Just watched Seven Samurai again and it blows me away every time, the most stunning piece of cinema I think I'll ever see.
I also have similar opinions towards Rashômon and Ikiru
It's amazing to think he created three complete masterpieces in a decade.
I've got a boxset featuring The Hidden Fortress and The Bad Sleep Well, and others too. I've been itching to watch them for ages, but I've always been put off by the translations being somewhat dodgy. It's annoying being put off by dialogue issues when what I find most captivating is the cinematography.
does anyone recommend any other kurosawa films in particular and know where I can find another cheap boxset with decent translations?
ran is awesome
and ikiru is good. rashomon is probably the best
Ikiru
has just been re-released in (a limited number of) cinemas.
Ran and Rashamon are probably my favourite.
*favourites
numpty
not in leeds.
as much as I adore hyde park picture house, it needs more of these.
However, I did just get prompted to look at the listings and Wizard of Oz is playing. \o/
Top 5 you haven't mentioned:
Yojimbo (possibly my second favourite after SS)
Sanjuro (not nearly as good as Yojimbo, but the last scene is possibly the best thing I've ever seen on film.)
Throne of Blood (one of my favourite Shakespeare adaptations by anyone, albeit not THAT faithful)
Ran (see above)
Stray Dog (my favourite of the non-samurai ones I've seen, but I haven't seen Ikiru)
Avoid:
Kagemusha and Akira Kurosawa's dreams.
Can't help you with cheap boxsets I'm afraid.
thanks!
I'd forgotten I'd seen Kagemusha. urgh.
Stray Dog and Throne of Blood are included in the boxset I've got. I'm guessing bad translations might ruin them.
Throne of Blood is fine translation i think
it's more about the atmosphere I think, but I loved it when i saw it in Hyde Park Picture House while back.
Other than that I'm restricted to Rashomon and ran (both brilliant), but I got the boxset at the weekend that i think you have - £40 from HMV for Stray Dog, Ikiru, Throne of Blood and a couple others.
It's a red box.
One of his lesser known (and consequently now rarer to get hold of)
films is a collabartion he did with Steven Spilberg's Dreamworks studio: it's called "Dreams"; and is an "autobigraphical depiction of several dreams Ikura Kurosawa has had over his life"; which basically means, in my opinion anyway, several short films, or vignettes really that give impressions of his dreams that usually have some real life reference ie there's one about Vincent van Gogh's wheat field with crows is painting; there's one about a post apocalyptic
Japan, and another's about the ghosts of some military soldiers that died in WW2: All very interesting, not really a film though as it was more of an "artistic experiment" according to some interview he gave at the time about it. I bought it on VHS( yeap that's right along with some sleazy 90's wrestling tapes and some James bond films or something typical) from ebay a couple of years ago-though I haven't watched it for ages and if you can't find it in a DVD collection, you can have my version
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dreams_%28film%29
that description makes it sound completely incredible.
sorry warny, I think I'll take this word for it.
Yeah, you should defo see it and make your mind up for yourself.
I agree with a lot of this though:
http://www.timeout.com/film/newyork/reviews/77647/Akira_Kurosawas_Dreams.html
yojimbo is pretty cool
if you can do region 1 criterion tends to be pretty good, not necessarily cheap however...
http://www.criterion.com/asp/search_results.asp
imagine the translations would be cool though. they have a criterion box on amazon which looks awesome, again though, not rly cheap
i noticed this on ebay the other day which may be of interest
http://tinyurl.com/5mct5y
have no idea what the subtitling on thatd be like though...
Hi dukebox.
Man, I wish I could afford criterion DVDs.
hi thewarn
man, me too, i was just considering how cool it would be to work for something like criterion on deciding what stuff they put out, it would be pretty cool, huh
It really would.
If I could combine that with a job in the lego factory (maybe recreating key scenes with lego characters to go on the DVD as an extra?), I'd be pretty set for life I think.
also
you should try watching some ozu films as well you may like them
Yes.
And Kenjo Mizoguchi. I've only seen Life of Oharu, but that's pretty special.
thanks
I've wikied them and added to my massive list.
watching 50 films and every series of The Wire by October - possible?
my girlfriend likes ozu
i never watched anything by him before i started going out with her, girls arent totally useless huh, who knew
that's the one I've got!
the translations at times are pretty awful.
The blurb:
"Akira Kurosawa is a famous film maker, he is japanese, most of peoples know him in the world, since 1951, the film named <<rashomon>> has won..."
etc.
'the film of akira kurosawa'
funny that isnt even right i guess, huh
ah well though, i dunno, dvdgo might have stuff released in continental europe i guess, other than that criterion is probably the best bet for half decent quality releases... or artificial eye if they have any...
BFI Southbank
Has a season of iconic Japanese directors on at the minute, including lots of Kurosawa.
I know this, because they told me when I was booking my tickets for IMAX Dark Knight.
*instantly loses sought-after cool image
FUCK.
I walked past it on monday and was really tempted to go in. Had no idea there was anything about Japanese cinema though.
Now, I'm back in Leeds. sigh. Do you know when it runs until? I'll hopefully be back in london for field day.
[don't worry, on that same trip I stayed around Leicester Square for about half an hour with all the Dark Knight premiere stuff and FLAME MACHINES, etc :D ]
Well I live 5 mins away
and I'm currently watching Big Brother instead. Jesus I'm a lazy tard.
Just checked, finishes 31 July.
...
I can't remember if I've seen Rashomon or not. Can anyone fill in the blanks for me?
girl gets raped
4 defendants present 4 different views on what happened. Set in a court when not in FLASHBACK mode.
Yojimbo is fantastic
some superb scenes in it, especially the bit where he cuts the blokes arm off. I've taken to tucking my arms into the main bit of my work shirt and walking around with a bit of straw in my mouth. It gets me respect.
It's like a cartoon isn't it?
I freaking love Yojimbo. Have you seen Sanjuro yet?
not yet
it's on the list as is Ikiru.
No Seven Samurai
would love to see that on a big screen.
http://www.bfi.org.uk/whatson/bfi_southbank/film_programme/july_seasons/japanese_gems?utm_source=home1&utm_medium=internal&utm_campaign=home
yeah, i think they had some last week?
certainly not 2 dozen films there, unless they're counting indivdual shows.
Might go see rashomon next sat, could be good 'on the big screen'