Akira Kurosawa Articles

RAN (1985) Direction: Akira Kurosawa Cast: Tatsuya Nakadai, Akira Terao, Jinpachi Nezu, Daisuke Ryu, Mieko Harada, Yoshiko Miyazaki, Hisashi Igawa Screenplay: Akira Kurosawa, Masato Ide, and Hideo Oguni Oscar Movies Akira Kurosawa’s Ran By Dan Schneider of Cosmoetica: "Critical cribbing" is a term I coined in regard to the tendency of critics, in all fields, to not engage a work of art directly, but rather [...]

Toshiro Mifune in Akira Kurosawa’s Seven Samurai SEVEN SAMURAI Review Part 2 Almost as good an acting job as Shimura’s is that of Isao Kimura as Katsushiro. Watch the scene where he confronts the great swordsman Kyuzo — in yet another bravura performance that shows less is more — after Kyuzo has single-handedly killed two bandits and returned with a needed gun. Katsushiro says little, [...]

Toshiro Mifune in Akira Kurosawa’s Seven Samurai SEVEN SAMURAI Review Part 1 Although Seven Samurai has often been called an epic, it’s really not. Almost all of the action takes place indoors or in small settings. There are many characters and extras, but there are only forty bandits, and maybe twice as many villagers. This is personalized, small-scale warfare. The only epopee the film indulges [...]

SHICHININ NO SAMURAI / SEVEN SAMURAI (1954) Direction: Akira Kurosawa Cast: Toshiro Mifune, Takashi Shimura, Yoshio Inaba, Seiji Miyaguchi, Isao Kimura, Kamatari Fujiwara, Yoshio Tsuchiya Screenplay: Akira Kurosawa, Shinobu Hashimoto, Hideo Oguni Oscar Movies Toshiro Mifune, Seven Samurai By Dan Schneider of Cosmoetica Some films get better after repeated viewings. Akira Kurosawa’s 1954 black-and-white drama Shichinin no samurai / Seven Samurai is one of them. [...]