Akira Kurosawa

Akira Kurosawa (黒澤明) was a Japanese filmmaker and painter who directed thirty films in a career spanning over five decades. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest and most influential filmmakers in the history of cinema. He displayed a bold, dynamic style, strongly influenced by Western cinema yet distinct from it; he was involved with all aspects of film production. Kurosawa entered the Japanese film industry in 1936, following a brief stint as a painter. After years of working on numerous films as an assistant director and scriptwriter, he made his debut as a director during World War II with the popular action film Sanshiro Sugata (1943). After the war, the critically acclaimed Drunken Angel (1948), in which Kurosawa cast the then little-known actor Toshiro Mifune in a starring role, cemented the director's reputation as one of the most important young filmmakers in Japan. The two men would go on to collaborate on another fifteen films. Rashomon (1950), which premiered in Tokyo, became the surprise winner of the Golden Lion at the 1951 Venice Film Festival. The commercial and critical success of that film opened up Western film markets for the first time to the products of the Japanese film industry, which in turn led to international recognition for other Japanese filmmakers. Kurosawa directed approximately one film per year throughout the 1950s and early 1960s, including a number of highly regarded (and often adapted) films, such as Ikiru (1952), Seven Samurai (1954), Throne of Blood (1957), Yojimbo (1961) and High and Low (1963). After the 1960s he became much less prolific; even so, his later work—including two of his final films, Kagemusha (1980) and Ran (1985)—continued to receive great acclaim. In 1990, he accepted the Academy Award for Lifetime Achievement. Posthumously, he was named Asian of the Century in the Arts, Literature, and Culture category by AsianWeek magazine and CNN, cited there as being among the five people who most prominently contributed to the improvement of Asia in the 20th century. His career has been honored by many retrospectives, critical studies and biographies in both print and video, and by releases in many consumer media.

Works

Living

London, 1953. Mr. Williams, a veteran civil servant, is an important cog within the city's bureaucracy as it struggles to rebuild in the aftermath of World War II. Buried under paperwork at the office and lonely at home, his life has long felt empty and meaningless. Then a devastating medical diagnosis forces him to take stock, and to try and grasp some fulfilment before it passes permanently beyond reach.

Release Date:2022-11-04

Department:Writing

Job:Original Film Writer

Vote Count:424

The Magnificent Seven

Looking to mine for gold, greedy industrialist Bartholomew Bogue seizes control of the Old West town of Rose Creek. With their lives in jeopardy, Emma Cullen and other desperate residents turn to bounty hunter Sam Chisolm for help. Chisolm recruits an eclectic group of gunslingers to take on Bogue and his ruthless henchmen. With a deadly showdown on the horizon, the seven mercenaries soon find themselves fighting for more than just money once the bullets start to fly.

Release Date:2016-09-14

Department:Writing

Job:Original Film Writer

Vote Count:5990

The Last Princess

After the Akizuku clan fall in defeat to rival clan Yamana, Princess Yuki (Nagasawa Masami) and general Rokurota (Hiroshi Abe), take cover in a hidden fortress, along with their clan and gold treasury. Fortuitously stumbling into the hideaways, brash young miner Takezo (Matsumoto Jun) and his bumbling sidekick Shinhachi (Miyagawa Daiuske) hatch a daring plan to help transport the gold out of enemy terrain - in exchange for a share of the stash, of course. With assassins hot in pursuit, Yuki disguises as a male and ventures into the real world with Rukurota and her peasant companions, getting her first taste of danger, toil, and budding romance with the strong-minded and willful Takezo.

Release Date:2008-05-10

Department:Writing

Job:Original Story

Vote Count:15

Tsubaki Sanjuro

"Tsubaki Sanjuro" is a remake of Sanjuro (1962) by Akira Kurosawa. Sanjuro returns with sharper, faster, subtler sword, talking and perception. He uses them to settle the trouble and uses them good!

Release Date:2007-12-01

Department:Writing

Job:Writer

Vote Count:4

Ikiru

In a Post-War Tokyo, when the bureaucratic chief of department of the City Hall Kanji Watanabe finds that he has a terminal cancer, he decides to intensively live his last months of life. While dying, he finds the meaning of life, and fights for the construction of a playground in a poor zone of the city and the legacy of his existence.

Release Date:2007-09-09

Department:Writing

Job:Screenplay

The Sea Is Watching

O-Shin is a young brothel worker who, one night, helps a young samurai escape from his pursuers. Against the warnings of her fellow workers, particularly Kikuno and the brothel's owner, O-Shin falls in love with the samurai.

Release Date:2002-07-27

Department:Writing

Job:Screenplay

Vote Count:22

Dora-heita

A new magistrate in the town of Horisoto—widely reputed to be the most lawless township in Japan, uses guile and his opponents' own misperceptions and prejudices to defeat his enemies and uproot corruption.

Release Date:2000-05-13

Department:Writing

Job:Screenplay

Vote Count:9

After the Rain

A group of travelers is stranded in a small country inn when the river floods during heavy rains. As the bad weather continues, tensions rise amongst the trapped travelers.

Release Date:2000-01-22

Department:Writing

Job:Writer

Vote Count:87

Ghost Dog: The Way of the Samurai

An African-American Mafia hit man who models himself after the samurai of ancient Japan finds himself targeted for death by the mob.

Release Date:1999-10-06

Department:Crew

Job:Thanks

Vote Count:1240

Madadayo

Based on the life of Hyakken Uchida, a Japanese author and academic. The film opens with Uchida resigning his job as a German professor at the onset of WWII. The story is told mostly in vignettes as he is cared for by former students in his old age.

Release Date:1993-04-17

Department:Directing

Job:Director

Vote Count:121

Rhapsody in August

The story centers on an elderly hibakusha, whose husband was one of 80,000 human beings killed in the 1945 atomic bombing of Nagasaki, caring for her four grandchildren over the summer. She learns of a long-lost brother, Suzujiro, living in Hawaii who wants her to visit him before he dies.

Release Date:1991-05-25

Department:Directing

Job:Director

Vote Count:141

Dreams

A collection of magical tales based upon the actual dreams of director Akira Kurosawa.

Release Date:1990-05-11

Department:Directing

Job:Director

Vote Count:481

Runaway Train

A hardened convict and a younger prisoner escape from a brutal prison in the middle of winter only to find themselves on an out-of-control train with a female railway worker while being pursued by the vengeful head of security.

Release Date:1985-11-15

Department:Writing

Job:Original Film Writer

Vote Count:587

Ran

With Ran, legendary director Akira Kurosawa reimagines Shakespeare's King Lear as a singular historical epic set in sixteenth-century Japan. Majestic in scope, the film is Kurosawa's late-life masterpiece, a profound examination of the folly of war and the crumbling of one family under the weight of betrayal, greed, and the insatiable thirst for power.

Release Date:1985-06-01

Department:Writing

Job:Screenplay

Vote Count:1576

Kagemusha

Akira Kurosawa's lauded feudal epic presents the tale of a petty thief who is recruited to impersonate Shingen, an aging warlord, in order to avoid attacks by competing clans. When Shingen dies, his generals reluctantly agree to have the impostor take over as the powerful ruler. He soon begins to appreciate life as Shingen, but his commitment to the role is tested when he must lead his troops into battle against the forces of a rival warlord.

Release Date:1980-04-26

Department:Writing

Job:Screenplay

Vote Count:662

Dersu Uzala

A military explorer meets and befriends a Goldi man in Russia’s unmapped forests. A deep and abiding bond evolves between the two men, one civilized in the usual sense, the other at home in the glacial Siberian woods.

Release Date:1975-08-02

Department:Directing

Job:Director

Vote Count:552

Song of the Horse

An old man talks about a horse and human relations to his grandchild through the growth of the Derby horse. Akira Kurosawa's visual poem for the horse, the creature which he loved.

Release Date:1971-08-31

Department:Directing

Job:Director

Vote Count:6

Dodes'ka-den

This film follows the daily lives of a group of people barely scraping by in a slum on the outskirts of Tokyo. Yet as desperate as their circumstances are, each of them—the homeless father and son envisioning their dream house; the young woman abused by her uncle; the boy who imagines himself a trolley conductor—finds reasons to carry on.

Release Date:1970-10-31

Department:Writing

Job:Screenplay

Vote Count:138

Sanshiro Sugata

Remake of Kurosawa's films Sanshiro Sugata and Sanshiro Sugata part 2. A young man, Sanshiro Sugata, troubled by personal problems, takes up judo. His teacher, Shogoro Yano, is a devout man who has aroused the enmity of the local practitioners of jujitsu, the older and more accepted of the two sports. Sugata uses his newly learned prowess to gain a measure of respect from others; however, Shogoro insists that the sport has a spiritual side, a lesson Sugata has yet to learn. Eventually, in hand-to-hand combat with the father of a young woman he loves, he comes to understand the true meaning of judo.

Release Date:1965-05-29

Department:Writing

Job:Writer

Vote Count:6

Red Beard

Aspiring to an easy job as personal physician to a wealthy family, Noboru Yasumoto is disappointed when his first post after medical school takes him to a small country clinic under the gruff doctor Red Beard. Yasumoto rebels in numerous ways, but Red Beard proves a wise and patient teacher. He gradually introduces his student to the unglamorous side of the profession, ultimately assigning him to care for a prostitute rescued from a local brothel.

Release Date:1965-04-03

Department:Directing

Job:Director

Vote Count:369

High and Low

In the midst of an attempt to take over his company, a powerhouse executive is hit with a huge ransom demand when his chauffeur's son is kidnapped by mistake.

Release Date:1963-03-01

Department:Directing

Job:Director

Vote Count:943

The Fencing Master

The Fencing Master tells the story of a man trying to survive as the only world he knows is becoming increasingly irrelevant. Danpei Ichikawa lives for swordfighting – he was once a renowned kabuki swordfight choreographer, and as the Chairman of the New National Theatre Company, he wants nothing more than to choreograph the swordfights for the modern plays put on by the company.

Release Date:1962-09-30

Department:Writing

Job:Screenplay

Vote Count:3

Sanjuro

Toshiro Mifune swaggers and snarls to brilliant comic effect in Kurosawa's tightly paced, beautifully composed "Sanjuro." In this companion piece and sequel to "Yojimbo," jaded samurai Sanjuro helps an idealistic group of young warriors weed out their clan's evil influences, and in the process turns their image of a proper samurai on its ear.

Release Date:1962-01-01

Department:Directing

Job:Director

Vote Count:624

Yojimbo

A nameless ronin, or samurai with no master, enters a small village in feudal Japan where two rival businessmen are struggling for control of the local gambling trade. Taking the name Sanjuro Kuwabatake, the ronin convinces both silk merchant Tazaemon and sake merchant Tokuemon to hire him as a personal bodyguard, then artfully sets in motion a full-scale gang war between the two ambitious and unscrupulous men.

Release Date:1961-04-25

Department:Directing

Job:Director

Vote Count:1487

The Bad Sleep Well

In this loose adaptation of "Hamlet," illegitimate son Kôichi Nishi climbs to a high position within a Japanese corporation and marries the crippled daughter of company vice president Iwabuchi. At the reception, the wedding cake is a replica of their corporate headquarters, but an aspect of the design reminds the party of the hushed-up death of Nishi's father. It is then that Nishi unleashes his plan to avenge his father's death.

Release Date:1960-09-19

Department:Writing

Job:Writer

Vote Count:255

Saga of the Vagabonds

Lord Taro must deliver a money chest but is robbed by brigands led by Jibu. One of Jibu's men, Rokuro, steals the money from Jibu, but after meeting and befriending Taro, Rokuro decides to return the money to Taro. But Taro's unscrupulous brother Jiro falsely accuse Taro of the theft, and Taro reactively joins the outlaw band and encourages them to steal from the nobles and give to the poor.

Release Date:1959-08-09

Department:Writing

Job:Writer

Vote Count:3

The Hidden Fortress

In feudal Japan, during a bloody war between clans, two cowardly and greedy peasants, soldiers of a defeated army, stumble upon a mysterious man who guides them to a fortress hidden in the mountains.

Release Date:1958-12-28

Department:Directing

Job:Director

Vote Count:629

Advance Patrol

In 1905, Japan was seriously threatened in the Russo-Japanese War. Japan determined a decisive attack on Russia to end the war. A reconnaissance troop was organized to penetrate into the supreme headquarter of Russia in Tieling Mountain of China to find out the enemy's situation...

Release Date:1957-12-28

Department:Writing

Job:Screenplay

Vote Count:2

The Lower Depths

Residents of a rundown boardinghouse in 19th-century Japan, including a mysterious old man and an aging actor, get drawn into a love triangle that turns violent. When amoral thief Sutekichi breaks off his affair with landlady Osugi to romance her younger sister, Okayo, Osugi extracts her revenge by revealing her infidelity to her jealous husband.

Release Date:1957-10-01

Department:Production

Job:Producer

Vote Count:128

Throne of Blood

Returning to their lord's castle, samurai warriors Washizu and Miki are waylaid by a spirit who predicts their futures. When the first part of the spirit's prophecy comes true, Washizu's scheming wife, Asaji, presses him to speed up the rest of the spirit's prophecy by murdering his lord and usurping his place. Director Akira Kurosawa's resetting of William Shakespeare's "Macbeth" in feudal Japan is one of his most acclaimed films.

Release Date:1957-01-15

Department:Production

Job:Producer

Vote Count:876

I Live in Fear

Kiichi Nakajima, an elderly foundry owner, is convinced that Japan will be affected by an imminent nuclear war, and resolves to move his family to safety in Brazil. His family decides to have him ruled incompetent and Dr. Harada, a Domestic Court counselor, attempts to arbitrate.

Release Date:1955-11-22

Department:Directing

Job:Director

Vote Count:110

Tomorrow I'll Be a Fire-Tree

Release Date:1955-10-05

Department:Writing

Job:Screenplay

Vanished Enlisted Man

In June 1941, Captain Kagawa (Ryutaro Tatsumi), who had just graduated from the military academy, was assigned as the captain of a sentry patrol in Beiman, which was located on the opposite side of the Heilongjiang River from the Semidomka region of the Soviet Union. His predecessor, Lieutenant Kishi (Kawamura Kenichiro), a mild-mannered middle-aged man, had earned the trust of his men and the villagers by relaxing his military duties. However, newly appointed Lieutenant Kagawa thinks that Kishi's way of doing things is sloppy and begins to train the soldiers furiously in order to teach them a lesson.

Release Date:1955-01-14

Department:Writing

Job:Screenplay

Seven Samurai

A samurai answers a village's request for protection after he falls on hard times. The town needs protection from bandits, so the samurai gathers six others to help him teach the people how to defend themselves, and the villagers provide the soldiers with food.

Release Date:1954-04-26

Department:Writing

Job:Screenplay

Vote Count:3799

Ikiru

Kanji Watanabe is a middle-aged man who has worked in the same monotonous bureaucratic position for decades. Learning he has cancer, he starts to look for the meaning of his life.

Release Date:1952-10-09

Department:Writing

Job:Screenplay

Vote Count:1170

Sword for Hire

Soldiers Hayate and Yaheiji secretly escape from their besieged castle. Hayate has left behind his lover, Kano. On his way, Hayate is wounded and cared for by O’Ryo, who falls in love with him. But when Hayate accidentally kills her caretaker, he flees, with O’Ryo in pursuit. Subsequently, Hayate's comrade Yaheiji falls in love with Oryo. Kano, the lover left behind by Hayate, believes him dead, and becomes involved with another soldier, Jurota. When Jurota defects to the opposing army, he takes Kano with him. A double set of love triangles has developed, wherein each man and each woman loves one and is loved by another. Finally only combat and self-sacrifice can untangle the weave.

Release Date:1952-05-22

Department:Writing

Job:Screenplay

Vote Count:8

The Men Who Tread on the Tiger's Tail

Yoshitsune Minamoto, disguised with his retinue as monks, must make do with a comical porter as their guide through hostile territory en route to safety.

Release Date:1952-04-24

Department:Writing

Job:Writer

Vote Count:90

Vendetta of a Samurai

The famous showdown at Kagiya corner has been told many times, but never before with the realism and intensity of this version scripted by Kurosawa Akira and starring Mifune Toshiro as the famed swordsman who must face his best friend as they are forced to take opposite sides in a vendetta caused by the murder of a family member. Told mostly in flashback as the avengers await the arrival of their quarry, this film displays true heroism in the face of fear as most of the combatants, while of the samurai class are not skilled swordsmen. They contrast sharply with the true warriors involved in this battle. Araki Mataemon (Mifune), who was not only a direct student of Yagyu Munenori, but the founder of his own sword style under the Yagyu name is a powerful force ready to assist his brother-in-law against the murderer's allies that include not only another noted sword teacher, but the deadly spear of Katsumi no Hanbei.

Release Date:1952-01-03

Department:Writing

Job:Writer

Vote Count:14

The Idiot

Kameda, who has been in an asylum on Okinawa, travels to Hokkaido. There he becomes involved with two women, Taeko and Ayako. Taeko comes to love Kameda, but is loved in turn by Akama. When Akama realizes that he will never have Taeko, his thoughts turn to murder, and great tragedy ensues.

Release Date:1951-05-23

Department:Directing

Job:Director

Vote Count:111

Beyond Love and Hate

A young man, convicted of a crime and imprisoned in the penitentiary, comes to believe that his wife is being unfaithful to him. He contrives his escape from the prison in order to seek her out and learn the truth, but the police give chase and he must flee into the mountains.

Release Date:1951-01-11

Department:Writing

Job:Screenplay

Rashomon

Brimming with action while incisively examining the nature of truth, "Rashomon" is perhaps the finest film ever to investigate the philosophy of justice. Through an ingenious use of camera and flashbacks, Kurosawa reveals the complexities of human nature as four people recount different versions of the story of a man's murder and the rape of his wife.

Release Date:1950-08-26

Department:Editing

Job:Editor

Vote Count:2261

Fencing Master

Swordfighting instructor Danpei works at a local theater in Tokyo, instructing the actors how to fight realistically.

Release Date:1950-08-26

Department:Writing

Job:Adaptation

Vote Count:1

Jiruba no Tetsu

Release Date:1950-08-12

Department:Writing

Job:Screenplay

Scandal

A celebrity photograph sparks a court case as a tabloid magazine spins a scandalous yarn over a painter and a famous singer.

Release Date:1950-04-26

Department:Directing

Job:Director

Vote Count:86

Stray Dog

A bad day gets worse for young detective Murakami when a pickpocket steals his gun on a hot, crowded bus. Desperate to right the wrong, he goes undercover, scavenging Tokyo’s sweltering streets for the stray dog whose desperation has led him to a life of crime. With each step, cop and criminal’s lives become more intertwined and the investigation becomes an examination of Murakami’s own dark side.

Release Date:1949-10-17

Department:Writing

Job:Writer

Vote Count:311

The Quiet Duel

A young idealistic doctor works at his father's clinic in a small and seedy district. During the war, he contracts syphilis from the blood of a patient when he cuts himself during an operation. Treating himself in secret and tormented by his conscience, he rejects his heartbroken fiancée without explanation.

Release Date:1949-03-19

Department:Writing

Job:Writer

Vote Count:81

The Portrait

The mistress of a crook real estate broker comes to terms with her soulless existence after an artist paints her portrait.

Release Date:1948-08-03

Department:Writing

Job:Screenplay

Vote Count:5

Drunken Angel

Doctor Sanada treats gangster Matsunaga after he is wounded in a gunfight, and discovers that he is suffering from tuberculosis. Sanada tries to convince Matsunaga to stay for treatment, which would drastically change his lifestyle. They form an uneasy friendship until Matsunaga's old boss Okada returns from prison.

Release Date:1948-04-27

Department:Directing

Job:Director

Vote Count:274

Snow Trail

Three bank robbers, Eijima, Nojiri, and Takasugi, flee the police and escape into the mountains. At an inn high in the Japanese Alps, Eijima and Nojiri encounter a young woman and her father, as well as Honda, a mountaineer. The inn folk do not realize their guests are wanted criminals and the visitors are treated with great kindness. Honda volunteers to lead them over the mountains, but Eijima's paranoia endangers all of them as they make the perilous trip.

Release Date:1947-08-05

Department:Writing

Job:Screenplay

Vote Count:19

One Wonderful Sunday

Yuzo and his fiancée Masako spend their Sunday afternoon together, trying to have a good time on just thirty-five yen. They manage to have many small adventures, especially because Masako's optimism and belief in dreams is able to lift Yuzo from his realistic despair.

Release Date:1947-07-01

Department:Directing

Job:Director

Vote Count:86

No Regrets for Our Youth

Over more than a decade, the daughter of a Kyoto Imperial University professor comes of age as she witnesses her father fired for opposing the rise of fascism in Japan and becomes involved with two of his students.

Release Date:1946-10-29

Department:Editing

Job:Editor

Vote Count:74

Sanshiro Sugata Part Two

In this government-suggested sequel, Sugata again grows as a judo master, and demonstrates his (and by extension, all Japanese) superiority to the foreign warrior.

Release Date:1945-05-03

Department:Directing

Job:Director

Vote Count:54

Bravo! Tebare Ishin

1945 Japanese movie

Release Date:1945-01-11

Department:Writing

Job:Screenplay

The Most Beautiful

The stories of several young women who work in a 'precision optical instruments' factory during the second World War. Despite illness, injury, and tremendous personal hardship, the women persevere in their tasks, devoted to their work and their country's cause.

Release Date:1944-04-13

Department:Directing

Job:Director

Vote Count:51

Wrestling-Ring Festival

Release Date:1944-03-30

Department:Writing

Job:Writer

World of Love

A sixteen-year-old who had been living on her own since her mother died, frequently gets in trouble with the police. She gets sent to an "institute" for young girls in the countryside. There the residents grow their own food, cook and clean for themselves, and are taught language, music, and sewing. While there the young girl slowly begins to form friendships and come out of her shell.

Release Date:1943-04-14

Department:Writing

Job:Writer

Sanshiro Sugata

The story of Sanshiro, a strong stubborn youth, who travels into the city in order to learn Jujutsu. However, upon his arrival he discovers a new form of self-defence: Judo. The main character is based on Shiro Saigo, a legendary judoka.

Release Date:1943-03-25

Department:Directing

Job:Director

Vote Count:126

Wings of Victory

Release Date:1942-10-14

Department:Writing

Job:Writer

Vote Count:3

Currents of Youth

It was supposed to be about a love story, but it was and was not. An aircraft mechanic working for the government is matched by his boss with the latter man's daughter (Setsuko Hara) who is both beautiful and aggressive. Yet, he picks a woman who is less assertive as his bride.

Release Date:1942-02-14

Department:Writing

Job:Story

Horse

Ine Onoda, the eldest daughter of a poor family of farmers, raises a colt from birth and comes to love the horse dearly. When the horse is grown, the government orders it auctioned and sold to the army. Ine struggles to prevent the sale.

Release Date:1941-03-11

Department:Directing

Job:Assistant Director

Vote Count:4

Easy Alley

Release Date:1939-09-19

Department:Directing

Job:Assistant Director

Enoken’s Shrewd Period

Release Date:1939-01-11

Department:Directing

Job:Assistant Director

Enoken's Surprising Life

Release Date:1938-12-29

Department:Directing

Job:Assistant Director

Composition Class

Based on an autobiographical story by Toyota Masako.

Release Date:1938-08-21

Department:Directing

Job:Assistant Director

Vote Count:7

Tojuro's Love

A colourful study of theatrical life. Two acting troupes vie for the Kyoto market during the Genroku Era. Tojuro, an extremely popular actor, feels the limits to his acting when he sees his rival troupe put on a new type of play featuring its star, Nakamura. He has the famous Chikamatsu write a new play but cannot get used to the character he is to play in it.

Release Date:1938-05-01

Department:Directing

Job:Assistant Director

Subterranean Heat

Release Date:1938-02-01

Department:Directing

Job:Assistant Director

Avalanche

The study of a one-year marriage that begins to crumble. A married man is torn between the love of his wife, and the attraction to a cousin of his wife.

Release Date:1937-07-01

Department:Crew

Job:Second Unit

Vote Count:8

Japanese Women's Textbook

Release Date:1937-05-21

Department:Directing

Job:Third Assistant Director

Highest 2 Lowest

English-language reinterpretation of Akira Kurosawa's 1963 crime thriller 'High and Low.'

Department:Writing

Job:Original Film Writer

At the Gate of the Ghost

In this worthy adaptation of the Japanese film Rashomon, a young monk is left to determine the truth behind three competing perspectives after a bandit’s disturbing murder trial.

Release Date:2011-09-16

Department:Writing

Job:Original Story

Vote Count:16

Seven Samurai

A remake of the 1954 classic 'Seven Samurai'. This was made available exclusively through Pachinko machines in Japan. The soundtrack is comprised of songs by The Rolling Stones.

Release Date:2008-01-01

Department:Writing

Job:Original Film Writer

High and Low

At a crucial point in his business life, executive Gondo learns that his son has been kidnapped and that the ransom demanded is near the amount Gondo has raised for a critical business deal. Gondo is prepared to pay the ransom - that is, until he learns that the kidnappers have mistakenly abducted not Gondo's son, but the child of Gondo's chauffeur. Now Gondo must decide whether the other man's child is equally worth saving.

Release Date:2007-09-08

Department:Writing

Job:Original Film Writer

Vote Count:2

Kaze no Yojimbo

In search for Araki Genzo, George Kodama finds himself in the small town of Kimujuku. George quickly realizes that he is unwelcome and is warned to leave as soon as possible. With two rival syndicates roaming the streets and a dark violent past, the town of Kimujuku isn't what it appears to be. George challenges the town of Kimujuku in order to reveal the towns dark hidden past and discover the truth.

Release Date:2001-10-02

Department:Writing

Job:Original Film Writer

Last Man Standing

John Smith is a mysterious stranger who is drawn into a vicious war between two Prohibition-era gangs. In a dangerous game, he switches allegiances from one to another, offering his services to the highest bidder. As the death toll mounts, Smith takes the law into his own hands in a deadly race to stay alive.

Release Date:1996-09-20

Department:Writing

Job:Original Film Writer

Vote Count:890

Stray Dog

When his pistol is stolen, police detective Murakami is humiliated, especially when the gun is later implicated in a crime. Working with his superior, Chief Detective Sato, Murakami works feverishly to trace the location of his pistol, ultimately clashing with a gang of youthful Okinawans.

Release Date:1973-09-29

Department:Writing

Job:Original Story

Vote Count:4

Zatoichi Meets Yojimbo

With a price on his head, Ichi seeks tranquillity in a favorite village. Since his last visit, it has fallen prey to Boss Masagoro, the son of a merchant rumored to have stolen gold from the shogunate. The boss has hired Yojimbo as his hard-drinking enforcer, but Yojimbo is both a spy for the shogunate, trying to find the gold, and in love with the merchant's unwilling mistress, Umeno. Ichi hires on as the merchant's masseur and buys Umeno's freedom with his employer's own money. This embarrasses Yojimbo who withdraws from a pact with Ichi to stir up trouble between father and son and their gangs. As the two sides fight, Ichi finds the gold and sets up a final set of confrontations.

Release Date:1970-01-15

Department:Writing

Job:Original Concept

Vote Count:63

The Last Day of Hsianyang

The Three Kingdoms period begins as the walled fortress of Hsin Yang falls to invaders. Centered around this historical event, The Last Days of Hsin Yang follows the escape of the prince of Hsin Yang as he hides with a small family and escapes from the sacked and burning city. Epic battle scenes employ hundreds of extras, and forest swordplay is reminiscent of House of Flying Daggers.

Release Date:1968-01-01

Department:Writing

Job:Original Film Writer

The Outrage

At a disused railway station, three men -- a con artist, a preacher, and a prospector -- discuss the recent trial and sentencing of the outlaw Juan Carrasco for the murder of a man and the rape of his wife. In their recounting, the three explore the conflicting testimonies of the parties involved in the crimes. Disconcerting new questions arise with each different version of the event.

Release Date:1964-10-07

Department:Writing

Job:Original Story

Vote Count:35

A Fistful of Dollars

The Man With No Name enters the Mexican village of San Miguel in the midst of a power struggle among the three Rojo brothers and sheriff John Baxter. When a regiment of Mexican soldiers bearing gold intended to pay for new weapons is waylaid by the Rojo brothers, the stranger inserts himself into the middle of the long-simmering battle, selling false information to both sides for his own benefit.

Release Date:1964-09-12

Department:Writing

Job:Original Story

Vote Count:4308

Jakoman and Tetsu

In a village subsisting on its herring fishery, a one-eyed criminal named Jakoman terrorizes the inhabitants. One of them, the son of the head of one of the fish companies by the name of Tetsu, decides to overthrow Jakoman and his cohorts.

Release Date:1964-02-08

Department:Writing

Job:Screenplay

Vote Count:1

Legacy of the 500,000

During World War II, Japan sends gold to the Phillipines. After the war, the gold is lost in the bay of Manille. Former soldier Takeichi Matsuo is now working as a business executive. He meets Mintsura Gunji, the boss of a large company, who offers him to go to the Philippines and bring back the gold.

Release Date:1963-04-18

Department:Editing

Job:Editor

Vote Count:5

Play of the Week: Rashomon

Several different accounts of the same incident tell quite different stories about what happened.

Release Date:1960-12-12

Department:Writing

Job:Original Film Writer

Vote Count:1

The Magnificent Seven

An oppressed Mexican peasant village hires seven gunfighters to help defend their homes.

Release Date:1960-10-12

Department:Writing

Job:Original Film Writer

Vote Count:1809

A Fistful of Dollars Remake

Remake of the western A Fistful of Dollars - the story of a wandering gunfighter with no name who plays two rival families against each other in a town torn apart by greed, pride, and revenge.

Department:Writing

Job:Original Film Writer

Life Work of Akira Kurosawa

Acclaimed filmmaker Akira Kurosawa has been misunderstood. Despite his public perception an a perfectionist who would clash with anyone in his way, the real Kurosawa was actually a very gentle and soft-spoken director. This documentary depicts the human being Akira Kurosawa on the set of his masterpiece "Ran".

Release Date:2022-11-25

Character:Self

Vote Count:1

Babenco: Tell Me When I Die

Besieged by cancer and nearing the end, the genius Argentine-Brazilian filmmaker Héctor Babenco (1946-2016) asks Bárbara Paz, his wife, for one last wish: to be the protagonist of his own death.

Release Date:2020-11-26

Character:Self (archive footage)

Vote Count:15

Dersu Uzala. Russian Dreams of Kurosawa

In 1971, the frustrated Akira Kurosawa made an unsuccessful attempt to cut his veins. His life was restored by the opportunity offered by Mosfilm: to make the first Soviet-Japanese collaborative film "Dersu Uzala". The documentary reflects the challenging shooting period and captures the memories of crew members more than 40 years later.

Release Date:2020-09-04

Character:Self (archive footage)

And the Oscar Goes To...

The story of the gold-plated statuette that became the film industry's most coveted prize, AND THE OSCAR GOES TO... traces the history of the Academy itself, which began in 1927 when Louis B. Mayer, then head of MGM, led other prominent members of the industry in forming this professional honorary organization. Two years later the Academy began bestowing awards, which were nicknamed "Oscar," and quickly came to represent the pinnacle of cinematic achievement.

Release Date:2014-02-01

Character:Self (archive footage)

Vote Count:52

What Is Cinema?

Using the words and ideas of great filmmakers, from archival interviews with Alfred Hitchcock and Robert Bresson to new interviews with Mike Leigh, David Lynch, and Jonas Mekas, Oscar-winning filmmaker Chuck Workman shows what these filmmakers and others do that can't be expressed in words - but only in cinema.

Release Date:2013-09-06

Character:Self

Vote Count:21

The World of Kazuo Miyagawa

Renowned cinematographer Kazuo Miyagawa collaborated with a number of great Japanese filmmakers, including Akira Kurosawa, Kenji Mizoguchi, Kon Ichikawa, and Yasujiro Ozu. The following excerpts from the Japanese television documentary THE WORLD OF KAZUO MIYAGAWA explore Miyagawa and Kurosawa’s working relationship on RASHOMON.

Release Date:2012-01-01

Character:Self

Samurai 7

As villages perish under the thumb of a cruel race of warriors, a young priestess named Kirara travels the countryside gathering stray samurais.

Release Date:2004-06-12

Department:Writing

Job:Original Concept

Episode Count:26

Vote Count:55

Akira Kurosawa: It Is Wonderful to Create: 'Ran'

Documentary made by Toho for the Masterworks reissue of all of its Kurosawa films. This one focuses on “Ran” (1985).

Release Date:2002-10-25

Character:Self

Akira Kurosawa: It Is Wonderful to Create: 'Throne of Blood'

Documentary made by Toho for the Masterworks reissue of all of its Kurosawa films. This one focuses on "Throne of Blood" (1957).

Release Date:2002-10-25

Character:Self

Akira Kurosawa: It Is Wonderful to Create: 'The Hidden Fortress'

Documentary made by Toho for the Masterworks reissue of all of its Kurosawa films. This one focuses on "The Hidden Fortress" (1958).

Release Date:2002-10-25

Character:Self

Vote Count:1

Akira Kurosawa: It Is Wonderful to Create: 'Kagemusha'

Documentary made by Toho for the Masterworks reissue of all of its Kurosawa films. This one focuses on "Kagemusha" (1980).

Release Date:2002-10-25

Character:Self

Vote Count:1

Akira Kurosawa: It Is Wonderful to Create: 'The Lower Depths'

Documentary made by Toho for the Masterworks reissue of all of its Kurosawa films. This one focuses on "The Lower Depths" (1957).

Release Date:2002-10-25

Character:Self

Akira Kurosawa: It Is Wonderful to Create: 'Yojimbo'

Documentary made by Toho for the Masterworks reissue of all of its Kurosawa films. This one focuses on "Yojimbo" (1961).

Release Date:2002-10-25

Character:Self

Akira Kurosawa: It Is Wonderful to Create: 'High and Low'

Documentary made by Toho for the Masterworks reissue of all of its Kurosawa films. This one focuses on "High and Low" (1963).

Release Date:2002-10-25

Character:Self

Akira Kurosawa: It Is Wonderful to Create: 'Seven Samurai'

Documentary made by Toho for the Masterworks reissue of all of its Kurosawa films. This one focuses on "Seven Samurai" (1954).

Release Date:2002-10-25

Character:Self

Vote Count:1

Akira Kurosawa: It Is Wonderful to Create: 'Sanjuro'

Documentary made by Toho for the Masterworks reissue of all of its Kurosawa films. This one focuses on "Sanjuro" (1962).

Release Date:2002-10-25

Character:Self

Akira Kurosawa: It Is Wonderful to Create: 'Dodes'ka-den'

Documentary made by Toho for the Masterworks reissue of all of its Kurosawa films. This one focuses on "Dodes'ka-den" (1970).

Release Date:2002-10-25

Character:Self

Akira Kurosawa: It Is Wonderful to Create: 'The Bad Sleep Well'

Documentary made by Toho for the Masterworks reissue of all of its Kurosawa films. This one focuses on "The Bad Sleep Well" (1960).

Release Date:2002-10-25

Character:Self

Akira Kurosawa: It Is Wonderful to Create: 'Stray Dog'

Documentary made by Toho for the Masterworks reissue of all of its Kurosawa films. This one focuses on "Stray Dog" (1949).

Release Date:2002-10-25

Character:Self

Akira Kurosawa: It Is Wonderful to Create: 'Drunken Angel'

Documentary made by Toho for the Masterworks reissue of all of its Kurosawa films. This one focuses on "Drunken Angel" (1948).

Release Date:2002-10-25

Character:Self

Akira Kurosawa: It Is Wonderful to Create: 'Ikiru'

Documentary made by Toho for the Masterworks reissue of all of its Kurosawa films. This one focuses on "Ikiru" (1952).

Release Date:2002-10-25

Character:Self

Akira Kurosawa: It Is Wonderful to Create

An in depth look at the making of Kurosawa's films.

Release Date:2002-10-25

Character:Self (archive footage)

Chris on Chris

A short film on Chris Marker

Release Date:2002-01-01

Character:Self (archive footage)

Kurosawa

Documentary on film maker Akira Kurosawa

Release Date:2000-12-24

Character:Self

Vote Count:3

A Message from Akira Kurosawa: For Beautiful Movies

A Documentary in 10 parts covering the film making of Kurosawa around the theme of making the perfect movie or as he says: A Beautiful Movie.

Release Date:2000-04-01

Character:Self

Vote Count:7

In Love With and Living Within Movies - Akira Kurosawa and Hayao Miyazaki

An hour-long conversation between Akira Kurosawa and Hayao Miyazaki which took place in Kurosawa's home near Mt. Fuji.

Release Date:1993-12-31

Character:Self

Vote Count:1

Akira Kurosawa: My Life in Cinema

Nagisa Oshima interviews Akira Kurosawa, leading him to share his thoughts about filmmaking, his life and works, and numerous anecdotes relating to his films and his various film activities.

Release Date:1993-01-01

Character:Self

Vote Count:2

Making of 'Dreams'

This 150-minute documentary, directed by Nobuhiko Ôbayashi on the set of Akira Kurosawa's Dreams, features behind-the-scenes footage and interviews with cast and crew.

Release Date:1990-11-02

Character:Self

Vote Count:1

A. K.

An intimate chronicle of the shooting of Ran (1985), a film directed by the legendary Japanese filmmaker Akira Kurosawa.

Release Date:1985-05-20

Character:Self

Vote Count:35

Making of Ran

Behind the scenes of Akira Kurosawa's Ran, produced by Kurosawa Productions.

Release Date:1985-01-01

Character:Self

Spécial cinéma

Release Date:1974-09-25

Character:Self

Episode Count:2

My Wonderful Yellow Car

Release Date:1953-01-15

Department:Writing

Job:Screenplay

Vote Count:1

The Den of Beasts

Release Date:1951-06-08

Department:Writing

Job:Screenplay

Escape at Dawn

Mikami, a Japanese soldier, is captured by Chinese forces. Although able to escape, he is treated with contempt by his peers. After falling in love with a prostitute named Harumi, she convinces him to desert the army and live with her.

Release Date:1950-01-08

Department:Writing

Job:Screenplay

Vote Count:3

Jakoman and Tetsu

In a village subsisting on it herring fishery, a one-eyed criminal named Jakoman terrorizes the inhabitants. One of them, the son of the head of one of the fish companies by the name of Tetsu, decides to overthrow Jakoman and his cohorts.

Release Date:1949-07-11

Department:Writing

Job:Writer

Flirtation in Spring

Japanese adaptation of Marcel Pagnol's play "Marius", set in early XXth century Japan.

Release Date:1949-04-12

Department:Production

Job:Producer

Lady From Hell

Three and a half years after Japan was bombed, the tax authorities organized the T-Men. Nango is in love with a girl called Mibu, and the two are against the T-Men organization. Mibu whats to kill all of the T-Men one-by-one.

Release Date:1949-03-15

Department:Writing

Job:Writer

Four Love Stories

Omnibus of love stories from 1947 directed by famous directors, featuring big stars.

Release Date:1947-04-01

Department:Writing

Job:Screenplay

Vote Count:4

Those Who Make Tomorrow

Two sisters, one a dancer and the other a script supervisor at a big movie studio, become embroiled in union activities when a strike is called in sympathy with striking railroad workers, one of whom boards with the sisters and their parents. The girls' father argues with them about their strike but finds his views changing when he loses his job.

Release Date:1946-05-02

Department:Directing

Job:Director

The Monkey King

A legendary pre-war comedy operetta starring Enomoto Kenichi, Hideko Takamine and Li Xianglan. The Sanzo Ikkou continues its westward journey, on a mission to prevent a demonic resurrection. As Genjo Sanzo, Cho Hakkai, Sha Gojyo, and Son Goku (Kenichi Enomoto) fight their way to their goal, their path is fraught with internal strife.

Release Date:1940-11-06

Department:Directing

Job:Assistant Director

Enoken's Cropped Hair

Enoken's pickpocket Kinta (returned from the Chakkiri Kinta movies) finds some unexpected trouble: a stolen diamond necklace he just can't seem to get rid of!

Release Date:1940-03-27

Department:Directing

Job:Assistant Director

Roppa's Honeymoon

A Kajirô Yamamoto directed comedy starring Roppa Furukawa.

Release Date:1940-01-04

Department:Directing

Job:Assistant Director

Vote Count:1

The Beautiful Hawk

One of three titles released the same year, with the same title based on the same story. This is the P.C.L. (Toho) Version

Release Date:1937-10-01

Department:Directing

Job:Assistant Director

Enoken's Chikiri Kinta Part 2 – Returning Is Scary, but the Weather Will Clear If You Wait

1930s Japanese comedy.

Release Date:1937-08-01

Department:Directing

Job:Third Assistant Director

Vote Count:1

Enoken's Chikiri Kinta Part 1 – Momma, the Hat: The Nice Way

A comedic tale told in four parts, this film follows the antics of the pickpocket Kinta as he is pursued by a low ranking deputy named Kurakichi. The two get into all manner of peccadilloes and encounter a range of peculiar characters as their game of cat and mouse moves across the countryside in the last days of the Tokugawa Shogunate.

Release Date:1937-07-11

Department:Directing

Job:Third Assistant Director

Vote Count:1

A Husband's Chastity: Fall Again

Release Date:1937-05-01

Department:Directing

Job:Third Assistant Director

A Husband's Chastity: If Spring Comes & Fall Once Again

Kayo and Kuniko graduated from girls' school together and are as close as sisters. Kuniko's fiancé, Minakami, feels something that attracts him deeply towards Kayo. On the other hand, Kayo prays for the happiness of her best friend and marries a very ordinary man. However, at one point, this mediocre but increasingly ferocious husband died in an accident ... A triangular love story develops depicting a woman's heart that sways between love and morals. Based on a novel by Nobuko Yoshiya, there were originally two parts to the film (If Spring Comes & Fall Once Again), both supposed to be 85 minutes, but apparently what we have now is this 103-minute amalgam of the two.

Release Date:1937-04-01

Department:Directing

Job:Third Assistant Director

A Husband's Chastity: If Spring Comes

Release Date:1937-04-01

Department:Directing

Job:Third Assistant Director

Saga of the Vagabonds, Part Two: Forward at Dawn

Story of a bandit king part 2.

Release Date:1937-02-20

Department:Directing

Job:Third Assistant Director

Saga of the Vagabonds, Part One: Tiger and Wolf

Story of a bandit king.

Release Date:1937-02-11

Department:Directing

Job:Third Assistant Director

Tokyo Rhapsody

Film adaptation of the hit song

Release Date:1936-12-01

Department:Directing

Job:Third Assistant Director

Enoken’s Ten Millions Sequel

The story picks up from Part 1 as Enoken's young scion forsakes his wealth and takes a department store job – in drag and sometimes blackface – to prove to the girl of his dreams that he be a hard-working, serious man.

Release Date:1936-09-01

Department:Directing

Job:Third Assistant Director

Enoken’s Ten Millions

Enoken plays a cloistered rich kid whose father hires a disreputable tutor to teach him how to really be a millionaire: by drunken debauchery, women, and song.

Release Date:1936-07-21

Department:Directing

Job:Third Assistant Director

Paradise of the Virgin Flowers

Release Date:1936-06-11

Department:Directing

Job:Assistant Director