FOT Forum
FOT Community => General Discussion => Topic started by: buffcoat on March 14, 2010, 12:23:47 AM
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Last week and again this week, TCM has shown some of the slightly lesser and quite lesser known Kurosawa movies. As a result, I will have about 20 hours worth of Kurosawa on my DVR. Help me rank them, and even possibly cut the list down, if you've seen them. K. is my favorite director: I've seen most of his most well known films, with the exception of Ran, and a couple of others.
The Lower Depths
Hakuchi
The Hidden Fortress
Throne of Blood
Ikiru
The Bad Sleep Well
High and Low
I Live in Fear
Scandal
Thanks!
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I love AK too - many of these I have not seen yet but I can vouch for the following:
Hidden Fortress (which you have to watch for the Star Wars thing- but it's funny and enjoyable and epic even w/o that connection)
High and Low (kidnapping thriller set in modern day if I remember right)
Throne of Blood (this is the Macbeth one-holy shit, the ending)
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If you get Turner Classic Movies channel they are doing a Kuraswa marathon every Tuesday. It started last Tuesday and on the last day i think its going to be an all day thing.
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I have seen only one of the movies on that list, but Ikiru is such a great movie I can't recommend it enough. It's like if Billy Wilder and Frank Capra directed a movie together.
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The Bad Sleep Well was pretty good but there was about a twenty minute stretch when absolutely nothing happened other than everyone sitting around waiting for the story to wrap up.
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I got bored with The Bad Sleep Well and didn't finish it. Of the ones I've seen, AC pretty much nailed the ones I think are the best. Ikiru is supposed to be great, but I haven't seen it.
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Ask Petey, buff.
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LIFETIME BAN.
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For mentioning Petey? Jeepers.
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For mentioning Petey? Jeepers.
I am proposing no such thing.
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Phew.
So, what were you proposing?
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Throne of Blood
Throne of Blood
Throne of Blood
Ikiru
High and Low
The TCM schedule reminds me how many more by him I need to see. Red Beard is on this week, that' s a great one. Health care + fist fights!
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Phew.
So, what were you proposing?
I was not making a proposition. I was pointing out that, as far as memory recalls, Petey was given a lifetime ban, which means he may not be available for consultation on this issue.
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1. Ikiru - greatest movie ever made, slow paced. I cry every time. Not for first time Kurosawa viewers.
2. The Bad Sleep Well - This is about as good as Ikiru, and is more watchable if your not used to modern setting Kurosawa movies.
3. Scandal - This was the infantile version of Bad Sleep Well. I like it more than the others on the list, but I prefer Kurosawa's movies set in the modern day, so you'd probably like Throne of Blood more.
4. Throne of Blood - Not as good as Seven Samurai or Yojimbo by any means but still better than Rashomon. Also, I didn't really like Ran at all. Throne of Blood was similar and much better.
5. Hidden Fortress/High and Low - Both really good movies but they didn't stick in my mind as much. You'd prefer Hidden Fortress if you like his period films more.
I didn't watch the other ones and Hachuki isnt a kurosawa movie as far as I know.
KUROSAWA FUN FACT OF THE DAY: Seven Samurai was produced using Yakuza mob money. (thanks to my friend mitsuki who can read the japanese text)
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Phew.
So, what were you proposing?
I was not making a proposition. I was pointing out that, as far as memory recalls, Petey was given a lifetime ban, which means he may not be available for consultation on this issue.
I'm sorry for going way off topic here, but when was the ban imposed? The last call I think I heard him make was the 'You come heah on the day of my dodda wedding' bit... which may or may not have been the same call where he claimed that the downward dog pose in yoga was 'based on a real doggie' (this still makes me laugh whenever I think of it).
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"High and Low" is actually one of my favorite procedurals of all time. I was a bit bewildered at the outset when the first half-hour was this tense, claustrophobic kidnapping-negotiations drama, but once it burst out of that setting and unfurled into the investigations phase of the movie it was completely riveting. It really does a great job of starting from the top level of societal strata and slowly sinking down into an abyss of total dereliction.
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Thanks, everybody. Here are the remaining Kurosawa films for the month. Any opinions about these?
* Petey - Hakuchi is a 1951 Kurosawa film - http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0043614/
I'm watching Ikiru right now, and you're right that it's lovely.
Sanshiro Sugata (1943) A young man struggles to learn the ssence of the martial arts. Cast: Ryunosuke Tsukigata, Akitake Kono, Shoji Kiyokawa. Dir: Akira Kurosawa. BW-79 mins, TV-PG
Most Beautiful, The (1944) Japanese women sacrifice everything for the war effort. Cast: Takashi Shimura, Shoji Kiyokawa, Ichiro Sugai. Dir: Akira Kurosawa. BW-85 mins, TV-PG
Men Who Tread on the Tiger's Tail, The (1945) In medieval Japan, a feudal lord undertakes a perilous mission to put his brother's soul to rest. Cast: Kenjiro Okochi, Susumu Fujita, Kenichi Enomoto. Dir: Akira Kurosawa. BW-59 mins, TV-PG
Sanshiro Sugata Part 2 (1945) A judo fighter continues his training to prove his superiority to foreign challengers. Cast: Denjiro Okochi, Susumu Fujita, Ryunosuke Tsukigata. Dir: Akira Kurosawa. BW-82 mins, TV-PG
Regrets For Our Youth (1946) A woman flees society after seeing her father and lover destroyed by government oppression. Cast: Danjiro Oicochi, Eiko Miyoshi, Setsuko Hara. Dir: Akira Kurosawa. BW-110 mins, TV-PG
One Wonderful Sunday (1947) An engaged couple tries to enjoy their Sunday holiday without spending any money. Cast: Midori Ariyama, Chieko Nakakita, Isao Numasaiki. Dir: Akira Kurosawa. BW-110 mins, TV-PG
Drunken Angel (1948) An alcoholic doctor builds a shaky friendship with a dying gangster. Cast: Takashi Shimura, Toshiro Mifune, Reizaburo Yamamoto. Dir: Akira Kurosawa. BW-98 mins, TV-PG, CC
Stray Dog (1949) When a detective's gun is stolen, he tears apart the underworld to get it back. Cast: Toshiro Mifune, Takashi, Shimamura, Keiko Awaji. Dir: Akira Kurosawa. BW-122 mins, TV-PG
Rashomon (1950) In medieval Japan, four people offer conflicting accounts of a rape and murder. Cast: Toshiro Mifune, Machiko Kyo, Masayuki Mori. Dir: Akira Kurosawa. BW-88 mins, TV-PG
*NOTE - I have seen Rashomon and thought it was great.
Seven Samurai (1954) Japanese villagers hire a team of traveling samurai to defend them against a bandit attack. Cast: Toshiro Mifune, Takashi Shimura, Kuninori Kodo. Dir: Akira Kurosawa. BW-207 mins, TV-14
*NOTE - I have seen Seven Samurai and thought it was great.
Yojimbo (1961) A samurai-for-hire sets the warring factions of a Japanese town against each other. Cast: Toshiro Mifune, Eijiro Tono, Seizaburo Kawazu. Dir: Akira Kurosawa. BW-111 mins, TV-14, Letterbox Format
*NOTE - I have seen Yojimbo and it's my favorite Kurosawa movie so far.
Sanjuro (1962) A wandering samurai recruits younger fighters to help him battle corruption. Cast: Toshiro Mifune, Tatsuya Hakadai, Yuzo Kayama. Dir: Akira Kurosawa. BW-96 mins, TV-14, Letterbox Format
Dodes 'Ka-Den (1970) Slum dwellers in Tokyo fight to survive while dreaming of better lives. Cast: Yoshitaka Zushi, Kin Sugai, Kaou Kato. Dir: Akira Kurosawa. C-140 mins, TV-14
Dersu Uzala (1975) A Russian explorer brings the Asiatic hunter who saved his life back to civilization. Cast: Maksim Munzuk, Yuri Solomin, Svetlana Danilchenko. Dir: Akira Kurosawa. C-141 mins, TV-PG, Letterbox Format
Kagemusha (1980) Japanese clansmen force a poor thief to impersonate their dead warlord. Cast: Tatsuya Nakadai, Tsutomu Yamazaki, Kenichi Hagiwara. Dir: Akira Kurosawa. C-181 mins, TV-PG, Letterbox Format
*NOTE - I have seen Kagemusha and thought it was great.
Ran (1985) An aging lord's decision to retire brings out the worst in his sons. Cast: Tatsuya Nakadai, Akira Terao, Jinpachi Nezu. Dir: Akira Kurosawa. C-163 mins, , Letterbox Format
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Stray Dog is Kurosawa's take on film noir. Mifune is very clean-cut and unusually restrained in his performance. I like it a lot.
Sanjuro is kind of a sequel to Yojimbo, so if you loved that one, you should definitely watch Sanjuro.
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Stray Dog is Kurosawa's take on film noir. Mifune is very clean-cut and unusually restrained in his performance. I like it a lot.
Sanjuro is kind of a sequel to Yojimbo, so if you loved that one, you should definitely watch Sanjuro.
It's been a long time since I saw Stray Dog but what has stuck with me are the scenes with Mifune walking the streets in sections of Tokyo that were still completely ravaged by the war. Although I didn't make the connection when I first saw the film in hindsight I think you could argue these scenes were Kurosawa's stab at neo-realism, which was all the rage in the art-film world of the time (around 1950). In any case the images from that section of the movie (I believe there's a long stretch of 10 minutes or so which is dialogue-free) are really remarkable. I'm sure the rest of the film is terrific as well, I just can't remember it well.
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Dersu Uzala is a curious one, but effective. It was made in Russia w/ a Russian cast and crew, during the period when his career was pretty much in ruins in Japan following his suicide attempt. I liked it, but I like everything of his I've seen.
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I'm not a big fan.
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"High and Low" is actually one of my favorite procedurals of all time. I was a bit bewildered at the outset when the first half-hour was this tense, claustrophobic kidnapping-negotiations drama, but once it burst out of that setting and unfurled into the investigations phase of the movie it was completely riveting. It really does a great job of starting from the top level of societal strata and slowly sinking down into an abyss of total dereliction.
Totally agree. I especially love the procedural stuff because it's just solid detective work, not CSI-type shit.
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Dersu Uzala is a curious one, but effective. It was made in Russia w/ a Russian cast and crew, during the period when his career was pretty much in ruins in Japan following his suicide attempt. I liked it, but I like everything of his I've seen.
Where did he find Russian actors who could speak Japanese?
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Dersu Uzala is a curious one, but effective. It was made in Russia w/ a Russian cast and crew, during the period when his career was pretty much in ruins in Japan following his suicide attempt. I liked it, but I like everything of his I've seen.
Where did he find Russian actors who could speak Japanese?
I don't know, but to answer the other question you'll have, yes, that's a young Vladimir Putin as "Frightened sake thief #3."
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Throne Of Blood is one of those movies that I can watch anywhere, anytime, for any duration, and never get sick of it.
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I loved The Hidden Fortress. Toshiro Mifune is awesome.
I've watched half of Ikiru. Only another 18 or 19 movies to go.
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I loved The Hidden Fortress. Toshiro Mifune is awesome.
Agreed, and agreed - I have a MAJOR thing for Mifune.
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Moi hast viewed three of these.
“Hidden Fortress” is my favorite of all Kurosawa films. It’s dramatically scintillating with hilariously well timed bits of humor. The characters’ lows are such dramatic highs, pure genius.
“Ikiru” is fantastically entertaining and the ‘gear changing’ is timing quintessentially personified. Kurosawa REALLY set-moi-up with the funeral scene AND THEN that amazingly nifty finish, beautiful.
“Thorne Of Blood,” a splendiferously staged and acted Japanesse version of one of The Bard’s finest (Act V – Scene V – Gad, Ya’d hav-ta have a “Bad guy” say that kind-a TRUTH ta get ANY 'air play' .).
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I'd never seen Stray Dog, so I gave that a shot. I thought is was a great police procedural, and about Sparks' comments on post-war Japan, it was very much in tune with what directors were trying to do in America at the time by making statements about the shattered kids coming back from the war.
It almost becomes a film noir with it's intersection of a lost generation and the lawmen trying to contain them, but instead of the story being told from the criminals who realize they have no place in society anymore, it's by two police trying to make sense of them.
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on a personalized netflix rating system:
The Lower Depths - 4 stars. Or more. Oh. Let's make it five.
Hakuchi - haven't seen! ach!
The Hidden Fortress - Been too long. Must watch again soon.
Throne of Blood - 5 stars
Ikiru - 5 stars Lovely lovely lovely.
The Bad Sleep Well - 4 stars (maybe more, I don't know.)
High and Low - a million stars. I love it so bad for so many reasons.
I Live in Fear - haven't seen, must see soon.
Scandal - I think I saw it, but it didn't make much of an impression on me.
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I'd never seen Stray Dog, so I gave that a shot. I thought is was a great police procedural, and about Sparks' comments on post-war Japan, it was very much in tune with what directors were trying to do in America at the time by making statements about the shattered kids coming back from the war.
It almost becomes a film noir with it's intersection of a lost generation and the lawmen trying to contain them, but instead of the story being told from the criminals who realize they have no place in society anymore, it's by two police trying to make sense of them.
Watched this one tonight. I really liked it. I think it was pretty much a Japanese noir, at least for more than half of the film. you can tell Kurosawa is trying some things out.
I understand why his reputation is bigger in the West than in Japan - he's clearly adopting Western techniques (many of them) and of course CREATING Western techniques rather than folding into what was going on in Japan at the time.
Auntie Christina - if you're a Mifune fan, Stray Dogs has him young, dashing, clean shaven.