in the Lower Depths has more anger and tenderness, more capacity to love and fear of rejection, it's a great portrayal. Thanks Nancy