View Larger Image

Kurosawa Director: Adam Low Number of Items: 1 Picture Format: Letterbox Format: Color, Widescreen Audience Rating: NR (Not Rated) Running Time: 215 minutes Studio: Wellspring Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1 Region Code: 1 Product Group: DVD Release Date: 2002-04-23 Buy from Amazon

From Amazon.com Originally broadcast on PBS, the superlative Kurosawa is likely to remain the definitive documentary on the life and work of Japanese film master Akira Kurosawa. The film follows the conventional documentary approach of a chronology of Kurosawa's career, with requisite film clips and interviews with many of Kurosawa's surviving collaborators and family members. Western admirers like James Coburn, Clint Eastwood, and Japanese film scholar Donald Richie are also interviewed, and director Adam Low provides a more contemplative appreciation of Kurosawa's life and work. Enhanced by Sam Shepard's straightforward narration and Paul Scofeld's evocative readings from Kurosawa's elusive autobiography, the film functions as both honorable tribute and touching retrospective, especially when the surviving crewmembers of Rashomon are assembled for a 50-year reunion filled with anecdotes and insiders’ perspective. All in all, this is must-see viewing for any lover of film. --Jeff Shannon From Description From Ran to Madadayo, Akira Kurosawa set new boundaries for world cinema, producing a string of masterpieces unrivaled in motion picture history. In the first major documentary to be made since his death in 1998, Kurosawa's family and colleagues are joined by critics from Japan and America to produce a comprehensive assessment of his achievement. Featuring clips from Kurosawa's greatest films: Rashomon, Seven Samurai, Throne of Blood, Yojimbo, Kagemusha, Ran, Dreams, and Madadayo. Includes exclusive interviews with James Coburn and Clint Eastwood along with production manager Teruyo Nogami, actresses Machiko Kyo and Isuzu Yamada, actor Tatsuya Nakadai, director Kon Ichikawa, and more. 115 minutes.

Customer Reviews: Total numer of reviews: 11 Average rating: 4.0 "A personal biography, not enough on the films" I had only seen two Kurosawa movies (Ran and Seven Samurai) before I saw this documentary, and I was interested to learn more. I learned a lot about Kurosawa's life: His family, his childhood, his brother who committed suicide, and the early years at Toho. But when documentary turned to the films that made Kurosawa famous, I was unsatisfied. The films are presented as key moments in Kurosawa's emotional and professional life --- this one was his breakout film, that one was his hardest shoot, and another re-started his floundering career. That approach isn't too bad. I can look elsewhere (on DVD and in books) to get a closer look at the films themselves, the production histories, and the reactions from fans and critics. But still, I wish more of his movies had been covered. What about The Hidden Fortress? (I was hoping to see it juxtaposed against Star Wars, to see if they really *are* alike.) And the excerpts from the films are too short. For example, rather than show key scenes from Rashomon, the documentary revisits the spot where those scenes were filmed 50 years ago. This documentary is a little weak, but it's worth the time. The filmmakers introduce you to Kurosawa as an artist. There brief interviews with Americans like Clint Eastwood are a nice touch. The DVD has an extra hour of interviews, as well. A better documentary on Kurosawa could be made. Until then, this is good enough. "A look into the life and working habit of Kurosawa" There are two parts to this DVD: the main part that tells of the life story of Kurosawa and highlights of his filmography, and the bonus materials that consist of interviews with actors, producers, cinematographer, sound techinicians, and others involved in making movies with Kurosawa. I find the bonus interviews much more interesting than the main part of the DVD. From these interviews you get a picture of how Kurosawa works, from competitive team writing of scripts to simultaneous filming with *eight* cameras. It is true that as a fan one would like to see the films discussed more, but the producer has crammed as much as they can into a single dvd. To fully document the life and work of Kurosawa will probably require a 3-or 4-dvd set! What I like best from the DVD: Kurosawa's regret that he hasn't done anything to resist Japan's war efforts, the frank discussion of his suicide attempt, the discussions of his work ethics and methods, his failed collaboration with Hollywood on ``Tora! Tora! Tora!'', and the demonstration of the Iaido sword drawing technique! What I wish they have covered better: the break between Kurosawa and Mifune after Red Beard, and more illustrations from the films when interviewees discuss various aspects of the films. One film that is strangely not mentioned at all in the whole DVD is the Hidden Fortress. Interestingly, in his interview included at the end of the Hidden Fortress Criterion Collection DVD, George Lucas denies Hidden Fortress' influence on Star Wars. He came across as rather annoyed by the question, actually. As for the Seven Samurai, Michael Lesk's running commentary in the Criterion Collection discusses in depth Kurosawa's directing techniques. The present DVD also gives some more ``making of'' information on Seven Samurai. Kurosawa and Seven Samurai are mentioned in perhaps two sentences in the ``making of'' special feature of the Magnificient Seven's DVD. "5 Star biography -- 2 Star Look at his films" Kurosawa reaches for great heights with Sam Shepherd narrating the body and Paul Scofield acting as the voice of Kurosawa's autobiography. It's certainly worth watching as a compelling story of a famous man, but it fails as an examination of his work. If it weren't for the films, Kurosawa would hardly be an interesting subject, but the documentary is only interested in certain films important to his overall career. The first half-hour is an interesting but empty tribute to how important he is supposed to be. I find it interesting to hear about Kurosawa's experiences with Hiroshima and his brother's suicide, but that should be a secondary attribute, not the heart of the film. Though decent length is spent on Rashomon and Seven Samurai, the films Hidden Fortress and High and Low aren't even discussed. Many actors and writers from the films are interviewed in current times, and they even return to the locations of the films. It was also interesting to see Clint Eastwood and James Coburn discuss the films and characters that they would later play in western remakes. But I still wanted more. A look at how Kurosawa's early rearing readied him for future art is would have been more worthwhile, had the actual work been discussed for its own merits. "An insightful documentary about my favorite film director" Akira Kurosawa directed my favorite film, "Shichinin no samurai." When I was teaching Honors World Literature I would show the film to my students in between their reading of Homer's "Iliad" and Cervantes's "Don Quixote" as part of a trilogy on the nature of heroism. Whenever I would teach a course on movies I would screen "Rashomon," and if I taught "King Lear" to a class they would see "Ran." If I had ever gotten around to teaching "MacBeth" I would have shown them "Throne of Blood." Consequently, I have taken advantage of any and all opportunities to advance the cinematic gospel of Akira Kurosawa. This 2001 documentary about "Kurosawa" combines a chronological look at the director's life offering biographical insights into his films with some critical explications of his work. The latter is relatively limited and while I would have liked to have seen more cinematic analysis we do have a whole series of Criterion Edition DVDs of Kurosawa's film with superb commentary tracks by knowledgeable film critics. There are also almost 100 minutes of additional filmed interviews provided, arranged thematically. What this documentary offers that uniquely fills in the gap in any such home film appreciation course are some direct comparisons of scenes from Kurosawa films and their American versions (e.g., "Yojimbo" and "A Fistful of Dollars"). Similarly, there are some juxtapositions of key scenes from Kurosawa films with images from his life as well as the paintings he did while preparing for film projects. The documentary combines footage from most of Kurosawa's films and interviews with key colleagues such as screenwriter Shinobu Hashimoto and actor Tatsuya Nakadai, as well as interviews with Kurosawa himself and excerpts from his autobiography (read by Paul Scofield). At two hours in length the documentary has to neglect some popular ("The Hidden Fortress") and critically acclaimed ("Stray Dog") films. However, I would not be surprised if for every Kurosawa film you note is missing you will discover a hitherto unknown Kurosawa film that you can add to your list of what to see next (somehow I have missed out on "Red Beard" to this point in my life). As long as you have seen at least a couple of Kurosawa's films you should be able to find this documentary informative and insightful. Even those who consider themselves knowledgeable about his career and his films should this documentary and its bonus interviews to be of more than passing interest. "Great, But Incomplete" My first exposure to a Kurosawa film was "Seven Samurai". I watched it after watching "The magnificent Seven". The thing that piqued my curiosity about Seven Samurai was the "making of" documentary that came with The Magnificent Seven. After watching Seven Samurai (3 times in less than 2 days - it litterally blew me away), I then saw the Magnificent Seven again. So what does all of this have to do with the film Kurosawa? Plenty. Much of what was included in Kurosawa's life was never mentioned in the actual film (a major example of this is that the film itself never mentions that John Ford was a major influence on Kurosawa (and is just casually mentioned in the bonus material). Another example is that the film never mentions Kurosawa's reaction to The Magnificent Seven being made. To get all this information, you must buy The Magnificent Seven DVD (The Special Edition), and watch the "making of" feature, Guns For Hire: The Making Of The Magnificent Seven. Also, why wasn't George Lucas in this project? The movie "The Hidden Fortress" greatly influenced him to make "Star Wars". Actually, there is very little mention of The Hidden Fortress, an ingenious movie in it's own right). It's too bad that the makers of Kurosawa couldn't incorporate Guns For Hire, and the George Lucas interview (The Hidden Fortress) with the film, and the bonus interviews. I probably would have given this documentary 5 stars. Maybe I'm making too much over Seven Samurai, but (as far as I'm concerned) Seven Samurai, and Rashomon were his greatest movies. Still, this documentary (Kurosawa himself cringed at the idea of writing an autobiography) does pay a great deal of tribute to a great, and highly innovative director. Thus it is worth the price of purchase. (How many feature length films do you see on other great directors (Hitchcock, Lang, Ford)? The only one that I can recall is Samuel Fuller (The Typewriter, the Rifle and the Movie Camera), and from watching the still limited releases that he made, he was a great one). Anyway, this is a great bio, but (if you don't have it already) get it with The Magnificent Seven Special Edition DVD. Oh by the way; those japaneese charactors in the menus. If you highlight them, you get comercials of Kurosawa drinking / endorsing Santori Whiskey.