Kurosawa (3pc) (Sub)

Rating:
Summary: A personal biography, not enough on the films
Review: 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.

Rating:
Summary: Great, But Incomplete
Review: 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.

Rating:
Summary: A look into the life and working habit of Kurosawa
Review: 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.