A Month of Kurosawa: Rashomon (1950)

A Month of Kurosawa: Rashomon (1950)

Posted inFilms
To celebrate the upcoming release of my book, Akira Kurosawa: A Viewer's Guide, due out Dec. 15 from Rowman & Littlefield -- preorder here! -- I'll be doing capsule reviews all month covering every single Kurosawa film and posting (very) brief excerpts. These will be short impressions and recommendations, nothing more. For a full, detailed analysis of each, grab the book! Rashomon (1950) Reams upon reams have been written about Rashomon. It's likely to be among the two or three Kurosawa films even casual film viewers have seen, or at least heard of, so for this capsule review series I…
A Month of Kurosawa: Drunken Angel (1948)

A Month of Kurosawa: Drunken Angel (1948)

Posted inFilms
To celebrate the upcoming release of my book, Akira Kurosawa: A Viewer's Guide, due out Dec. 15 from Rowman & Littlefield -- preorder here! -- I'll be doing capsule reviews all month covering every single Kurosawa film and posting (very) brief excerpts. These will be short impressions and recommendations, nothing more. For a full, detailed analysis of each, grab the book! Drunken Angel (1948) Here's a recipe for movie magic: Put Toshiro Mifune on screen. Pair him with Takashi Shimura. And have Akira Kurosawa direct them. Still a no-name actor, this was Mifune's first of many roles for Kurosawa, and…
A Month of Kurosawa: One Wonderful Sunday (1947)

A Month of Kurosawa: One Wonderful Sunday (1947)

Posted inFilms
To celebrate the upcoming release of my book, Akira Kurosawa: A Viewer's Guide, due out Dec. 15 from Rowman & Littlefield -- preorder here! -- I'll be doing capsule reviews all month covering every single Kurosawa film and posting (very) brief excerpts. These will be short impressions and recommendations, nothing more. For a full, detailed analysis of each, grab the book! One Wonderful Sunday (1947) Released in 1947, One Wonderful Sunday follows a young couple through post-war Japan as they struggle to enjoy their life despite being destitute. They're poor, hungry, and desperate, with little brightness ahead of them in…
A Month of Kurosawa: No Regrets For Our Youth (1946)

A Month of Kurosawa: No Regrets For Our Youth (1946)

Posted inFilms
To celebrate the upcoming release of my book, Akira Kurosawa: A Viewer's Guide, due out Dec. 15 from Rowman & Littlefield -- preorder here! -- I'll be doing capsule reviews all month covering every single Kurosawa film and posting (very) brief excerpts. These will be short impressions and recommendations, nothing more. For a full, detailed analysis of each, grab the book! No Regrets For Our Youth (1946) No Regrets For Our Youth was a post-war drama by Akira Kurosawa that mixes equal parts political protest, love triangle, and family drama. Kurosawa's pictures are virtually always political in some way --…
A Month of Kurosawa: The Men Who Tread on the Tiger’s Tail (1945)

A Month of Kurosawa: The Men Who Tread on the Tiger’s Tail (1945)

Posted inFilms
To celebrate the upcoming release of my book, Akira Kurosawa: A Viewer's Guide, due out Dec. 15 from Rowman & Littlefield -- preorder here! -- I'll be doing capsule reviews all month covering every single Kurosawa film and posting (very) brief excerpts. These will be short impressions and recommendations, nothing more. For a full, detailed analysis of each, grab the book! The Men Who Tread on the Tiger's Tail (1945) Released in 1945, The Men Who Tread on the Tiger's Tail is a slightly comedic retelling of a traditional Kabuki play (which is itself based on a Noh play). It's also…