• Kurosawa’s Birthday Month, Day 9

    We were so impressed with the thoughtful, articulate answers supplied by so many Criterion fans in response to yesterday’s giveaway question that we felt we couldn’t pick just one favorite. We decided on seven winners (reproduced below). Congratulations to all of them!

    Rob made the case for the Coen brothers as heirs to Kurosawa’s legacy:

    Kurosawa, throughout all of his films, explored one thing: human nature.

    What makes us do the things we do to each other. Why do we love, dream, hate, kill, kidnap, heal, avenge, lie to, protect, pursue, flee, betray, honor, rebel against one another. Sometimes he looks at man optimistically as in Ikiru or Red Beard, other times pessimistically (Rashomon, The Bad Sleep Well). These ideas he dramatized arguably better than any filmmaker before or since.

    Having said that, the current filmmakers that come to mind as “heirs” (even though there cannot be such a thing) are the Coen brothers. Just as Kurosawa worked with westerns and noirs, the Coen brothers also tend to gravitate to the same genres. Stray Dog had a man looking for his gun, The Big Lebowski, a man searches for his rug. Ikiru, a man searches for meaning in life. A Serious Man, a man searches for meaning in his life. High and Low, a search for a kidnapper. Fargo, the same. The Bad Sleep Well, a man jumps out a skyrise window. The Hudsucker Proxy, the same. As the Coen brothers release their version of True Grit (a western), we can only expect to add to the similarities.

    Even with those congruences, the biggest reason why the Coens are most like Kurosawa is simply because they are the best storytellers we have today. At the end of the day, AK told the best stories, which is what film is, after all. Both combine comedy with drama masterfully. Both have the actors they use, the genres they use, the styles they use, etc. But beyond that, the Coens’ mastering of filmmaking sets them apart from their contemporaries, just as AK’s set him apart from his.

    We also liked Charles’s piece on Steven Soderbergh:

    In my opinion, I would have to say Steven Soderbergh. Looking at both Kurosawa’s and Soderbergh’s body of work, I can’t help but see how similarly they overlap. Both Kurosawa and Soderbergh’s use of elliptical storytelling have become practical boilerplates for style and form with Rashomon and The Limey, (and to a lesser extent Soderbergh’s Out of Sight and his HD films). Kurosawa and Soderbergh have played in many genres and every film showed a measured confidence as well as playfulness with the genre constructs. I also think that Steven Soderbergh, even when playing in lesser substantive genres and films (Oceans, etc.), he still manages to infuse a core of humanity within his characters and is always curious about them. His passion and love for his characters show in every slightly lilting camera frame. Soderbergh is, has always been, concerned with finding the core of his characters and thier motivations. And I think Kurosawa did too.

    And A_Bord on Martin Scorsese:

    Scorsese’s oeuvre shares a remarkable number of traits with Kurosawa’s. The most significant is each filmmaker’s ability to refashion a genre in order to study the intricacies of a respective culture and leave a powerful, unique stamp on those that followed.

    Kurosawa didn’t invent the samurai genre, nor did Scorsese author the tropes of the gangster film. Significantly, each artist was able to mine the characteristics of a genre they admired and infuse their films with themes, characters, and ideas that both modernize and transcend the rubric they were working under. There is no question that Scorsese’s Goodfellas or Kurosawa’s Seven Samurai were both inimitable reflections of the artist, their influences, and the culture in which the films were made. So much so that there are entire generations of filmmakers that have co-opted that auteur spirit as their own.

    How many non-Kurosawa Kurosawa films have you sat through? How many non-Scorsese Scorsese films saturate the market? And yet with all the imitation, there is no mistaking the originals.

    And Stuart Collier on Werner Herzog:

    Werner Herzog. A strange choice, but one which has yet to be said. Both filmmakers have a profound interest in the individual, be it in his ruination or his triumph. Kurosawa either celebrates the individual (Ikiru, The Idiot, Seven Samurai) or detachedly surveys his downfall (Throne of Blood, Ran). Herzog is also interested in the sociological dynamics between individual and society (Woyzeck, Stroszek, The Enigma of Kaspar Hauser), but like Kurosawa, is also attracted to ambitious men, be it the monster whose egoism seals his demise (Aguirre) or the businessman whose audacious plans fail after much effort. Both directors place their individuals in confrontation with larger forces; for Kurosawa it is bureaucratic politics or rigid social norms, and for Herzog it is the savage wilderness or exclusionary village society. Both directors are attracted to ambitious on-location shoots and narratives of epic scale, but they allot just as much care on smaller, more obscure and personal projects. While each director is associated with different modes of filmmaking—Kurosawa is more classical and marketable, while Herzog is an offbeat art-house director—each one has an almost romantic fascination for their individual protagonists, be they hero, villain, or oddball.

    Billy Ritchie on Quentin Tarantino:

    Quentin Tarantino. The name first came to me because their music choices are identical (I watched Yojimbo yesterday and realized his theme would be right at home in one of the Kill Bills). But the more I think about it, the more it fits. First, there’s the obvious fact that Tarantino loves to do throwback tributes, not the least of which were the Kill Bill movies, love letters to the samurai films of the 50s and 60s. But what’s more, as Tarantino has come into his own, and his pulpy ultraviolent entertaining romps have developed into more well-rounded excellent movies, the thematic range he is able to cover is approaching that of Kurosawa. Take Inglourious Basterds. He’s able to combine period war epic, hilarious dialogue, intensely personal moral quests, and beautifully tragic romance, all with his trademark style. Is this really so far from Seven Samurai? Are the Kill Bill movies really that far off from the Yojimbo movies? Sure, the plots are completely different, but they both are still hilarious adventures about a lone swordsman overcoming tremendous odds, with surprising bits of brilliant emotionality thrown in when you least expect it. Tarantino. The next Kurosawa.

    Green Rahman on some of Kurosawa’s many heirs:

    I don’t think that to carry a legacy one has to be just like that. So I don’t think Brian De Palma is carrying Hitchcock’s legacy just because he makes“Hitchcockian” movies or Terry Gilliam is carrying Fellini’s legacy just because his films are “Felliniesque.” It goes much deeper than that. To be an heir to a legacy is to digest the “ideas” of the filmmaker that he so densely packs into his films from whose DNA strand an entire dinosaur can be made. Films are the ambers that carries“ideas.” Ingmar Bergman said that he makes utilitarian products that, just like tables and chairs, should be useful to people. So Satyajit Ray was carrying Renoir’s legacy and Abbas Kiarostami is carrying Satyajit Ray’s. But there were many others whom Renoir inspired, including Kurosawa. So there are several filmmakers that are heir to Kurosawa’s legacy but talent like that is very very rare. Steven Spielberg and Hayao Miyazaki (whom Donald Richie calls“that cartoonist fellow”) come to mind. Kurosawa would be proud of them.

    And Chris Martin on why Kurosawa has no heirs:

    Let’s draw some parallels . . . The next Jimi Hendrix? Beatles? Stanley Kubrick? Alfred Hitchcock? Of the greatest artists that question always seems to be asked, yet the answer remains the same. No one. Whomever is named in this thread as an heir by thematic, technical, or narrative comparison is simply someone who has borrowed elements of Kurosawa’s filmmaking and deserves no such title. One who is named due to their ability to create film to a degree so powerful and unique as Kurosawa would deserve to have the same question asked of themselves. Such an artist would be worthy enough not stand in the shadow of another. To say that Kurosawa has an heir is to diminish and belittle his artistry. He deserves more respect than that from us, his fans.

    March is Akira Kurosawa month at Criterion. On the twenty-third, the great Japanese filmmaker would have been one hundred years old. For this centennial celebration, we will be posting trivia questions and other contests all month, and giving away a different prize every weekday.

    Today’s prompt:

    What’s your favorite behind-the-scenes fact about the making of a Kurosawa film?

    Please respond by commenting below, and we’ll choose a winner tomorrow. You must leave a valid e-mail address to be eligible for the prize (a Red Beard DVD).

    Contests

87 comments

  • By Christopher R
    March 11, 2010
    07:26 PM

    The paining of the flowers for Sanjuro! Even though the film was in black and white, Kurosawa was such a perfectionist that he required that the flowers be individually painted! I like to believe that the painting made all the difference. A close second is hearing about Mifune's slap that shocked the young actors in Sanjuro. The force of his "acting" is fun to watch.
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  • By Joseph Parks
    March 11, 2010
    07:35 PM

    My favorite fact is that Kurosawa was almost completely blind while filming Ran, and his assistants had only his verbal direction and the many pre-production canvases he painted. And we all know how visually lush Ran is. This is even more amazing given that this was not his final film. What an incredible filmmaker.
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  • By Dustin Meadows
    March 11, 2010
    07:36 PM

    My favorite is one off the simpler things in a Kurosawa film, and it's the shot in Yojimbo where Sanjuro throws a knife and impales a leaf to the floor but it's actually just reversed footage of the knife being pulled. Simple, but one of the coolest moments in that movie.
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  • By Mark Hendrix
    March 11, 2010
    07:36 PM

    From Sidney Lumet's wonderful book, 'Making Movies,': "I once asked Akira Kurosawa why he had chosen to frame a shot in Ran in a particular way. His answer was that if he he'd panned the camera one inch to the left, the Sony factory would be sitting there exposed, and if he he'd panned an inch to the right, we would see the airport - neither of which belonged in a period movie." And somehow, the shot is perfect.
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  • By Anthony Collins
    March 11, 2010
    07:38 PM

    KAGEMUSHA (1980) Shintarô Katsu was originally slated to play the lead role but he was dismissed by Kurasawa after Katsu came to a rehearsal with a video camera and said he wanted to document the experience for an acting class he was teaching.
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  • By Alex Zechiel
    March 11, 2010
    07:38 PM

    I found some of the behind the scenes techniques used during the filming or Rashomon to create the beautiful lighting and shadows in the forest to be the most interesting. Mainly because, while you're watching it, it doesn't even cross your mind that it could have required any extra work at all. It's that flawless.
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  • By Robert W.
    March 11, 2010
    07:39 PM

    In the final scene of Throne of Blood, in which Mifune is shot by arrows, Kurosawa used real arrows shot by expert archers from a short range, landing within centimetres of Mifune's body.
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  • By Erik Otis
    March 11, 2010
    07:42 PM

    DODESUKADEN (1970) The movie was made as the first feature of the Committee of the Four Knights, a group founded by four of Japan's greatest directors: Akira Kurosawa, Keisuke Kinoshita, Masaki Kobayashi and Kon Ichikawa. According to a interview with Ichikawa, they wanted their first picture to be a hit. When this film told a story deemed too depressing and was subsequently a failure with audiences, the group disbanded and never made another film. The movie's failure also contributed to Kurosawa's suicide attempt one year later.
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  • By Tobey Cook
    March 11, 2010
    07:45 PM

    I would say my favorite would be how Kurosawa would give his actors their costumes weeks before shooting started so they could bond with them and become more comfortable - like the farmers in Seven Samurai because he wanted their clothes to look worn and tattered by the time they started filming. Another great one is his use of calligraphy ink in the water for the rain in Rashomon... he used so much water he exhausted the local water supply!
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  • By CHARLES DECKERT
    March 11, 2010
    07:47 PM

    The fact that he would storyboard many of his films personally. There's a dedication that most filmmakers today can't even dream of committing to!
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  • By will morris
    March 11, 2010
    07:52 PM

    the fact that kurosawa did the paintings for kagemusha blows my mind, and i love finally being able to see them with the latest blu package.
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  • By Buddy Hedrick
    March 11, 2010
    07:54 PM

    My favorite story about Kurosawa's direction behind the scenes comes from an anecdote from Sydney Lumet. He asked Kurosawa about one of the outdoor shots from Ran and why Kurosawa had framed it the way he did. Kurosawa said that he didn't even think about it...that if the camera revealed anything further to the left of the screen, a smoke stack from a factory could be seen. If he had moved the camera any more to the right, a 20th century city. He decided on the shot in the film because it was the only real possibility to avoid 20th century incursions. It just illustrates that great film-makers get the right shot, no matter what and that great artists see their decisions as the only option and don't even consider anything else. Kurosawa naturally saw the perfect shot to create the scene and avoid modernity in a period piece.
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  • By Patrick
    March 11, 2010
    07:55 PM

    One of my favorite behind-the-scenes fact is in regards to the Kurosawa/Mifune rift. I read that one of the possible causes for the rift was the disagreement over Mifune's beard in Red Beard. Kurosawa demanded that Mifune not shave the beard, thus limiting Mifune's ability to appear in other films - causing the discontent between the two. It's amazing that the rift between these two greats was over Mifune's facial hair!
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    • By Wesley
      November 27, 2011
      07:46 PM

      The real losers in that deal were Kurosawa & Mifune. God only knows the work they missed out on and the 15-20 more movies fans may have seen. When Mifune wasn't tapped for Ran, I knew they were going to take it to the grave.

  • By marcus s
    March 11, 2010
    08:01 PM

    Katsu Shintaro -vs- Akira Kurosawa At one point Kurosawa was to work with Katsu on a film. Katsu being a mega big star at the time invited his own film crew to document the creative process in the development of his character and his interactions working with Kurosawa on an upcoming film. Akira didn't get along with Katsu and his film crew. the two parties fueded so much that the collaboration was halted and the project between the two was put on hold indefinately.
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  • By Ted House
    March 11, 2010
    08:03 PM

    My favorite behind the scenes fact come from filming of High and Low, during the train sequence as Gondo is throwing the briefcases out the window, Kurosawa-san used 9 cameras simultaneously on a real moving train. Not just using the other cameras as fill in footage for editing, but to cover the whole train and all the action. Keeping track of all the actors most have been hellish. But it makes for a most elaborate scene. The movement is tight and that sets tension by making the audience feel like they too have been trapped by the perpetrator, on the train, with the rest of the police force and the struggling Mr. Gondo.
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  • By Andrew Torres
    March 11, 2010
    08:08 PM

    From Stuart Galbraith IV's "Emperor and the Wolf:" That in one of Kurosawa's first films, "The Most Beautiful" his lead actress became his wife for 39 years. Compound that with Kurosawa's belief that he could not understand how to direct females.
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  • By Devin Rambo
    March 11, 2010
    08:09 PM

    I've always liked the story related by Sidney Lumet in his book "Making Movies" about the time he asked Kurosawa why he'd framed a certain shot in RAN the way he did. Kurosawa told him if he 'd panned an inch to the left, the Sony Factory would be in the frame, while if he'd panned an inch to the right, an airport would be in the frame. It just goes to show that sometimes, even the great ones have to take what they're given and go with it.
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  • By pannonica
    March 11, 2010
    08:13 PM

    For me, it's the exacting attention to detail, fanatic for sure, in assembling and hewing to the symbolic color palette in Ran. From the vast landscapes to the minutest details of the costumes, it's simply staggering.
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  • By Jaime Grijalba
    March 11, 2010
    08:13 PM

    I find amazing that Kurosawa himself painted the background of the final dream scene, even though he was almost blind, he still had the capability to paint, as he did when he was young, and in the last dream scene of his last film, which I find really inspiring, as somewhat of a prediction: that place that he painted would be the place that he would be after he died, a really beautiful place.
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  • By Richard LaRue
    March 11, 2010
    08:15 PM

    How Kurosawa didn't even audition Mifune for the role in 'Drunken Angel.' He had heard about the actor and peaked into one of his other auditions and immediately casted him as the lead and adapted the screenplay to better suit him. He was quoted as saying this about that fist sighting of Mifune "'in the case of Mifune I was completely overwhelmed.'" And everyone knows how well their collaborations went from there.
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    • By Wesley
      November 27, 2011
      07:53 PM

      Kurosawa had gotten Mifune a part in Snow Trail(1946) which Kurosawa co-wrote, and Mifune's work there impressed him.

  • By Nathan Collins
    March 11, 2010
    08:16 PM

    I originally wrote a treatise on Kurosawa's use of long lenses, which I've heard was not to communicate any idea, e.g. distance, but rather to make his actors ignore the camera. That he would be willing to trade framing and such for another key visual element --- the actors' faces and movement --- and that you would hardly notice this tradeoff are testaments to Kurosawa's understanding of filmmaking. But that was a long-winded argument involving Eisenstein, Michael Mann, and Breathless. So instead I'll go for my second favorite: the dyed-black rain in Rashomon. That's dedication.
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  • By Peter Fingerson
    March 11, 2010
    08:17 PM

    The fact that Kurosawa actually dyed the rain in Rashomon to make it appear more clearly on film.
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  • By Chris Martin
    March 11, 2010
    08:22 PM

    The lead role(s) of Kagemusha originally belonged to Shintaro Katsu, a known comic actor. Apparently, on the first day of shooting he showed up with his own camera crew to film Kurosawa's methods. This displeased Kurosawa, and subsequently Katsu was replaced by Tatsuya Nakadai who had previously worked with the director. One can only assume whether Katsu was fired or willingly left the film after angering Mr. Kurosawa. This lends to the imagination how the entire feel of the film would have been different if such a comic actor had been cast. Many have speculated that the film would have never taken such a dark tone. I entertain such ideas every so often, yet I am content with the way history played out.
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  • By Stefan
    March 11, 2010
    08:23 PM

    That Mifune and Kurosawa watched a nature documentary shortly before filming on The Seven Samurai began, and Kurosawa suggested Mifune play his character like a lion they saw. I think this worked out really well as Kikuchiyo seems like a wild beast unable to be tamed.
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  • By Rob
    March 11, 2010
    08:23 PM

    There's this wonderful photo of Toshiro Mifune walking alone down the street with his hands in his pockets. Suave, confident, well-dressed...everything he exudes on screen. The photo was taken sometime between 1963-1965. We know this because of the dense beard he wears on his face, which he grew and maintained for two years while filming what would be his last Kurosawa film, Red Beard. The production was meticulous and detailed, but most of all, it was slow, forcing Mifune to keep his heavy beard the entire two years. As a result, he was perpetually in character and unable to take any other roles. Thankfully, his endurance would pay off, with his performance in Red Beard being one of his best. Mifune's commitment and trust put into both his craft and to Kurosawa throughout their career together is truly remarkable. Unfortunately, this would be the tipping point in the relationship of arguably the greatest actor-director collaboration ever, and they would never work again. But it is no surprise that in retrospect Mifune would say of Kurosawa: "I am proud of nothing I have done other than with him."
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  • By ELIJAH
    March 11, 2010
    08:25 PM

    In "The Seven Samurai" scene when the house is burning down, and is running towards the building and can't make himself get in because of the heat, I found it interesting to find that it wasn't intentional, but it was because the fire got out of control. That scene seemed so much more powerful because of this accident. It reminded me of how natural and real Kurosawa's films feel, and I realized perhaps part of this is because a large amount of them are natural and real.
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  • By ELIJAH
    March 11, 2010
    08:26 PM

    In "The Seven Samurai" scene when the house is burning down, and Rikichi is running towards the building and can't make himself get in because of the heat, I found it interesting to find that it wasn't intentional, but it was because the fire got out of control. That scene seemed so much more powerful because of this accident. It reminded me of how natural and real Kurosawa's films feel, and I realized perhaps part of this is because a large amount of them are natural and real.
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  • By Dan plyam
    March 11, 2010
    08:30 PM

    I would have to say his extreme attention to detail, and creativity and brilliance in doing so. The example of dying water to create a more clear and dramatic rain in Rashomon is the example that I am talking about. Just imagine what kind of brilliance it would take to come up with such a simple idea for such a miniscule problem. There would be tons of directors who would have not even payed any attention to how the rain looked. And those that did would have had used a red filter to fix the problem. But Kurosawa was above that he dyed the water, giving it its distinctive look, which helped make it a motif for the film. Such attention to detail, such creativity, such a tiny issue. Brilliance.
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  • By Sean Robison
    March 11, 2010
    08:30 PM

    The fact that Kurosawa paints these lush, vibrant storyboards for his movies that could stand alone as works of art. Had he not chosen a career in filmmaking, he would have had a very successful career as a painter.
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  • By Tyler
    March 11, 2010
    08:34 PM

    During the blood explosion toward the end of Sanjuro, a faulty coupling link broke and released much more "blood" than intended. The explosion almost knocked Nakadai to the ground.
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  • By RYAN MCGLADE
    March 11, 2010
    08:41 PM

    Kurosawa's attention to detail is best represented in the fact that, for his late-period masterpiece "Ran", he had a gingantic castle set built on the slopes of Mt. Fuji, only for it to be burned to the ground in the film's distinctive massacre scene, in which all sound is muted but Toru Takemitsu's hauting score. Such perfectionism and grand imagination are hardly found anywhere these days, and it is reassuring to know that there was at least one great artist who kept such ideals close to his heart.
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  • By Matthew E. B.
    March 11, 2010
    08:44 PM

    Of all the interesting elements surrounding the complex production of "Ran," my favorite fact must be how Kurosawa treated the death of his wife of 39 years. It is said that Kurosawa halted production of "Ran" for only a single day in order to mourn his wife. It's hard to imagine a man of his caliber, who can obtain the most intimate particle of humanity and emotion from his actors, choosing to treat his wife's death with disrespect. Therefore, one can only realize how meaningful the task of film making, especially the production of "Ran," was to Kurosawa.
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  • By Michael Wong
    March 11, 2010
    08:49 PM

    Kurosawa always resorted to extreme measures to get the right shot. These are just two of my favorite stories about him... Ran was one the the most expensive Japanese films ever made at the time. Because he didn't want to use miniatures, Kurosawa built a real castle from the ground up, just to burn it down all in one take. His 1,400 extras had costumes hand-tailored, which took nearly 2 years, and he had horses imported from the US. The other is when filming the train sequence in High and Low, Kurosawa wanted to capture 2 children in the distance playing on a hill, but a house was obstructing the shot. Kurosawa paid the old couple living in that house to move out, and then tore it down in order to get his shot.
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  • By Lionel
    March 11, 2010
    08:53 PM

    In Sanjuro, during the filming of the climactic duel, a coupling blew on the compressor hose used to get Hanbei's stage blood to spurt appropriately. Tatsuya Nakadai was almost lifted off his feet by the force of the explosion. And Kurosawa used that take, rather than film another.
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  • By Michael
    March 11, 2010
    08:54 PM

    In the booklet that comes with the 3 disc Seven Samurai, Toshiro Mifune says how the final battle was shot in the rain in February, the coldest time of the year. He says "I was naked but for a single plate of what looks like armor, with straw sandals on my feet, running around on mud that was frozen as hard as ice. It was cold, let me tell you, felt like way below zero, and still they kept showering us with that damned rain. I would run and fall, run and fall, my whole body shivering." And yet when you watch the battle you don't realize he dies with his "bare ass exposed" in the winter. Simply amazing. Michael
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  • By Dan Sessoms
    March 11, 2010
    08:55 PM

    I love that the ransom on the train scene in High and Low was filmed in one take with multiple cameras. What a perfect way to add tension to your actors. Kenjiro Ishiyama began to sweat and shake as the moment to roll got closer and even Kurosawa felt that he wasn't able to do it. When the moment came, everything worked flawlessly, save for one camera not working properly, and the result is a thrilling sequence.
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  • By Julian Terry
    March 11, 2010
    09:04 PM

    In High and Low Kurosawa actually had an entire miniature set of the city built. Along with that he had to change all the lights in the background miniature so the lights did not streak when panning. In the background he ordered mirrors from Europe that was dimmer so light from the sun would not take away details in the shot. These obstacles could not be recognized when viewing the film but still had to be made to keep Kurosawa's vision.
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  • By Mikko Lamberg
    March 11, 2010
    09:10 PM

    I can't remember exactly what film it was, but my favorite story is probably about a certain day of filming which went very well. The footage Kurosawa and his crew got was by all standards masterful and memorable. Donald Richie was watching the shoot and noticed how perfectly every camera movement was made and how extraordinary was the director's vision. Even Kurosawa himself was very happy with how the day had went. After the filming was over and the movie was cut ja had its opening night, Richie noticed that Kurosawa hadn't used any more than a few seconds from the aforementioned great filming day. "It was all very beautiful", Kurosawa, famous for his large use of film and long filming schedules, explained, "but it wasn't necessary for the film." This is what, in my opinion, departs great film makers from mediocre ones. To have such a strong vision that you can leave something fantastic you have made and possibly love for the greater good of the whole picture is a marvelous talent indeed.
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  • By ERIC CRAWFORD
    March 11, 2010
    09:15 PM

    The most interesting and important "behind the scenes" fact for me when watching Kurosawa is surely his relationship with his older brother Heigo, who introduced him both to western literature and movies. Heigo (and Kurosawa's other two brothers) died young, and Kurosawa's sensitive reimaginations of, for example, Dostoevsky and Shakespeare, were clearly driven by his attempt to live up to his brother's example.
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  • By Caroline
    March 11, 2010
    09:22 PM

    In filming the climax of Throne of Blood, Toshiro Mifune was shot at with real arrows in order to enhance the authenticity of his performance. Apparently, his arm gestures in the scene actually indicated to the archers which way Mifune was about to move.
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  • By Jay Kranz
    March 11, 2010
    09:23 PM

    I think the most amazing thing was painting the flowers for Sanjuro. even though the film is in black and white those are the reddest flowers I have ever seen. they amazed me on first viewing and then when I figured out the work that had gone into them I realized what a special filmmaker he is. that work was certainly worth it!
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  • By Jon Hillman
    March 11, 2010
    09:38 PM

    During the making of Seven Samurai, the production company pulled the plug on the project several times as it kept running over budget, forcing director Akira Kurosawa to go back and personally argue with the board of directors who were convinced they were making a flop. To think, this film almost didn't exist!
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  • By Dan E
    March 11, 2010
    10:18 PM

    I always thought it was incredible that Kurosawa developed complete personalities for each speaking character in Seven Samurai. He knew their histories, what they wore, even their favorite foods. He was able to create the complete world. It wasn't limited to a couple of major characters and some archetypes. Now that is dedication.
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  • By D-Man
    March 11, 2010
    10:40 PM

    By far the best behind the scenes Kurosawa story is the one from High and Low. Kurosawa was looking through prints from the dailies and found that the best angle to film the suspect (for the scene where the money is thrown out the train window) was blocked by the roof of a house nearby. Kurosawa, being the giant that he is, had the roof of the man's house removed and covered it with a black tarp and build a fake hill behind the house where the suspect stood. After filming was done, he had it rebuilt all under studio money. This was for one shot in the whole 2.5 hour film. That's power.
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  • By Woody
    March 11, 2010
    10:40 PM

    I love Spielberg's story about meeting Kurosawa for the first time. He was very nervous meeting the master for dinner in Japan. He wanted to ask him about what it meant to be a poet and a great artist. However, when they finally sat down to dinner, all Kurosawa wanted to talk about was how may arc lights it took to make the rain show up on camera in Seven Samurai. That is when Spielberg realized that Kurosawa, like the best artists, simple did his job and the poetry and artistry came organically out of that process. I think that is quite beautiful.
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  • By Mark Williams
    March 11, 2010
    10:54 PM

    I really like the fact that in the climax for Throne of Blood real arrows were shot at Mifune and that his frantic motions were actually indications for which way he would go. It makes the fear in Mifune's eyes that much more palpable and adds to Kurosawa's perfectionism.
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  • By Matt Sheardown
    March 11, 2010
    10:58 PM

    The story that I feel sums up what I love about Kurosawa and his films is the story that occurred days before the shooting of Rashomon. His three Assistant Directors approached him because they had read through the scennplay and were baffled by the story. After Kurosawa implored them to read closer, and that it was not meant to be incomprehensible. The three assistants did not leave and persisted for an explanation. Kurosawa then told them that the film was about people who succumb to the human trait of egotism, and how these people must lie and embellish (both during life and in the afterlife) about themselves in order to achieve. The great quote from his autobiography that sticks with me from this story is this one: "You say you can't understand this script at all, but that is because the human heart itself is impossible to understand." Kurosawa was a filmmaker who asked these kinds of questions and explored these kinds of conundrums. Many of his films are prime examples of this, but that story from the making of Rashomon has always resonated with me.
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  • By GORDOLF
    March 11, 2010
    10:59 PM

    My favorite behind-the scenes fact about a Kurosawa film comes from the filming of Sanjuro when Tatsuya Nakadai’s on-screen death turns into a sort of inside joke among crew members. Apparently, the person in charge of controlling the blood-splatter contraption under Nakadai’s kimono did not adjust the pressure of the machine. The end result is a mise-en-scene reminiscent of something out of a Zatoichi film as a geyser of artificial blood is comically released after a short delay. Oblivious to all is Kurosawa himself who ends up liking the way it eventually turned out! Even more hilarious is the smugness of Nakadai as he credits himself as contributing to the success of this scene via his refinement as an actor. Classic!
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  • By Sean Carter
    March 11, 2010
    11:00 PM

    My favorite aspect of Kurosawa's work behind the scenes is no one outstanding anecdote, but the simple fact that long after the actors and crew had tucked in for the day, Kurosawa was pouring over dailies, already beginning the tedious task of piecing together his masterpieces. Editing was not limited to post-production labor in the world of Kurosawa's films: it was a process that began the very day he'd committed his stories to celluloid. Not only was this a testament to the filmmaker's painstaking perfectionism in his trade, but an incredibly savvy and insightful move. Mistakes in the filming, be it an actor's mishap or an unseen boom-mic dipping into the shoot, wouldn't come back to haunt the auteur months after the scene was completed. The very next day, with the material still fresh on the cast and crew's minds, the mishap would be rectified. It was this kind of dedication to his craft that continues to set Kurosawa apart from not only his contemporaries, but filmmakers of generations to come. Few directors oversee the editing of their pictures, even less edit themselves; it takes a virtuoso to cut and tape mere hours after the films exposure.
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  • By Chris Estes
    March 11, 2010
    11:02 PM

    I love the piece in the Sanjuro booklet discussing climax of Sanjuro, as recounted by Teruyo Nogami, and not just because it's my favorite individual scene in a Kurosawa film. The fact that the bloodletting nearly took Nakadai off his feet is incredible (and quite believable considering the amount of blood and force of it shooting out). But for me, the best part of the behind the scenes element of this story isn't it being a happy accident with the compressor, but rather it is the story Masanobu Deme and Shiro Moritani discussing, and then rehashing all the detailed options that they had come up with for the blood trickle on Sanjuro's head. Kurosawa apparently popped in, letting them know it was dinner time. After telling him in detail all the various options they had been discussing, Kurosawa offhandedly said "Oh, that. We cut that part out. Let's eat.", and the men were left totally deflated.
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  • By Jaysin Osterkamp
    March 11, 2010
    11:03 PM

    After watching Seven Samurai for the first time I immediately rewatched it with the commentary by Donald Richie and was absolutely floored when I heard that they hired an archery expert to fire off real arrows into wooden blocks under the actors' kimonos. I had to pause it, rewind it, watch every arrow fly into someone and try to pause it to see it strike them. This is one of the reasons I am 100% pro practical effects in all the films I work on. Thank you, Kurosawa, for inspiring me to make art all these years.
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  • By James C
    March 11, 2010
    11:15 PM

    I truly respect the fact that he dedicated so much into his directing that he mourned the death of his wife of 39 years for a single day before returning to direct Ran. That says a lot about a man when his art supersedes life and it shows in the quality of his work.
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  • By Mark Bowers
    March 11, 2010
    11:15 PM

    Dodes'ka-Den was Kurosawa's first film in color, so he wasn't familiar or comfortable with the technical differences involved with using colr as opposed to black and white. To make sure everything would be precisely the right color he had a crew member follow him around with a tray of paints so he could paint anything he wasn't satisfied with, including shadows. It demonstrates his perfectionism and how he took personal responsibility for every aspect of his films. Dodes'ka-Den may not be one of his best, but his use of color is truly amazing; his unfamiliarity with it isn't visible in a single scene.
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  • By Henry Biedenkapp
    March 11, 2010
    11:23 PM

    Kurosawa's comments about editing the daily rushes: that he would take the time (3 hours per day roughly) with a editor on the daily rushes before showing them to the actors and crew. This would give the actors a better understanding of their performance and why certain restrictions were placed on them in order to get what Kurosawa wanted from them, (yeah, cattle indeed!). This edited footage also kept the ethusiasm up of the film for both the actors and crew for the next shoot. Naturally, by editing every day, when the film was finished shooting, he only had to fine-tune the editing process in a short period of time, instead of the usually long-term editing process of other directors.
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  • By Narukami
    March 11, 2010
    11:24 PM

    While making the film Throne of Blood, Kurosawa lamented that Oliver's budget for the final battle scene alone in Richard III was more than the entire budget for Throne of Blood. Funding was always a major concern, and yet despite his limited budgets, Kurosawa made art of the highest order. He proved the less is more.
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  • By Micah Champagne
    March 11, 2010
    11:35 PM

    My favorite Kurosawa anecdote comes from the filming of RAN. The scene where they burn down the castle. That was an actual castle constructed on Mt. Fuji. Which means when they burned it down they only had one take to get everything right. The amount of timing/choreography that required is mind blowing. The ruins are still there today.
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  • By Franciscus Rebro
    March 11, 2010
    11:36 PM

    My favorite behind-the-scenes anecdote about Kurosawa's film involves the director's relationship with the peerless Japanese composer Toru Takemitsu, who scored several Kurosawa films and hundreds of movies by less famous composer. While working on the score for "Ran", Akira and Toru couldn't agree over the music to use during the first incredible battle scene. Takemitsu wanted the music in this scene to be composed entirely from battle sound effects like the cries of men and horses, explosions and gunshots, and other sounds not playable on traditional instruments. On the other hand, Kurosawa at the time was deeply inspired by the orchestral works of Mahler, and in the end the director would not budge on his position to use a heavy, emotionally moving string score in this battle. At the climax of the piece, all musical sounds suddenly cut out to silence, and a single fatal bullet is fired, killing one of Lord Hidetora's sons in one of the most impacting moments of the film and arguably Kurosawa's entire oeuvre. As effective as the score ended up being, Takemitsu always lamented not being given full artistic control over that scene, and it would be fascinating to hear his original plan for it, which very likely would have sounded pretty radical, perhaps along the lines of his early experimental tape piece "Sky, Horse and Death". Nevertheless, it's a credit to Kurosawa that he was so unyielding in his artistic vision, and that the results are exquisite.
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  • By Joe
    March 11, 2010
    11:39 PM

    My favorite behind the scenes moment is when he had the castle for Throne of Blood dismantled after he found out that the set builders had used nails, which the long-distance lens he used would have revealed, this without shooting a single take of it.
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  • By Matt
    March 11, 2010
    11:42 PM

    During the production of Ran, Kurosawa did many seemingly unnecessary things that added to the film, such as building the castle in order to burn it down. The thing that interested me the most, however, was his painting the tall grass gold to make it appear more like traditional Japanese art against the black sky. I can think of many others who would do something like build a castle for a film, but not many who would do something as easily overlooked as painting the grass in order to bring just that much more artistry to the film.
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  • By Isaac Jensen
    March 11, 2010
    11:43 PM

    In High and Low, during the scenes in Kingo's living room while the cops are performing the negotiations, through the windows you can faintly see the headlights of cars passing over a bridge far off in the distance. Those were real cars, all on call via walkie talkie's, all ready to drive back and forth for brief moments in time, even though they're barely noticeable. Kurosawa was a perfectionist, and it's these small details that made all the difference.
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  • By Tomas Roges
    March 12, 2010
    12:09 AM

    In Kurosawa's autobiography, Something Like an Autobiography, the producers of Roshamon had asked him what the film was about, he responded: "Human beings are unable to be honest with themselves about themselves. they cannot talk about themselves without embellishing."
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  • By Bret Bynum
    March 12, 2010
    12:29 AM

    My favorite was how Kurosawa was basically blind while filming Ran. That just blows me away. It's hard to wrap your head around the fact that the man made a masterpiece without even looking. I bet he could do it without even talking, or being there.
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  • By Tom Helberg
    March 12, 2010
    12:29 AM

    It's incredible that in Throne of Blood real arrows are shot at Mifune, just to get a natural facial expression. That reminds me of Wild Bill Wellman shooting real bullets at Cagney in The Public Enemy.
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  • By Josh G.
    March 12, 2010
    12:41 AM

    Throne of Blood by far has one of my favorites. The use of REAL ARROWS being shot around Toshiro Mifune. This gave genuine fear that no actor could even dream of matching, which led to the authentic look of terror in Toshiro Mifunes eyes.
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  • By Green Rahman
    March 12, 2010
    01:02 AM

    Satyajit Ray said that it's quite impossible for someone to grasp what goes on behind the scenes on a film set, because 'so much happens and you learn so much and so quickly'. Sidney Lumet said that 'it might be chaotic on a film set and it might appear that no one knows whats going on, but we really do know what we are doing'. What's really going on and what do we know. Perhaps that's what Stanley Kubrick refers to as 'the photograph of the photograph'. One of my most favorite scene is the climax of 'Yojimbo' where we have the 'gun vs. knife' sequence. I have read that the shooting was chaotic and everyone was absolutely mad at Kurosawa. What's going on? Large fans, tons of dust, cameras, lights - no one even could see because of the dust. But Kurosawa shouted at the actors - 'Keep your eyes open!'. And everyone on the set was cursing him. Only Mifune kept his mouth shut; he would do the scenes over and over again and give 100% even in rehearsals. Later, Kurosawa would say, 'We did it!'. To this Nakadai added laughing, 'We did it? What did he do? It's us who did it'. I am very thankful that those guys made 'Yojimbo'. I love it. Thanks to all those crew members, carpenters, gaffers, production assistants, who made it possible. And thanks to Akira Kurosawa. We don't really know what goes on behind the scene. There is maybe only one man who does know, and that's Kevin Brownlow. We need his help to glimpse at the 'photograph of the photograph'.
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  • By Kevin Linke
    March 12, 2010
    01:25 AM

    I honestly love how Kurosawa had to shoot those commercials for that whiskey brand on the set of Kagemusha. I like it because it shows how an artist will do what they have to do to get their art made and out there. It means a lot more to me to know that Kurosawa did everything he possibly could, including getting Coppola and Lucas in there to make sure the people got to see the film.
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  • By Andy Johnson
    March 12, 2010
    01:33 AM

    In 1950's Rashomon, Kurosawa is credited as the first director to point the camera directly at the sun. Up until then it was believed that the sun being magnified though a camera lens would melt the plastic film inside the camera, but apparently no one had tried it. Kurosawa however, being always the innovator, tried it and got the desired effect. It was only a minor element, and only a second or two long, but this tiny detail, just like all the other millions of small tweeks and ideas, helped make this and all of Kurosawa's movies that much better. The point it was used just felt right, too. It's a good example of innovation, attention to detail, and originality, all major Kurosawa traits.
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  • By Andrew Strauss
    March 12, 2010
    02:48 AM

    I like how during the filming of Seven Samurai Akira Kurosawa personally fought with the studio execs and producers to get the film made. Many directors would abandon a project, but Kurosawa knew he was right and was able to make one of the greatest films ever made. Kurosawa could have been fired by Toho as the director, but his artistic vision and balls made him great. We need somebody like Kurosawa who will fight for their vision against the board of directors when they try to make decisions.
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  • By Timo B
    March 12, 2010
    05:19 AM

    Definately RAN; Because of Kurosawa's poor eyesight, he only had his drawings, which he painted over the last 10 years, to properly communicate with the cinematographer. Nietzsche went mad, Beethoven went deaf, and Kurosawa went blind.
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  • By Patrck
    March 12, 2010
    05:50 AM

    My favorite "behind-the-scenes" tidbit from a Kurosawa film is discussed in an interview with Keiko Awaji featured on the Criterion edition of "Stray Dog." She talks about how she didn't particularly want to be involved with the film, but was, more or less, forced into the role by her dance instructor. She wanted to be a dancer, not an actress, and she didn't consider herself to be an actress. She (and others interviewed) talk about the great patience that Kurosawa showed while dealing with her, taking her pouty and disagreeable nature during the filming and using it to strengthen her character. It is such a fantastic performance that I never would have guessed that she was reluctant to participate. The way in which Awaji details her difficult tone while shooting the film is such a relatable and natural show of a fully-matured sense of humility that it is hard not to be moved by it. Just a great, natural dialog that allows you to see her performance in a new light. Stray Dog was already one of my favorite films, but it became an even more enjoyable watch every time I have seen it since viewing the interviews. Also, I have a huge crush on her, so that probably affected its impact on me.
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  • By toshi fujiwara
    March 12, 2010
    06:12 AM

    the fact that Toshiro Mifune never had a chair for him on the set (because he never sat down, and during the take he was eager to help props men et all).
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  • By Carlos
    March 12, 2010
    06:23 AM

    I couldn't believe that in Seven Samurai they threw real arrows at actors! They used thick wood plates behind their clothes, so the arrows would get stick to them. Very dangerous! I also was impressed by Ran when they actually burned the whole castle, so they had just ONE chance to shot that scene! and the poor actor (Nakadai?) was all alone by himself inside the burning castle when they started shooting the scene.
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  • By Kara Kardozi
    March 12, 2010
    06:24 AM

    There is a scene in Drunken Angel (1948), in which Toshiro Mifune walks a lonely road among a mass crowd, lost to himself. On a loud speaker a nostalgic music is playing (A Jazz recording of The Cuckoo Waltz). Kurosawa picked a version of it that he had heard when he was a young man, down and broke just like the Mifune character in the film. According to Donald Richie, it took a long and exhausting search to find the exact recording. Kurosawa would listen to records after records to find the exact one that ended up in the film.
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  • By Eugene Golbin
    March 12, 2010
    09:10 AM

    I like a fact from the castle burning scene in Ran. During the scene inside the castle when Lord Ichimonji is losing his mind, Tatsuya Nakadai stayed in the burning room a bit too long during the early takes for this scene and suffered significant burns on his face! I call that going above and beyond to "get the shot."
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  • By Russ Brown
    March 12, 2010
    10:28 AM

    My favorite behind the scenes story is from his autobiography. While shooting a film once (I cant remember the specific film) Kurosawa saw an american man wearing walking around with a bunch of US Army men inspecting the production. It was John Ford. The meeting of titans!
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  • By Justin Morgan
    March 12, 2010
    10:45 AM

    All of the facts I previously knew and found interesting about any behind-the-scenes information on Kurosawa films has been used, so I went looking for new ones, and discovered Kurosawa pulled a Howard Hughes will Seven Samurai and used a vast amount of cameras, so not to interrupt the flow of the scenes and allowing him to edit the film together as he pleased in post-production. The simultaneous production of this film and Gojira nearly forced Toho Kabushiki Kaisha into bankruptcy.
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  • By Thomas Lansdale
    March 12, 2010
    11:18 AM

    I just watched Throne of Blood on TCM and Robert Osborne talked about how Kurosawa was not pleased with a castle set, but had to have it built on the side of a mountain. Luckily, there were American military to help build it in a very isolated region where workers were not readily available.
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  • By Andrew Bacon
    March 12, 2010
    12:07 PM

    My favorite behind-the-scenes fact is from Seven Samurai. I was listening to the commentary, and the scene was when the Watermill is being burned down, and Toshiro Mifune is in the stream holding the baby. What surprised me was when Donald Ritchie commented that the Mill House had to be rebuilt two or three times to get the final scene right. Apparently, they would light the building on fire by wrapping it in felt, so that it would burn faster, and then after they were finished shooting for the day, they would put the fire out with water. But when they came back the next day, the wood was wet and wouldn't light, so Kurosawa had them rebuild the Mill over, and over, until he finally got everything he needed.
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  • By John Baldwin
    March 12, 2010
    02:52 PM

    The most endearing story I have ever read or heard about the making of a Kurosawa film involves the shooting of Rashomon, as told by his assistant Teruyo Nagami. She said that the cast and crew were all so inspired by the wild setting of the Forest at Nara that sometimes they would be moved to climb up Mt. Wakakusa during the night and get in a circle to sing Tankobushi -- The Coal Miner's Song -- while dancing with a digging motion. (Ms. Nagami provides a cartoon illustration on page 72 of her book, Waiting on the Weather; the figure in the cap is presumably Kurosawa.) Why is this relevant? Everything I've read about the film (including AK's own testimony) indicates that the general camaraderie of cast and crew during shooting contributed rather than detracted from the film's extraordinary power. The anecdote also proves that the master really knew how to have fun. "Everyone was young," Ms. Nagami writes, "Kurosawa himself was barely forty."
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  • By Doug Bray
    March 12, 2010
    03:20 PM

    The eight minuet extra ‘Lucas on Kurosawa’ interview on The Hidden Fortress contains the most probing insight into Akira’s mind that I’ve seen. During the last minuet Lucas describes how Kurosawa was once asked “What are your movies about?” and answered “My movies are always trying to answer the question, why can’t people be happier, and why can’t they be happier together?” to me this is a gem of an extra, because it is such an insight not only into all AK’s catalogue but into the man himself. And being conveniently packed in one sentence makes it that much heavier.
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  • By Andrew Connell
    March 12, 2010
    03:44 PM

    That Kurosawa would often know the names of all the extras in his films because he felt they were just as important an aspect of the film as the lead roles. Oh and the millions times that damn wind wouldnt blow the way he told it to.
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  • By s.a.
    March 12, 2010
    04:22 PM

    I watched Throne of Blood and only afterward did I find out about how the ending with the arrows aimed for Mifune had been real arrows and it was all choreographed so to show his real fear. Thought it was brilliant.
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  • By Patrick Bull
    March 12, 2010
    04:27 PM

    Watching and studying Kurosawa movies, one always finds characters to latch on to and (beautifully constructed) stories to entertain. But it is with increasing interest that I look for the man behind the camera (no, not Donald Richie, a few feet out of frame in 'Throne of Blood's' climax). To learn that the wielder of the Warrior's Camera cried as he shouted 'Action!' on the first day of filming 'Dodes'ka-den' added such pathos to my own constructed tale of this little Japanese boy, whose singular vision -- inspired by an older brother whose life was tragically cut short -- brought him both fame and unwanted solitude from those he loved most. With Mifune gone this was a sign of things to come. I am as happy he survived his suicide attempt as I am that Sanshiro Sugata got the girl, that Kingo Gondo found his son, that Roku-chan returned home to his mother.
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  • By Martin
    March 12, 2010
    04:37 PM

    After seein Seven Samurai, I was shocked that Kurosawa was Japanese. Yet it really enriched my thoughts on Seven Samurai's merits. Who knew?
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  • By Lucas Kollauf
    March 12, 2010
    05:50 PM

    Love that Kurosowa directed and starred in Whiskey commercials to help get funding for Kagemusha.
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