• Today’s Kurosawa Giveaway

    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, and giving away a different prize every weekday. To see Friday’s winner, check out the update on Friday’s post.

    Today’s prompt:

    What is your favorite shot, scene, or image from a Kurosawa film?

    Please respond by commenting below, and we’ll choose our favorite tomorrow. You must reside in the U.S. or Canada and leave a valid e-mail address to be eligible for the prize (a DVD of Seven Samurai).

    UPDATE: Our winner is John Adair, who had this to say:

     

    I love the opening sequence of Red Beard, about eight minutes long, which depicts a tour through the hospital. Dr. Yasumoto has just arrived at the village hospital to pay a call on Dr. Niide (who we find out everyone calls Red Beard, for obvious reasons). The camera follows the young doctor into the hospital, and then through it, as he receives a tour from an outgoing and rather cynical young doctor, Tsugawa. More often than not in this sequence, Kurosawa holds the doctors in a two shot, giving us only a view of the immediate surroundings—enough to see sick patients and workers but not much else. In this decision, Kurosawa creates a cramped and overcrowded feeling in the hospital. Since Tsugawa is handling the tour, Yasumoto’s picture of this place immediately becomes tainted. And Kurosawa communicates the transference of this attitude beautifully by the amount of time these two spend in the same shot together. It’s as if Tsugawa is passing on his legacy of cynicism and angst to Yasumoto in this rather brief opening sequence. The genius of Kurosawa is that we would probably know that even if we removed the dialogue. He is using his formal decisions to contribute to the narrative.

    The most interesting shot during the tour comes after they have passed the poor patients, the pharmacy, and the clinic itself. Kurosawa places the camera at the far end of a darkened hallway leading to the men’s ward. Initially, the camera looks as if it’s at a low angle, so that if the doctors were to venture into the hallway, they would literally be descending into darkness. This of course fits beautifully with their current mind-set as they hesitate and gaze down it. Yet when they finally step into the hallway, the camera now behind them, we see an area full of activity and light. It’s at this point the two doctors encounter a room of sick men, and we viewers get the first sense this place may not be as bad as it seems. The sick man Sahachi is devoted to Red Beard, realizing that while his rules may require some extra discomfort, they are always in the best interests of the patients. In an otherwise one-sided presentation of the hospital by Tsugawa, this moment stands out, signaling that all may not be as it seems.

     

    Congratulations, John!

153 comments

  • By Eric Vilhelmsen
    March 22, 2010
    03:41 PM

    The shot at the beginning of Yojimbo with the dog with the severed hand in its mouth. This shot establishes much of the tone of the movie. It lets you know the nature of the town right away and the fact that he sees this and decides to stick around tells a lot about his character. And it's creepy!
    Reply

    • Or using your Criterion.com account.

      You are logged in to your Criterion.com account as . Log out.

  • By Andrew Connell
    March 22, 2010
    03:59 PM

    Sanjuro, the the final duel with Hanbei. While Kurosawa is not shy in showing people getting killed in his films, very often it is a very blood-less affair. The characters get cut down, grince in pain and fall over. But here Kurosawa finally unleashes the blood (literally) from a fire hose. I always took this as Kurosawa's responce to a comment about the lack of blood in his films... "Oh you want blood? I'll give you blood!"
    Reply

    • Or using your Criterion.com account.

      You are logged in to your Criterion.com account as . Log out.

  • By Mark G.
    March 22, 2010
    04:01 PM

    The scene in Seven Samurai when Kikuchiyo takes the Flag that represents all of them and what their objective is which is to protect the village together. All the others are in the graveyard mourning one of their deaths but Kikuchiyo climbs on top of one of a village house and sticks up the flag. I love this scene because Kikuchiyo is trying to make the others see that theyre not done yet and the spirit will still be alive no matter who dies.
    Reply

    • Or using your Criterion.com account.

      You are logged in to your Criterion.com account as . Log out.

  • By Kellie
    March 22, 2010
    04:09 PM

    One of my favorite scenes are from Ikriu is when Watanabe is sitting at the park singing "Life is Brief" I like it because he finally feels fulfillment in his life. His face is what makes the part so good, he's so happy, and I mean he's singing in snow and on a swing it's interesting scene. It's kind of nice because he was so sad, and his life was once meaningless until he learns that his purpose in life is to basically helps others. It's a scene of pure joy, a once sorrow man is now a happy man and that's why I like it.
    Reply

    • Or using your Criterion.com account.

      You are logged in to your Criterion.com account as . Log out.

  • By Devin
    March 22, 2010
    04:12 PM

    "High and Low" was just on TCM last week, so this image is currently ingrained in my head. It's a shot of the medical intern/kidnapper poking his head out of some bushes. He's got those amazing mirrored sunglasses on that make him look so menacing, and you can clearly hear a nearby radio playing a muzak version of Elvis Presley's "It's Now or Never." Apropos considering this is the moment before the police finally trap the intern and arrest him.
    Reply

    • Or using your Criterion.com account.

      You are logged in to your Criterion.com account as . Log out.

  • By Jordan Cronk
    March 22, 2010
    04:15 PM

    It's well established at this point, but I've always been floored by the shot of Lord Hidetora stumbling down the castle steps during the centerpiece battle of "Ran". This shot alone truly embodies the film's translation as "chaos"-- a precise conflation of beauty & violence rendered in one galvanizing, stand-alone image.
    Reply

    • Or using your Criterion.com account.

      You are logged in to your Criterion.com account as . Log out.

  • By James Chow
    March 22, 2010
    04:15 PM

    My favorite shot from a Kurosawa film is in Ran when Lady Kaede is executed by Kurogane. I will always remember the way my entire class flinched as the bright red blood splashed all over the white walls of the palace. That image will be burned in my memory forever.
    Reply

    • Or using your Criterion.com account.

      You are logged in to your Criterion.com account as . Log out.

  • By Matt
    March 22, 2010
    04:15 PM

    Tha shot of Mifune's face when the arrows are narrowly missing his face in Throne of Blood. One can only wonder where the line between acting and living is drawn in that part of the film. .
    Reply

    • Or using your Criterion.com account.

      You are logged in to your Criterion.com account as . Log out.

  • By Tim Edwards
    March 22, 2010
    04:16 PM

    The first scene in Throne of Blood where they encounter the spirit in the forest. The speed at which it moves, and the special effects and camera work make the spirit leap off the screen - it is the brightest thing I have ever seen in a black and white movie - and make it one of the most interesting "ghost scenes" I can remember; and also one of the few that have ever given me chills.
    Reply

    • Or using your Criterion.com account.

      You are logged in to your Criterion.com account as . Log out.

  • By Samuel Cunningham
    March 22, 2010
    04:16 PM

    I know this may be a lot of people's favorite scene, but it is mine as well. The scene in Ikiru where Takashi is sitting on the swing, in the park he helped to create. It is lightly snowing around him, and he is quietly singing. Of any Kuroawa film, this image always comes up in my mind, and the scene is always incredibly moving to me. Maybe that is why it is so popular, and well know. There is something about it that is perfect, and touches people's souls. It's is such a personal, intimate moment, and yet it's universal and something we can all share in.
    Reply

    • Or using your Criterion.com account.

      You are logged in to your Criterion.com account as . Log out.

  • By Michael Sloan
    March 22, 2010
    04:17 PM

    In Red Beard, when the wet-behind-the-ears doctor, Noboru Yasumoto, is asked to stay with an elderly patient as he succumbs to his injuries. There is no music, just the hoarse gasping for breath of the the dying man in the foreground as Yasumoto watches on in the background, his expression shifting from disgust to fascination to horror as the wheezing indignity continues. There are many scenes like this in Red Beard where the proportion of the conventional is overtaken by a realism of emotion that, like the young doctor, makes you feel confined to watch as Kurosawa lingers on what is gained and what is lost in living a life. The scene sticks because it holds on the moment a little longer than you would expect it to, until there is just the monotony of life dying, a profound image if ever there was one.
    Reply

    • Or using your Criterion.com account.

      You are logged in to your Criterion.com account as . Log out.

  • By Rafiq
    March 22, 2010
    04:17 PM

    By far the last scene in Rashomon with the baby and he thinks that the woodcutter is going to steal from the baby as well, but he really is going to take him in with his other kids. It's so devastating and emotional and just one of those... "No... way." moments. I almost held the person next to me and just wanted to keep saying sorry to them on behalf of the humanity.
    Reply

    • Or using your Criterion.com account.

      You are logged in to your Criterion.com account as . Log out.

  • By Stephen
    March 22, 2010
    04:18 PM

    Definitely has to be the burning fortress in Ran. As he slowly comes out and descend the stairs everything in that character, and everything he has become over the course of the film, can be seen in his movement and eyes. The power of this scene, though, would not be as powerful as it is had the rest of the film not been brilliant. The armies understand from this character, the effect of their actions was effective. It is overwrought and understated at the same time. It's a beautiful moment.
    Reply

    • Or using your Criterion.com account.

      You are logged in to your Criterion.com account as . Log out.

  • By Chris Gaskey
    March 22, 2010
    04:18 PM

    I love everything about every Kurosawa movie I've ever seen, but my favorite part would probably have to be the final scene in "Kagemusha". When the camera pans out to show the all of the death on the battlefield while the rivers run red with blood is beautiful filmmaking. Terrifying in its implications, but beautiful nonetheless.
    Reply

    • Or using your Criterion.com account.

      You are logged in to your Criterion.com account as . Log out.

  • By Jim
    March 22, 2010
    04:19 PM

    Washizu in "Throne of Blood" as he leaves the burning castle and is killed by his own archers.
    Reply

    • Or using your Criterion.com account.

      You are logged in to your Criterion.com account as . Log out.

  • By tyler
    March 22, 2010
    04:19 PM

    For some reason, the horseback chase scene in The Hidden Fortress is sticking in my mind. It has a lot going for it: -Toshiro Mifune on a horse -Toshiro Mifune with a gigantic sword -Toshiro Mifune on a horse with a gigantic sword with epic Wagnerian trumpets blazing away -Toshiro Mifune scaring the piss out of two hapless Japanese movie footsoldier Redshirts. This narrowly beats out the scene in Stray Dog with Toshiro Mifune staring at Harumi Namaki twirling around in the stolen dress with lightning booming in the background or Kyuzo's duel in the beginning of the Seven Samurai (hmm....that one didn't have Toshiro Mifune....curious...)
    Reply

    • Or using your Criterion.com account.

      You are logged in to your Criterion.com account as . Log out.

  • By John W Robinson
    March 22, 2010
    04:21 PM

    My Favorite: http://gnosis.enjoysthin.gs/284765
    Reply

    • Or using your Criterion.com account.

      You are logged in to your Criterion.com account as . Log out.

  • By Vincent
    March 22, 2010
    04:22 PM

    The side-by-side two shot in the beginning of Rashomon, where the WOODCUTTER and the PRIEST ponder humanity whilst staring out at the torrential downpour. "I just don't understand..." Beautiful, subtle, encapsulation of the entire film in one shot! This shot will forever be etched in my mind.
    Reply

    • Or using your Criterion.com account.

      You are logged in to your Criterion.com account as . Log out.

  • By james richardson
    March 22, 2010
    04:22 PM

    i personally like the true fight in rashomon. how toshiro mifune wins by pure luck. the way the husband just lets his whorish wife sit there. the play of light in the trees and the final death stroke
    Reply

    • Or using your Criterion.com account.

      You are logged in to your Criterion.com account as . Log out.

  • By Jared
    March 22, 2010
    04:22 PM

    It's very difficult to top the poetry of the famous swing set scene in Ikiru. To see Watanabe singing, swinging in the park he built as the snow falls around him, inevitably brings viewers to tears. It's a brilliant image: the dying man, literally in the winter of his life, sings a song about seizing the day while taking pleasure in his playground, the physical embodiment of what he was able to do once he decided to seize his remaining days and finally make something out of his life. This scene isn't only one of Kurosawa's best; it's among the most resonant and impactful scenes in all of cinema.
    Reply

    • Or using your Criterion.com account.

      You are logged in to your Criterion.com account as . Log out.

  • By bryan alexander
    March 22, 2010
    04:24 PM

    Maybe it's a little morbid, but, the shot in RAN when Kurogane slays Lady Kaede is shot in such an elegantly fluid way that you can't help but admire the display of violence.
    Reply

    • Or using your Criterion.com account.

      You are logged in to your Criterion.com account as . Log out.

  • By Lara Amrod
    March 22, 2010
    04:26 PM

    The duel that introduces 'the silent swordsman,' Kyūzō. It is a great example of a director's ability to observe point of view.
    Reply

    • Or using your Criterion.com account.

      You are logged in to your Criterion.com account as . Log out.

  • By Drew Johnson
    March 22, 2010
    04:26 PM

    The end of the final rain-soaked battle in Seven Samurai. The way Kikuchiyo/Mifune lies sprawled out across the walkway, legs and ass unceremoniously toward the viewer...is the culmination of a series of sharp and sudden shifts from triumph to confusion to anger to sacrifice to satisfaction to emptiness. Just past this image the screaming Katsushiro communicates how--despite the fact that Kurosawa has brought us pell-mell through a four hour ride--we're still left at the end with rage that has no outlet, relief that is no relief. Pauline Kael remarked upon the film's somewhat subsequent unsatisfying final lines/scene ("the farmers win"). I don't agree--but I will say that it is with the image of the dead Kikuchiyo and the screaming Katsushiro that the film really concludes. For all Kurosawa's masterfully orchestrated motion has led only to this...the sprawled Kikuchiyo...like a photographed Goya...how terrible that this vibrant human being (character AND actor) has been rendered inert, only the rain moving in the dirt on his bare legs. By the way: I already own the Criterion Seven Samurai, but I wanted to share this just the same.
    Reply

    • Or using your Criterion.com account.

      You are logged in to your Criterion.com account as . Log out.

  • By Jason Forbes
    March 22, 2010
    04:26 PM

    The wedding scene in "The Bad Sleep Well" when the second wedding cake is rolled in. The look that Iwabuchi gives as the model building, with rose marking the point of an orchestrated suicide, passes behind him is brilliant.
    Reply

    • Or using your Criterion.com account.

      You are logged in to your Criterion.com account as . Log out.

  • By Nathan Collins
    March 22, 2010
    04:27 PM

    I can't quite decide, so I'll pick two even if that disqualifies me. First, the fox wedding procession as viewed by young 'I' in the first of Kurosawa's Dreams, Sunshine Through the Rain. The light is perfect as is the foggy forest setting and the view through the trees --- reminiscent of Rashomon, actually, conveying the mystery and reality and unreality of the situation. The colorful, magnificent dance of the foxes tops it off. It's beautiful and mysterious and amazing and perfect. Second, the scene in High and Low when the detectives are pursuing the drugs lead in the seedier part of town. Again, the noir lighting, the mise en scene with all the people laying around high and out of it, the angles that convey confusion and a darkness of mind and spirit --- just amazing, and I think the most vivid example of Kurosawa doing noir that I've seen. A sight to behold, and for me the highlight of the movie.
    Reply

    • Or using your Criterion.com account.

      You are logged in to your Criterion.com account as . Log out.

  • By Mark H
    March 22, 2010
    04:27 PM

    The beginning of Rashomon, when the rain is failing on the building ruins. For some reason that imagery sticks in my mind when thinking about the film.
    Reply

    • Or using your Criterion.com account.

      You are logged in to your Criterion.com account as . Log out.

  • By KAAN ARICI
    March 22, 2010
    04:28 PM

    I like the beginning of The Hidden Fortress. The opening shot with the characters Tahei and Matakishi seen from the back as they are walking and talking.
    Reply

    • Or using your Criterion.com account.

      You are logged in to your Criterion.com account as . Log out.

  • By Mudassir
    March 22, 2010
    04:28 PM

    The opening shot of Rashomon, of the gate. It conveyed the whole sense of the movie to me. I can't explain it further.
    Reply

    • Or using your Criterion.com account.

      You are logged in to your Criterion.com account as . Log out.

  • By Jim Tudor
    March 22, 2010
    04:28 PM

    Toshiro Mifune walking, badass style, at the beginning of "Yojimbo", with the music playing - cool as can be. I have to wonder just how much this depiction of attitude and danger influenced Clint Eastwood not only in the Leone version of the film, "A Fistful of Dollars", but for his entire acting career. But even without that aspect, Mifune in "Yojimbo" is iconic.
    Reply

    • Or using your Criterion.com account.

      You are logged in to your Criterion.com account as . Log out.

  • By Scott Morse
    March 22, 2010
    04:30 PM

    It's schmalzy, it's frowned upon, but it sticks with me: When Masako, the lovely lady of ONE WONDERFUL SUNDAY, looks to the audience, breaks the fourth wall, and begs for our participation in a hopeful twist, asking us to clap. It's something that would never happen today in film, something audacious, something that involves the audience with direct eye contact and conviction to play along in our hearts.
    Reply

    • Or using your Criterion.com account.

      You are logged in to your Criterion.com account as . Log out.

  • By Jason
    March 22, 2010
    04:32 PM

    In Throne of Blood when Washizu and Miki come across the witch in the woods has to be my favorite Kurosawa scene. Kurosawa bordered on the horror genre here; the image of that witch still gives me the occasional nightmare. Everything about this scene added to the creepiness and mystery behind the witch. The glow, the condensed fog, and the cage that the witch is stuck in, and don't forget that song! This scene (along with segments in Dreams) made me wish Kurosawa would've done some straight horror in his time.
    Reply

    • Or using your Criterion.com account.

      You are logged in to your Criterion.com account as . Log out.

  • By Alex
    March 22, 2010
    04:32 PM

    The final moment of Kagemusha, when Shingen Takeda collapses to his death. This anonymous end, consummated in a river of blood and surrounded by a horde of fellow peasants turned warriors completes the picture full circle.
    Reply

    • Or using your Criterion.com account.

      You are logged in to your Criterion.com account as . Log out.

  • By Mark Kawakami
    March 22, 2010
    04:32 PM

    There is a shot in Seven Samurai that is not only my favorite shot from any Kurosawa movie, it's my favorite shot from any movie ever. It happens at the end of the "assembling the team" section: A drunken Kikuchiyo has just arrived, and tries to prove his Samurai lineage by pointing to a name in a family scroll. Kambei points out that if he were the person he's claiming to be, he'd have to be thirteen years old, and then asks him where he stole the scroll from. Then it happens. The shot. Kikuchiyo, suddenly and angrily grabs for his sword. Kyuzo, a half second faster, smoothly snatches it away before Kikuchiyo can grab it. He holds it out for Katsushiro to take, who is too shocked and dumbfounded to realize he's being asked to do something. Kyuzo shakes the sword as if to say "grab it, quick!" Finally, Katsushiro grabs it and runs off. That whole section lasts, beginning to end, four seconds. In those four seconds, in one single shot, the essential nature of three characters are revealed. Kikuchiyo: impulsive and tempermental. Kyuzo: experienced, skilled and cool under pressure. Katsushiro: inexperienced and hesitant. Three characters defined in four seconds without so much as a word of dialogue, a single cut or even a close-up. To me, this shot represents everything Kurosawa could do that few other directors have even attempted.
    Reply

    • Or using your Criterion.com account.

      You are logged in to your Criterion.com account as . Log out.

  • By YiFeng You
    March 22, 2010
    04:35 PM

    That's easy: http://www.seraphicpress.com/images/seven61.jpg ^when Kikuchiyo (Mifune) realized that the baby just rescued from the burning mill is just like him, an orphan, is very emotional! it's pretty much the only scene where the main character directly recalls his past through dialogue, but it packs a wallop! the contrast of fiery mill in the back symbolizing memory and churning past (wheel of time?) being consumed reflected in the river is absolutely spectacular. the water is life, streaming, moving forward. the past is being cleansed, the fire of painful memories being put out. it is also a turning point in the film, where Kikuchiyo becomes a 'true samurai' by wanting to sacrifice himself (possibly a former farmer) for the village. this is the point of the film where he moves from just being an observer/passerbyer to one who is fully invested in embracing the village community as his family (kazoku), and also becoming (finally) a true samurai (hiragana). this imagery is where Akira Kurosawa sold me on the fact that he is truly the greatest film director of all time.
    Reply

    • Or using your Criterion.com account.

      You are logged in to your Criterion.com account as . Log out.

  • By Jay F.
    March 22, 2010
    04:35 PM

    The final shot in Ran—Tsurumaru standing alone above the ruins, having lost everything. Tragic and unforgettable.
    Reply

    • Or using your Criterion.com account.

      You are logged in to your Criterion.com account as . Log out.

  • By Narukami
    March 22, 2010
    04:35 PM

    So many great shots and scenes. In Seven Samurai, when Gorobei first approaches the doorway in answer to the farmer's request for help. He stops suddenly, smiles and says, "No tricks please." Instantly we know that despite his friendly and relaxed demeanor he is a samurai to be reckoned with. Or in Ran, with Lady Kaede attacks her brother, cutting his neck and then licking the wound. The sudden violence, the white of her kimono and the red of the blood, her total command and his utter helplessness establishes her character beyond doubt or question. However... For me the most striking scene out of so many is the attack on Lord Hidetora's castle in Ran. Kurosawa uses every aspect to perfect effect -- music alone, without the sounds of battle or dialog, helps us focus on the visuals, and what astounding visuals they are. The brightly colored armor and uniforms of the samurai moving against the dark volcanic earth background, the guards being run over by the attacking cavalry, the suicide of the women, all work together to convey the overwhelming sense of helplessness, of despair, of Chaos. It is the scene that defines the movie.
    Reply

    • Or using your Criterion.com account.

      You are logged in to your Criterion.com account as . Log out.

  • By James Mulligan
    March 22, 2010
    04:39 PM

    As I just watched Hidden Fortress, my head is filled mostly with bits of how that got re-enacted in the Star Wars trilogy, such as how Lucas copped the beginning scene in having the samurai/Leia's ship enter the frame from the front, immediately chased by the more imposing enemy force, or Rokurota and Hyoe's duel (which was much more impressive than Obi-wan and Vader's), but there was one particular shot which struck me the most - Matakishi and Tahei climb out of the ditch they've been digging at the fortress, wondering where Rokurota's gone, how me must be plotting to keep the girl and/or gold all for himself, and walk along the opposite edges of it towards the camera, which moves back, filming them from below in the ditch, and keeping them at opposite edges of the frame. I could comment on how it's symbolic or something, like how their greed is alienating them and forcing a literal rift of distrust between them despite the lip service that they're on the same side, but fact of the matter is I just really like the angle and the composition of the frame. Adding in the fact that these two are possibly some of the funniest characters in a Kurosawa film doesn't hurt either.
    Reply

    • Or using your Criterion.com account.

      You are logged in to your Criterion.com account as . Log out.

  • By Derek Harvey
    March 22, 2010
    04:40 PM

    The scene from 'Yojimbo' where Mifune is sitting on high while two gangs feel each other out. It's hilarious.
    Reply

    • Or using your Criterion.com account.

      You are logged in to your Criterion.com account as . Log out.

  • By Eric Rice
    March 22, 2010
    04:40 PM

    Of all of the Kurosawa films I have sought out and seen over the years, I am still always haunted upon each re-viewing of one particular scene in The Bad Sleep Well. It is the scene near the end as it is revealed that Nishi has been killed. Iwabushi's daughter and her brother arrive on scene only to find Nishi's best friend / accomplice who passionately yet helplessly retells of what more than likely occurred. Although other of his films I may hold dearer overall, I am completely mentally and emotionally "stopped" (I can't quite find the right word) by the anger, sadness and utter futility that Nishi's friend feels and conveys in that scene. The simplicity of the camerawork, the almost complete silence of everything but his monologue... The feeling of being completely drained hangs with me long after the film is over.
    Reply

    • Or using your Criterion.com account.

      You are logged in to your Criterion.com account as . Log out.

  • By Allan Maurer
    March 22, 2010
    04:43 PM

    I love the scene in Dodes Ka'den where the father, having lost his son, looks off and sees the imaginary home he and his now dead son often envisioned together. Dreams save us from all disasters and movies are dreams.
    Reply

    • Or using your Criterion.com account.

      You are logged in to your Criterion.com account as . Log out.

  • By Bruce Strong
    March 22, 2010
    04:47 PM

    In 7 4amouri when they discoverthe document for he farmer is a girl's name.
    Reply

    • Or using your Criterion.com account.

      You are logged in to your Criterion.com account as . Log out.

  • By Chris Pomeroy
    March 22, 2010
    04:48 PM

    I've got to go with a moment from Ikiru. The shot of Watanbe in the park, mentioned several times above, is certainly lovely. But what chills me to the bone every time I think of the film is the final frame in the sequence that finds Watanbe crying himself to sleep under his blankets. The camera simply pans up to a framed commendation Watanbe has received for his 25 years of service as a government worker. This certificate is what Watanbe has to show for his life, a life now near oblivion, a life that is loveless and friendless. The film's central theme is captured in this one shot: the juxtaposition of the dying man, who now realizes the end is near, with the summation of his accomplishments, which seem completely absurd in the face of his stomach cancer. It is one of the few shots in cinema that actually makes me want to live a fuller, more vibrant life.
    Reply

    • Or using your Criterion.com account.

      You are logged in to your Criterion.com account as . Log out.

  • By Gus Sanchez
    March 22, 2010
    04:50 PM

    My favorite Kurosawa scene is from Seven Samurai, the scene in which Kyuzo cuts down the swordsman who challenged him to a duel. I love how Kurosawa used slow-motion, and removed all sound but the sound of a mortally wounded body collapsing to the ground, to emphasize both Kyuzo's masterful skill as a swordsman and the shock of watching him, with one slash, cut someone to their death.
    Reply

    • Or using your Criterion.com account.

      You are logged in to your Criterion.com account as . Log out.

  • By Jessica Schneider
    March 22, 2010
    04:52 PM

    That scene in High and Low when they are on the train, intending to pay off the kidnapper and then they spot him as some tiny spec upon one of the hills. It gives a good image because here you have this tiny fleck of person with all this power over this rich man as he demands for his ransom. It adds an extra element to the title (high class and low class) and also the rich man who lives at the top floor of his building, looking down at all the "little people" from down below.
    Reply

    • Or using your Criterion.com account.

      You are logged in to your Criterion.com account as . Log out.

  • By Nick Bruno
    March 22, 2010
    04:52 PM

    The feverish rush on horseback through Cobweb Forest as Kurosawa's camera tracks Washizu and Miki in THRONE OF BLOOD, just before they arrive at the old ghost woman's lair.
    Reply

    • Or using your Criterion.com account.

      You are logged in to your Criterion.com account as . Log out.

  • By Ruben Nuno-Ortiz
    March 22, 2010
    04:53 PM

    I am unmistakingly in love with Washizu's death scene in "Throne of Blood". There has never been someone so deserving of that death, but to pain and fear in his eyes makes you pity the man. Its a beautifully shot, yet horrific scene to watch and is undeniably my favorite.
    Reply

    • Or using your Criterion.com account.

      You are logged in to your Criterion.com account as . Log out.

  • By Brian Rose
    March 22, 2010
    04:54 PM

    For me, it has to be the climax of "Ran" (spoilers ahead). Tango and Kyoami regard the bodies of Saburo and his father Lord Ichimanji. Reunited and reconciled only moments before, one has been shot by a sniper, while the other is dead from what is probably a heart attack, but really, despair. Kyoami, the Lord's jester, who had mocked him throughout the film, reveals his true nature, and cries for his dead master. His sorrow turns to anger and he ruefully asks of the Gods the same question Job asked, and a billion nameless others: "Why?" Why do the gods take pleasure in the suffering of man? Why do they allow such sorrow? Tango, loyal to his Lord from the beginning, rebuffs Kyoami with one of the most stirring monologues in cinema: "It is the gods who weep. They see us killing each other over and over since time began. They can't save us from ourselves. Don't cry, it is how the world was made. Men prefer sorrow over joy, suffering over peace." In the hands of most directors, such words would be didactic. But from Kurosawa, they are right and deserved and reflect the growth and maturation of a great artist, who had made his career by reveling in such violence, and had done more than anyone to codify the action language with his use of slow motion, his sense of composition, his blocking of action within the frame. These words reflect the state of a man whose prime was arguably behind him, whose own despair had led him to nearly take his life (and almost deprived the world of at least three more masterpieces), and who now coped with arguably the greatest misfortune than can befall a filmmaker: the loss of his sight. That final scene, those closing words, express great wisdom, a profound realization that can only be earned through longevity and suffering. It is a scene I don't think Akira Kurosawa could have shot in 1950 or 1965. It had to be made by a man faced with his looming mortality, who was now able to look back at his career, and wonder what it was all for. And so, the final scene of "Ran" not only represents the climax of (in my opinion) his greatest film, but also the climactic statement of the life of one of cinema's greatest directors.
    Reply

    • Or using your Criterion.com account.

      You are logged in to your Criterion.com account as . Log out.

  • By Mark Pil
    March 22, 2010
    04:59 PM

    Definitely the final scene in Ran. Blind Tsurumaru standing alone at the edge of a cliff is one of the most memorable scenes ever put to film. Total despair in a single image.
    Reply

    • Or using your Criterion.com account.

      You are logged in to your Criterion.com account as . Log out.

  • By Sean Naito
    March 22, 2010
    05:01 PM

    The pink smoke in High and Low. I had no idea this was even possible at the time (putting a splash of color in a black and white film) though in the same year Suzuki had done it in Youth of the beast. It's mind blowing and it's a perfect example of a technical and artistic flourish that directly contributes to the urgency and importance of solving the crime and capturing the moods and emotions of the characters.
    Reply

    • Or using your Criterion.com account.

      You are logged in to your Criterion.com account as . Log out.

  • By Scott
    March 22, 2010
    05:03 PM

    From the weeping women at Watanabe's wake to the beautifully picturesque meeting of Vincent Van Gogh inside his haystacks painting, there are so many fantastic scenes in the works of Kurosawa that it is hard to decide on just one. \ However, if I were to choose only one, I would pick the deaths of Kyuzo and Kikuchiyo in Seven Samurai. The scene itself, while beautifully completed, is somewhat hectic compared with the normally controlled framing that Kurosawa uses throughout the film, but the scene itself represents very well several key themes of the film. The most important of these is the blurring of the castes. Kyuzo, the quintessential samurai and perhaps the most prestigious of the seven, is killed and brought low by the shotgun, while Kikuchiyo, the lowest class of the seven, reverses his role and dies honorably avenging his friend's death and bringing the whole battle to an end himself. It is a perfect portrayal that one's station in life is mutable: nobility can easily be diminished and the ignoble often elevate to meet their goals and circumstances.
    Reply

    • Or using your Criterion.com account.

      You are logged in to your Criterion.com account as . Log out.

  • By Ryan Doyle
    March 22, 2010
    05:04 PM

    During the first couple of scenes in Ikiru. While the main character is siting in the waiting room at the doctor's office, and then a stranger comes up to talk to him. As this stranger talks to him he brings up the symptoms of stomach cancer, and you stare at the face of Takashi Shimura, and then just by his subtle acting alone you know he is experiencing all those symptoms. The true beauty in that scene is because here we are, we barely know this character, and yet we can identify with this man, we see his sadness, as he realizes that his life (or lack there of) is going to end pretty soon. I believe we all might some moments in our lives where we feel we haven't experienced life to it's fullest amount, and that's why we can identify with this man.
    Reply

    • Or using your Criterion.com account.

      You are logged in to your Criterion.com account as . Log out.

  • By Martin
    March 22, 2010
    05:10 PM

    For me it's definitely the iconic final moments of Kanji's life in Ikiru as he sits on the swing, snow falling around him, surveying his final accomplishment. It's a very bittersweet moment to me. He ends his life watching over his greatest achievment, something he selfessly gave his community. To me, Kurosawa is illustrating that no one will be with you at your ultimate moment. Kanji witnesses his proudest moment in his own company, amongst the solace of snow flakes. It's a lonely realization but one that takes courage in being comfortable with who you are in this world and what you want to leave behind.
    Reply

    • Or using your Criterion.com account.

      You are logged in to your Criterion.com account as . Log out.

  • By Bob Buss
    March 22, 2010
    05:30 PM

    Being a teacher, I must go with Madadayo, when Hyakken Uchida finally moves back into a rebuilt home with destruction all around. It shows the example driven stillness and determination which leads to (re-)building community and forges those lifelong relationships which find students returning to the teacher over and over. I can only hope that students of mine will have the same respect in the long run. Many do from my first few years teaching in the last century. After seeing this the first time about 8 years ago, I started going out for sushi on my birthday, with brave fellow faculty members, not students (yet). I will wait a few more years before "Mahda-kai?" is asked and responded to with "Madadayo!" I do, however drink beer on the occasion with thoughts on the movie and hope someday to be able to follow the call and response. And it is such a great and reflective end to a great film maker's career; many other Kurasawa films are epic, iconic, masterful and even surreal as is Dreams, but my personal connection to Madadayo makes it the choice for me..
    Reply

    • Or using your Criterion.com account.

      You are logged in to your Criterion.com account as . Log out.

  • By Tom Helberg
    March 22, 2010
    05:35 PM

    The the silent swordsman duel in Kyūzō. It's a masterful example of POV.
    Reply

    • Or using your Criterion.com account.

      You are logged in to your Criterion.com account as . Log out.

  • By Brian R
    March 22, 2010
    05:37 PM

    In The Hidden Fortress when the two fools Tahei and Mataschici meet each other on the stair way during the riot. The constant flow of people running down the stairs is a sight to behold; one is amazed by the amount of extras and the danger presented in the scene. The wide shot makes the scene an image of Hell. Its also a scene of humor as Tahei and Mataschici meet again and pull each other out of harms way to cower together.
    Reply

    • Or using your Criterion.com account.

      You are logged in to your Criterion.com account as . Log out.

  • By Chalkie
    March 22, 2010
    05:37 PM

    I love the scene in Yojimbo when he rescues the woman from her kidnappers and trashes their hideout. The manic energy with which it is shot and executed is unmatched in any other scene in the film and it also features some killer swordplay (literally) by Sanjuro. I always feel out of breath after that scene.
    Reply

    • Or using your Criterion.com account.

      You are logged in to your Criterion.com account as . Log out.

  • By Ryan Estabrooks
    March 22, 2010
    05:40 PM

    My favorite shot would definitely have to be from "Ran" when Hidetora's castle is taken over and burned to the ground. The long shot where Hidetora walks down the stairs and the sky is engulfed in smoke emanating from the flames that is destroying his life's work is simply breathtaking and on an incredibly epic scale. What makes this scene so poignant is the timing of this in Kurosawa's career. He was nearing the end of his life and he knew this. It was often mentioned that Kurosawa related to the Hidetora character very well and was a symbol for himself. The whole scene comes across as a metaphor for Kurosawa's career (Hidetora's empire) that he had built, and that if he gives way to the young, new generation of filmmakers (like Hidetora did with his sons), they may destroy it and burn it all to the ground. At age 75, it showed that he was still a master of the cinema and that no matter how many new faces come along, he will still be the emperor after the smoke clears and the flames have died down.
    Reply

    • Or using your Criterion.com account.

      You are logged in to your Criterion.com account as . Log out.

  • By Trey Smith
    March 22, 2010
    05:41 PM

    I think my favorite scene would be when we are first introduced the the kidnapper in High and Low. The camera follows him from the streets of a tight and filthy slum into his cramped, hot apartment. He looks out his window and we see his view of Gondo's house, which looks like a modern castle perched up on a high hill, looking down on the rest of the world. Though we understand the horror of the crime, that simple scene makes us understand why he committed it. Kurosawa shows us, with just a few minutes of footage and no dialogue, the motivation of a criminal and makes us empathize with him. Great stuff and evidence of his mastery of the visual form.
    Reply

    • Or using your Criterion.com account.

      You are logged in to your Criterion.com account as . Log out.

  • By NIck Hartel
    March 22, 2010
    05:43 PM

    The wedding procession emerging from the mist in the forest from "Dreams." A visually stunning shot that helps capture the tranquility and wonder of the larger sequence.
    Reply

    • Or using your Criterion.com account.

      You are logged in to your Criterion.com account as . Log out.

  • By CHARLES DECKERT
    March 22, 2010
    05:49 PM

    The final shot of High and Low, where Kingo and the kidnapper are finally face to face, Heaven and Hell coming to terms with each other. The kidnapper's resistance in having to experience, let alone giving in to, any sympathy Kingo could demonstrate towards him and his staunch wretchedness is in relation to his "being in Hell" whilst looking - perhaps like a latter day Tantalus - at Kingo's house on the hill. We see his miserable core without the awe and safety of his anonymity. This scene is what the whole film boils down to; a poor hospital intern carries out a genius crime with some minor flaws which lead to his capture and imprisonment, how he did it and how it lead to his capture, and most of all why, which the film doesn't go to the unnecessary excess of explaining with the dramatic elaboration we're spoon fed nowadays. Kurosawa gives us the allowance to feel and relate to this kidnapper rather than force us to study him clinically or listen to literal explanations for his crime. And it is in this scene is where I realized what the film is really about, or rather who it is really about. Aside from Kingo's dilemma and the expert police procedural, this film is centered on the criminal and the Hell he shares with those he afflicts. When we first see him for the first time earlier on, we manage to gather he is a cool, calculating man who knows how to assume control, until the first signs of strain begin to wear away his well laid plan. His suicide attempt is rather reactionary and goes to show he's not some stock villain traditional to crime stories of this sort. He's human and at a loss for his prior sense of omnipotence against Kingo, he's willing to die than to have to face up to his failure at the only action that held any meaning in his life. Now a caged animal, he falls even further than the low he laid within. The crumbling of a man already in dereliction.
    Reply

    • Or using your Criterion.com account.

      You are logged in to your Criterion.com account as . Log out.

  • By Jared M.
    March 22, 2010
    05:51 PM

    A rather iconic image, I do love the shot of the Rashomon Gate in the pouring rain throughout the duration of Rashomon. Given the nature and themes of the film itself, with the contrasting stories and conflicting moral stances, the image properly conveys the clouds of doubt and stirred judgement. Appropriately enough, as the film draws to its climax, the rain subsides and the clouds are cleared for the time being, as is the character of the priest in his faith in humanity. All in all, the main reason I absolutely love the image of the gate itself is because it helps to address the main themes and moods of the stories through something so simple as a change in weather. It takes a lot to convey so much with so little, so when executed properly as such, is a splendor to admire.
    Reply

    • Or using your Criterion.com account.

      You are logged in to your Criterion.com account as . Log out.

  • By Woody
    March 22, 2010
    05:52 PM

    My favorite image is probably one of the most recognizable ones in Kurosawa's canon. The power of the image, however, cannot be denied. It is a shot from Ran of Hidetora (Tatsuya Nakadai) walking as if in a horrific and painful trance down the steps of the castle as it burns behind him. He walks through the troops in a haze of fog and blood. That single shot encapsulates the entire film, by what greed has wrought. That Hidetora is able to go on and pick wild flowers amidst the chaos is a testament to the power of the human spirit and its ability to find beauty even among the horror that man is able to create. Every time I see that shot, I find myself holding my breath without even realizing it.
    Reply

    • Or using your Criterion.com account.

      You are logged in to your Criterion.com account as . Log out.

  • By Charles Roa
    March 22, 2010
    05:54 PM

    Charles Roa My favorite scene would have to be from Ran. In which the third castle is under attack by Taro and Jiro. What makes it great is that the first half of the attack is shown in silent mode with a musical piece that embodies the scene perfectly. It is then suddenly cut just as soon as Taro is shot and assassinated. And then you can hear the sounds of the battle. It is one of the greatest battle scene, and movie, that I have ever seen.
    Reply

    • Or using your Criterion.com account.

      You are logged in to your Criterion.com account as . Log out.

  • By Mark Hendrix
    March 22, 2010
    05:54 PM

    Watanabe swinging in the park as the snowf alls in Ikiru is one of the most perfect images ever filmed.
    Reply

    • Or using your Criterion.com account.

      You are logged in to your Criterion.com account as . Log out.

  • By Justin T
    March 22, 2010
    05:54 PM

    From Dreams, the scene where Van Gogh is found in a wide open field, painting. Setting aside the fact that this entire scene is one of the best in the film, the very idea of the scene is what i love. Vincent Van Gogh, standing in a wheat field, painting what seems to be such a mundane, dull, drab image, compared to all the vibrant, exciting shots we saw as the young painter approached him in the shots preceding. The idea behind this is explored overtly as Van Gogh discusses beauty with the young painter. But what is really interesting is how this initial idea works within the context of the theme of the film: dreams Van Gogh is the dreamer, and can essentially explore any realm imaginable. However, he chooses to focus on the simple, unspectacular wheat field. The message that comes from this scene is that dreams can look into the surface beauty of anything imaginable, but the real beauty of dreams is that they can allow you to unlock the magnificence of the everyday world.
    Reply

    • Or using your Criterion.com account.

      You are logged in to your Criterion.com account as . Log out.

  • By KXB
    March 22, 2010
    05:57 PM

    The shot of the androgynous ghost in the forest in throne of blood. Creepy as hell.
    Reply

    • Or using your Criterion.com account.

      You are logged in to your Criterion.com account as . Log out.

  • By Steven Venn
    March 22, 2010
    05:59 PM

    For me the most memorable image is of the 4 katanas stuck into the mounds with the three remaining samurai looking on at the conclusion of Seven Samurai. This shot is commemorates the lost members of the group in a simple and beautifully poetic way with great reverence and a peacefulness.
    Reply

    • Or using your Criterion.com account.

      You are logged in to your Criterion.com account as . Log out.

  • By Bret Bynum
    March 22, 2010
    06:09 PM

    The scene in Seven Samurai when Kikuchiyo takes the Flag that represents all of them and what their objective is which is to protect the village together. All the others are in the graveyard mourning one of their deaths but Kikuchiyo climbs on top of one of a village house and sticks up the flag. I love this scene because Kikuchiyo is trying to make the others see that theyre not done yet and the spirit will still be alive no matter who dies.
    Reply

    • Or using your Criterion.com account.

      You are logged in to your Criterion.com account as . Log out.

  • By Gordon Miller
    March 22, 2010
    06:16 PM

    The burning temple in Ran is a massive spectacle. Obviously not computer generated.
    Reply

    • Or using your Criterion.com account.

      You are logged in to your Criterion.com account as . Log out.

  • By David Hundley
    March 22, 2010
    06:20 PM

    Although one could make a very long list of the beautiful and moving imagery found in Kurosawa's films, the images which immediately came to mind in response to today's prompt are from Rashomon, but as edited and reinterpreted by the beautiful experimental 2003 short film Papillon d'amour (Butterfly of Love). Apparently the film screened at the 2004 Sundance film festival, but I'm pretty sure I saw it at ResFest in Chicago, maybe the following year. The film consists of several of the close-ups from the testimonial scenes in Rashomon, but edited with a mirror effect (that is, so that the left half of the frame is mirrored onto the right). The movement within the original scenes, especially the wind-blown garments of the woman, are stunningly beautiful when seen through this mirrored image, and inspire the "butterfly" of the title. This three minute composition allowed me to revisit those same scenes in the original film with new eyes, soaking in the beauty of their composition, lighting and movement as if some secret had been revealed to me. That experience wasn't the first or the last revelation of my love for both Kurosawa or the art of cinematography, but I suspect it will likely always be one of the strongest.
    Reply

    • Or using your Criterion.com account.

      You are logged in to your Criterion.com account as . Log out.

  • By Henry Colin
    March 22, 2010
    06:24 PM

    The shot that stook out for me was a shot in Yojimbo. Its the shot in the restaurant, when the man who lost his wife is in the center of the frame and very close to the camera, the old man is a little further off sitting to the right of the man who lost his wife and then Sanjuro is in the background, drinking his sake, to the left of the man. They are all in frame, and all in focus. The moment I saw that shot, I had to say it aloud, that it was a beautiful shot. Not for scenery, but the positions of the actors, and all the directions they face. This shot is a sign of a truly amazing director, where you can take something seemingly boring on paper, and turn it into one of the most ineterestingly put toghether shots in a film.
    Reply

    • Or using your Criterion.com account.

      You are logged in to your Criterion.com account as . Log out.

  • By Kam
    March 22, 2010
    06:42 PM

    There are too many wonderful shots, images and scenes. To choose one would be a slight to the others. Just scrolling down to post my contest entry allowed me to read the long list that dozens of other people have contributed already. Nearly all of these scenes mentioned are among my favorites as well. I'll put one in that I haven't seen on here yet and that is the final chase scene in Stray Dog. I'm not going to spoil it for others who may not have seen it, but it is one of my favorite endings in Kurosawa's films. .
    Reply

    • Or using your Criterion.com account.

      You are logged in to your Criterion.com account as . Log out.

  • By Danny Crocker
    March 22, 2010
    06:43 PM

    The first Kurosawa-color footage, the opening of Dodes'kaden following the lovingly-photographed trolleys of the opening credits, featuring the smiling face of Yoshitaka Zushi watching the trains arrive and depart, then tracking through his wonderful shrine of colorful pictures of the trains - breathtaking, simple and masterful.
    Reply

    • Or using your Criterion.com account.

      You are logged in to your Criterion.com account as . Log out.

  • By Galen
    March 22, 2010
    06:59 PM

    My favorite sequence is the conclusion of Throne of Blood where Washizu is frantically running back and forth on the balcony as the arrows are shot at him. I love how it starts slowly, as a single arrow, then a few more, and finally a barrage. Mifune's performance here is one of his best; a tyrant desperate to avoid his punishment, and who only now realizes his mistakes.
    Reply

    • Or using your Criterion.com account.

      You are logged in to your Criterion.com account as . Log out.

  • By Jason O'Brien
    March 22, 2010
    07:02 PM

    One of my many favorites is the look of despise on "the man's" face in Rashomon during the womens story. His silent staring.
    Reply

    • Or using your Criterion.com account.

      You are logged in to your Criterion.com account as . Log out.

  • By Sara
    March 22, 2010
    07:03 PM

    Near the end of "Ikiru," Kanji Watanabe is sitting on the swing in the new park. He sits on the swing with the snow falling around him, he starts singing, and his eyes -- which through the whole movie have been so sad -- shine. This scene is the last image we have of him before his death, and he seems to have found some degree of peace, but we notice also that he is completely alone as he prepares for death. Something about the mixture of hope and content mixed with sadness and loneliness that comes through in this scene is so beautiful.
    Reply

    • Or using your Criterion.com account.

      You are logged in to your Criterion.com account as . Log out.

  • By Jeff
    March 22, 2010
    07:08 PM

    The end of Kagemusha where he tries to grab the Takeda flag as he floats down the river.
    Reply

    • Or using your Criterion.com account.

      You are logged in to your Criterion.com account as . Log out.

  • By Dan
    March 22, 2010
    07:12 PM

    It has to be the iconic shot of Watanabe on the swing softly singing the lullaby as quietly his eases his way out of this life. It is sad, soulful, and melancholy; yet it is matched by a hint of contentment, fulfilment even. Sublime on so many levels.
    Reply

    • Or using your Criterion.com account.

      You are logged in to your Criterion.com account as . Log out.

  • By Dan Jardine
    March 22, 2010
    07:13 PM

    Oops....that should have read, "as he quietly eases his way out of this life." My bad...
    Reply

    • Or using your Criterion.com account.

      You are logged in to your Criterion.com account as . Log out.

  • By C Tyler Belile
    March 22, 2010
    07:15 PM

    The shots and compositions of Takashi Shimura and Toshiro Mifune on top of the building in which the sky is the most prominent on screen. Excellent stuff.
    Reply

    • Or using your Criterion.com account.

      You are logged in to your Criterion.com account as . Log out.

  • By Brian
    March 22, 2010
    07:17 PM

    There is one scene in Ikiru that literally made me gasp when I first saw it. At an upstairs part of a restaurant, Watanabe has just eaten with Toyo, his younger employee, for the last time, as she has grown weary and understandably uncomfortable with his pursuit of her. On the other side of the restaurant, a surprise party sits in wait for their honored guest. After desperately seeking to discover her secret for living, Watanabe is struck with the idea that his life could have meaning as Toyo's does if only lived for something useful...something to be made. This revelation sparks his long-dormant will to live. Immediately, he leaves and sets off to begin this new life. As he heads downstairs, the birthday party quickly rushes around the balcony and in unison begins to the "happy birthday" song towards the arriving birthday girl. But the song and revelry belong to Watanabe, who gets another final chance at life. A rebirth. And as he descends back to earth, a throng of angels stand over him, heralding his new found purpose.
    Reply

    • Or using your Criterion.com account.

      You are logged in to your Criterion.com account as . Log out.

  • By David Linke
    March 22, 2010
    07:19 PM

    The final image of Seven Samurai is so powerful because it shows the cost of war not only to the characters we are following but everyone associated with war. The generalized statement will never let the movie become less than relevant or out dated. Humankind will always feel the sadness of that final image.
    Reply

    • Or using your Criterion.com account.

      You are logged in to your Criterion.com account as . Log out.

  • By Ben Middleton
    March 22, 2010
    07:27 PM

    It'll probably be a common one, but I can't get enough of the final scene of Throne of Blood. As the arrows fly around Toshiro he gets crazier and crazier with desperation, but the arrows keep coming. The arrows impact with such realism around him it adds a sense of true danger heightening the scene. I wonder how that was shot., maybe they had the dozen best archers in the world.
    Reply

    • Or using your Criterion.com account.

      You are logged in to your Criterion.com account as . Log out.

  • By Ezra Littlewood
    March 22, 2010
    07:39 PM

    The extended take of the confrontation between the two opposing sides in Yojimbo, where the two sides trade off charging as the other retreats, which symbolized for me the futility of their conflict, and of war in general, is one of my favorites that i've seen so far.
    Reply

    • Or using your Criterion.com account.

      You are logged in to your Criterion.com account as . Log out.

  • By Calpurnius
    March 22, 2010
    07:49 PM

    The rain in Rashomon.
    Reply

    • Or using your Criterion.com account.

      You are logged in to your Criterion.com account as . Log out.

  • By Charlie Cockey
    March 22, 2010
    07:49 PM

    I have two favorites, though perhaps neither qualifies as *an* image or *a* scene: For me, the entire first hour of HIGH AND LOW is the finest sustained use of widescreen camera in an enclosed space that I know. Every element is perfect: composition is repeatedly not only stunning but incredibly communicative, from the use of diagonals, etc to focus your attention (such as all the policemen riveted on the telephone) and the use of discreet space to highlight relationships (Mifune and the chauffeur almost never occupy the same space; even the backgrounds differ), to the choice of cutting and camera angles and movement is nonpareil. I have watched this hour of film more than almost any other I know (even when all I had was the reprehensible Mei Ah edition, call me obsessed). Throughout, the camera itself is a fly on the wall, always seeing and showing us just the right thing. SImilarly, the camera choreography in the banquet scene in MADADAYO qualifies as perfect, its swoops and glides forever rendering the geometry of the room perfectly clear. More, though the room is jam-packed (with *how* many students? it seems at least a couple of hundred), we *ALWAYS* know who is who and where they are. I know of no better uses of camera by anyone, anywhere, anytime than these two, not even elsewhere in Kurosawa's own amazing canon. As good as, perhaps, but better, no. Impossible, I think.
    Reply

    • Or using your Criterion.com account.

      You are logged in to your Criterion.com account as . Log out.

  • By Bill Melidoneas
    March 22, 2010
    08:00 PM

    From The Seven Samurai: The Seven Samurai standing all across the frame in wide shot when they first arrive upon the village.
    Reply

    • Or using your Criterion.com account.

      You are logged in to your Criterion.com account as . Log out.

  • By Jason Parker
    March 22, 2010
    08:02 PM

    There are two shots in Rashomon that just blow me away every time. The first is when Mifune finally kills the man, when the light is surrounding him on all sides while he's completely concealed in shadow (showing the bandit's assumed evil nature, while the described innocence flows around him). The other is at the very end, as Shimura walks away from the Rashomon Gate with the baby in his arms. Shimura is one of those actors where you can take just one look at him, and realize that there's something different about him. Just like with Mifune and all his little quirks, there's something about Shimura's face that's just so chilling, so surreal, and yet familiar at the same time. This feeling is displayed not just here, but also in the bar during "Life is Brief" in Ikiru. The close-up of Shimura portrays his true feelings, and trust me, it makes us feel for all of his characters. As for favorite scene, i think that either the final Life is Brief on the swingset in Ikiru, or the destruction of the house/ the final confrontation in Yojimbo are up there. These scenes just completely exemplify everything Kurosawa is about- mixing all the techniques of film to create masterpieces.
    Reply

    • Or using your Criterion.com account.

      You are logged in to your Criterion.com account as . Log out.

  • By ALBERT BAIER
    March 22, 2010
    08:02 PM

    The final face off scene in Sanjuro between the title main character and Hanbei. It's just one shot with the two facing each other and a small band of Sanjuro's biggest admirers in the background. I was just like the small band of men just watching the two with fear and intensity. It happens so quick but a simple frame keeps you on the edge of your seat until Sanjuro succeed with a quick blow of the katana. These days a scene like that needs mutliple shots, angles, zooms, crazy loud music and quick cuts (e.g. the Quick and the Dead). But Kurosawa didn't any of that to make this scene intense. By the time this shot arrives the audience knows both the characters. We know their drive, motivation and skills. Just that knowledge makes this one of the most intense scenes (one shot) in action film history.
    Reply

    • Or using your Criterion.com account.

      You are logged in to your Criterion.com account as . Log out.

  • By M Burton
    March 22, 2010
    08:09 PM

    Rashomon - the wife grovelling in the dirt in front of the committee of men. But never knowing what to believe of her words.
    Reply

    • Or using your Criterion.com account.

      You are logged in to your Criterion.com account as . Log out.

  • By Keith Dillon
    March 22, 2010
    08:12 PM

    One of my very favorites is the death of Lady Kaede in Ran. After destroying the House of Ichimonji, she sits quietly, almost meditatively in her chamber. Jiro's lieutenant, Kurogane, bursts in and accuses her of vanity. Kaede denies that she'svain; she explains that everything she did was carefully planned to bring the House of Ichimonji crashing. Then, in one quick, fluid motion, Kurogane draws his katana and cuts Kaede across the trunk. All we see a spray of red against a white background. The camera pans slightly to the right of Kaede before the katana makes contact. We see no disembowelment, no internal body parts, just a spray of red against a white background. That scene proves to me that severed body parts are unnecessary to create brutality on screen.
    Reply

    • Or using your Criterion.com account.

      You are logged in to your Criterion.com account as . Log out.

  • By Jon
    March 22, 2010
    08:13 PM

    The ending scene from "Seven Samurai." So much power and meaning from such a simple display...
    Reply

    • Or using your Criterion.com account.

      You are logged in to your Criterion.com account as . Log out.

  • By Patrick
    March 22, 2010
    08:18 PM

    My single favorite Kurosawa scene would have to be Murakami's (Mifune at the height of his physical beauty) long and investigative tour through the shadier urban portions of post-war Tokyo featured towards the start of Stray Dog. This period of Japanese history is a beloved and much treaded subject of study for me, helping to make my viewings of this slow, speechless sequence a matter of absolute sublimity. To know that much of it is guerrilla-like footage of actual black market "squares" only enhances it even further. Upon my first viewing, I could not help but feel like that, while personally enthralled by the footage, it bogged down the pacing of the first act considerably. Repeated viewings have successfully convinced me otherwise, but, all of this aside, when taken alone, I believe this to be the most valuable of all Kurosawa sequences. It is a priceless and expertly pieced time capsule and the definite highlight of The Master's postwar film efforts.
    Reply

    • Or using your Criterion.com account.

      You are logged in to your Criterion.com account as . Log out.

  • By Brent E
    March 22, 2010
    08:20 PM

    My favorite scene is from Kurosawa's "Dreams," which is among his most beautifully shot films. Towards the end of the movie, there is a story that takes place at a village of water wheels where a funeral procession is coming through. The entire village is beautiful and the celebration of the woman's life by the funeral procession is surprising to both the visitor and the audience. What makes this scene stand out to me is the nostalgia it invokes, as clearly the village is showing a civilization untouched by modernity and the evils that accompany it. Being one of Kurosawa's last films, his audience empathizes with the character in the movie that are reflections of the filmmaker. Beginning with the scene where the character travels into the Van Gogh painting and through the catastrophes of the volcano, the film ends on this quiet reflection on the importance of life and the celebration that should accompany it. Just watching it, one feels that Kurosawa is saying his own goodbyes to the audience.
    Reply

    • Or using your Criterion.com account.

      You are logged in to your Criterion.com account as . Log out.

  • By JJ Zou
    March 22, 2010
    08:22 PM

    In Seven Samurai, when Kambei Shimada recruited other samurai, he met his old friend Shichirōji. He did not ask directly whether or not Shichirōji would join him, instead, he asked if it was extremely hard for Shichirōji to escape from last battle, and if Shichirōji had been tired of fighting and putting his life at great risk. Answers of both questions were yes. Then Kambei asked if Shichirōji would join him, even if the task was even more dangerous and may lead to death. Shichirōji did not say a word, he only nodded briefly with smile. And at the moment I saw this, tears slipped down my face silently. The purest trust and friendship is shown by the commitment of life, and the greatest courage needs no ornament of words. There is one old saying in Chinese that The Most Magnificent Sound Is Silence. And this describe the silent smile and nodding of Shichirōji properly. After I watched Seven Samurai, I bought a DVD from Criterion for one of my best friends, and I wrote down about this scene and how I cherished my friendship with her. This scene and Seven Samurai have always been special to me, and that's why I wrote it down here no matter whether or not I can be given the prize today.
    Reply

    • Or using your Criterion.com account.

      You are logged in to your Criterion.com account as . Log out.

  • By Sean
    March 22, 2010
    08:23 PM

    The answer was easy for me. It has to be the swing scene from Ikiru. I know of no more moving scene in any movie. It is so simple, so brief, and yet so carefully crafted and full of emotion. Kurosawa places his camera so that we see Watanabe through the framework of the park. In this way, Kurosawa emphasizes one of the themes of the movie - how one's work defines oneself, and gives meaning in life. The camera then pans to the left and zooms in, as Watanabe swings gently back and forth in the snow, softly singing the words to "Life is Brief" - a song that was full of sadness earlier, but now takes on an entirely different meaning. Then, Kurosawa cuts so that we see Watanabe head on. And we see him as he truly is in that moment - happy and fulfilled. His eyes glisten. And then the shot fades to the picture of Watanabe at his wake. Watanabe may die, memory of him may fade, but his work lives on. I only noticed that level of precision in the camerawork when I re-watched the scene in order to write this comment. The sheer emotional impact of the scene speaks for itself. When I saw Ikiru, I was literally speechless. Somehow, I, a 15 year-old teenager living in Massachusetts, felt emotionally connected to a middle-aged bureaucrat in postwar Tokyo. Kurosawa managed to turn what could have been the story of a pathetic old man into something timeless and universal.
    Reply

    • Or using your Criterion.com account.

      You are logged in to your Criterion.com account as . Log out.

  • By Colin Baker
    March 22, 2010
    08:39 PM

    My favorite sequence in a Kurosawa film is from my all- time favorite movie Stray Dog. It is the 8 minute long montage sequence where Toshiro Mifune's character wanders the slums of post war Tokyo in search of a lead on his stolen pistol. Mifune's character, a police detective, dresses as a recently returned soldier from Japan's ill- fated war (in a uniform that may have been his own during the war). This sequence has so much atmosphere, which is beautifully executed without a single word of dialogue. Mifune navigates the dizzying array of sights and sounds that make up the slums of post war Tokyo. The viewer can almost feel with all five senses, the roar of the trains, the smell of food prepared by street vendors, and of course the blaze of the summer sun. He sees the bustle of the market streets where people struggle to get by and boogie-woogie records blair from nearby shops. He then moves to the despair of the shanty towns where people seems to have given up all hope. This sequence is remarkable in that it is as much a historic document as a it is a cinematic expirience. You get the feeling of what it must have been like in those desperate times immediately following the war. As Mifune, disguised as a recent veteran, wanders aimlessly in search of his gun you get a window into the feelings of the countless soldiers, who after serving their nation in the hell of war, return to the ruins of their homes with the new role of vagrant and drift only in search of a way to survive. Stray Dog is my favorite film because it shows with such unflinching perspective what desperation is and the power it can have over people and this sequence sums it all up in microcosm. Kurosawa, being the true master of film that he is, sums all these ideas up in this purely cinematic sequence without relying on dialogue or narrative.
    Reply

    • Or using your Criterion.com account.

      You are logged in to your Criterion.com account as . Log out.

  • By Jesse Atkinson
    March 22, 2010
    08:40 PM

    I love the ending scene in Seven Samurai. The shot where they are all viewing their fallen samurai brethren is still a very powerful image. The way he frames the shot almost centered and then shoots the actors from two opposing angles to show which paths they will take is a perfect example of communicating through the lens only without words. I know this may be a popular choice and a typical one but I think that should attest to its greatest rather than detract.
    Reply

    • Or using your Criterion.com account.

      You are logged in to your Criterion.com account as . Log out.

  • By Jordan
    March 22, 2010
    08:44 PM

    The best shot ever is simple: Kyuzo getting ready to duel in "Seven Samurai." The master at work depicting a master at work. http://i.imgur.com/bIibJ.jpg
    Reply

    • Or using your Criterion.com account.

      You are logged in to your Criterion.com account as . Log out.

  • By Cinephile Stoned
    March 22, 2010
    08:54 PM

    I love the shot in Yojimbo when the German Shepherd puppy is cruising down the street with a dismembered human hand in his mouth! Sets the tone of the film perfectly every time I see it.
    Reply

    • Or using your Criterion.com account.

      You are logged in to your Criterion.com account as . Log out.

  • By RAY FREEDMAN
    March 22, 2010
    09:04 PM

    Every Kurosawa film contains breathtaking images that capture the emotion and core of the story he is telling. SEVEN SAMURAI, HIGH AND LOW, and RAN are most visually captivating. In SEVEN SAMURAI, Kurosawa shoots the film in a way that makes get to visit the village, we get to know it and its residents. HIGH AND LOW is filmed in a way that perfectly captures the tension in the small space provided for the characters. We feel the slow building of the tension with the wide, steady, and packed shots. RAN is one of the most amazing films to watch with the human eye. I am extremely lucky to have been able to see it in a theatre last week. The usage of color shows us how we take color for granted and how no frame of film should ever be wasted. The particular shot of Lord Hidetora in his palace, as it burns down and he is in shock with the arrows and bullets flying around him is absolutely captivating. It is so perfectly executed, showing the destruction of Hidetora's mind and kingdom, I could stare at the shot for hours. And again, this is just one example.
    Reply

    • Or using your Criterion.com account.

      You are logged in to your Criterion.com account as . Log out.

  • By DM
    March 22, 2010
    09:24 PM

    Dersu and Captain Arseniev alone in the tundra. Dersu Uzala.
    Reply

    • Or using your Criterion.com account.

      You are logged in to your Criterion.com account as . Log out.

  • By Tom
    March 22, 2010
    09:27 PM

    Toss up: The scene of Watanabe on the swing in Ikiru. Or Mifune dodging barrages of arrows in Throne of Blood. For the latter apparently those were real arrows being shot at close range.... Glad they had a steady hand because the sound of the arrows digging into the wood is frightening enough to watch (let alone imagine Mifune having them fired inches from his face). And whenever I hear someone moping along without lifting up their feet enough, I shudder, "Lady Kaede?" (Ran).
    Reply

    • Or using your Criterion.com account.

      You are logged in to your Criterion.com account as . Log out.

  • By Emery Snyder
    March 22, 2010
    09:30 PM

    I'd have to say the ransom transfer from the moving train in High & Low... I believe I read he used 8 or 9 cameras simultaneously to capture that scene. This is unbelievable considering the tight space it was shot in and how well it turned out.
    Reply

    • Or using your Criterion.com account.

      You are logged in to your Criterion.com account as . Log out.

  • By Benjamin Crais
    March 22, 2010
    10:00 PM

    The image of Kikuchiyo raising the flag. He started the movie as the longer, not a real samurai, not an important part of the team. However, in this scene he is the one to bring the team together and inspire them.
    Reply

    • Or using your Criterion.com account.

      You are logged in to your Criterion.com account as . Log out.

  • By PDH
    March 22, 2010
    10:09 PM

    My favorite scene in any Kurosawa film would be in Ran when Lord Ichimonji awakens from his sleep and starts opening windows seeing his bodyguards being slaughtered by Taro and Jiro armies. The Mahler inspired music with sound on silent really shows the horror of war. Lord Ichimonji's face turns cold as he witnesses the deaths of his trusted guards and maidens. You can feel the struggle of Lord Ichimonji as he tries to escape from the castle, you can almost feel the heat of the flames. And when Taro is shot the camera angle shows you as if you were looking up at him from behind. Even though it shows you the complete horror and chaos of war Kurosawa still uses a beautiful color scheme with reds and the yellows. Plus showing Lord Ichimonji in the white really draws attention.
    Reply

    • Or using your Criterion.com account.

      You are logged in to your Criterion.com account as . Log out.

  • By Cavan Campbell
    March 22, 2010
    10:34 PM

    Mifune's skewered collapse in the ankle fog of the courtyard in Throne of Blood, his last breath disappearing in whisps. There's a moment a stillness there where, if you unfocus your eyes just enough, his body (and the triangular bulk of his armour) looks a thatched boat adrift on a milky swamp. Frankly, I can think of no better image summation of the film. I could be watching the film in a tropic heat-wave, and I'd still shiver from its north wind.
    Reply

    • Or using your Criterion.com account.

      You are logged in to your Criterion.com account as . Log out.

  • By Christopher R
    March 22, 2010
    10:36 PM

    The scene in Stray Dog where detective Sato invites Murakami to his house is such a wonderful contrast to the rest of the film. Murakami is in a state of constant and intensifying worry over the harm cause by his lost pistol that the audience breathes a sigh of relief when his momentarily forgets his cares while eating in the countryside with the elder cop. When he looks in on the sleeping kids ("pumpkins"), it almost as if the world and problems of the rest of the film don't exist.
    Reply

    • Or using your Criterion.com account.

      You are logged in to your Criterion.com account as . Log out.

  • By Rick Sieber
    March 22, 2010
    11:00 PM

    The image that sticks in my head is a simple one - the sun-drenched forest canopy of Rashomon. What a wonderfully effective way to use the film's claustrophobic setting to comment on its themes. Here we have brightness obscured by the tangled mass of foliage - darkness obscuring the light. And what gorgeous camerawork by Kazuo Miyagawa. Kurosawa was such a master of action that I sometimes forget just how downright beautiful his work can be.
    Reply

    • Or using your Criterion.com account.

      You are logged in to your Criterion.com account as . Log out.

  • By joshua jordon
    March 22, 2010
    11:32 PM

    Many scenes are epic or grand, and some just stick with you. Out of all the color and spectacle of Ran, what sticks with me the most is the scene of breaking arrows over the knee, and that one at a time, they are easy, but three at once is not. It's low key, not that important but it is still there in my head after seeing the movie at the age of 7.
    Reply

    • Or using your Criterion.com account.

      You are logged in to your Criterion.com account as . Log out.

  • By Evan McKenzie
    March 22, 2010
    11:59 PM

    The scene from Red Beard where we see from the young doctor's memory, the image of the old man dying.
    Reply

    • Or using your Criterion.com account.

      You are logged in to your Criterion.com account as . Log out.

  • By matthew
    March 23, 2010
    12:16 AM

    it would have to be the opening shot of yojimbo right after the title appears. you have this amazing opening theme music and sanjuro just walks onto the screen, back to the crowd. the way he shakes his shoulders and then scratches his head. how he appears in this opening shot gives you the idea how toshiro mifune would play what would be the most bad ass hero/anti-hero in cinema. clint eastwood just can't measure up.
    Reply

    • Or using your Criterion.com account.

      You are logged in to your Criterion.com account as . Log out.

  • By Robert Weiss
    March 23, 2010
    12:25 AM

    One of my favorite scenes is from Akira Kurosawa's Dreams. At the end of the first segment "Sunshine Through The Rain" a young boy returns home after spying on a fox wedding in the forest. His mother tells him that a fox came by the house and left a knife for him. They were angry that he had seen their wedding and it's implied he must commit suicide to make amends. The last shot shows the small boy reluctantly making his way through a colorful field of flowers, towards the mountains. He's holding the knife and staring at a rainbow in the sky, under which the foxes live. He must go there and beg their forgiveness. It's a beautifully shot scene, yet surreal and chilling all at once.
    Reply

    • Or using your Criterion.com account.

      You are logged in to your Criterion.com account as . Log out.

  • By Matthias Galvin
    March 23, 2010
    12:49 AM

    the ending to Sanjuro: the shot of the duel that would make Tarantino blush.
    Reply

    • Or using your Criterion.com account.

      You are logged in to your Criterion.com account as . Log out.

  • By Spencer Parker
    March 23, 2010
    01:02 AM

    (MAJOR SPOILER ALERT) High & Low is one of my all-time favorites; I'm even using Gondo's house as my dream home for a Japanese class essay. While there are so many great scenes and shots in this movie, there is one that floored me the first time I saw it: the scene where Kingo Gondo (Mifune) literally throws his fortune out a bathroom window to save his chauffeur's son. After a few seconds for Gondo to realize what has just happened, he bends over the sink and - in a closeup shot that breaks with the quiet intensity in nearly everything that came before it - splashes water on himself with such fury that the camera shakes with him. This was a good call on Mr. Kurosawa's part and a great way to usher in the second half. Another big "wow" moment was when I realized that Phil Moskowitz from What's Up Tiger Lily is in it, but he's not a scene.
    Reply

    • Or using your Criterion.com account.

      You are logged in to your Criterion.com account as . Log out.

  • By Michael
    March 23, 2010
    01:27 AM

    I would have to say near the end in the Yojimbo when Mifune cuts down like ten henchmen in 10 seconds. Kurosawa commented on his speed and when you watch that scene he is unbelievably fast...and yet still poised and in control when he sheaths his sword at the end. Masterful work..
    Reply

    • Or using your Criterion.com account.

      You are logged in to your Criterion.com account as . Log out.

  • By Zach Moore
    March 23, 2010
    01:32 AM

    I love sad movies. One of my favorite scenes from a Kurosawa film is also one of the saddest I have seen in any movie. I have forgotten the names of all the characters in Red Beard except for one: Chobo (at least I think that’s what his name was, and if it isn’t, that’s how it’ll be referred to here on out). A girl about twelve or thirteen years old has been rescued from a brothel and has been psychologically recuperating in a rural clinic. During her recovery, she comes across this little boy, Chobo, who has been stealing gruel from the clinic. Her affection towards him is like that of an older sister. But their relation comes to a tragic end… SPOILER ALERT Chobo tells the girl that he and his family are moving away to this place where he won’t have to steal gruel anymore. The most beautiful place you can imagine is where he's off to. Before he runs off, he has a good look at the girl and tells her he hopes there are people as pretty as her there. Later that evening, Chobo and his family have been brought to the clinic: they have poisoned themselves. Chobo is barely alive and the girl is at his side. She is told that if you scream the name of the dying into a well, the gods will be kind and let them live (or something like that). So she runs to the nearest well and in the most terrific scream she cries his name to the bottom abyss of Hell so the gods can hear her plead for life: CHOBO! Hell, I almost cried.
    Reply

    • Or using your Criterion.com account.

      You are logged in to your Criterion.com account as . Log out.

  • By David French
    March 23, 2010
    02:20 AM

    So many come to mind… ...it seems obvious for me to say, but hands down the most powerful moment for me occurs in the final sequence of The Seven Samurai. Years later, it is still vivid in my memory. Okamoto is rejected by the young girl who passes him, without words, to join the villagers in celebration. The celebration is so beautiful and so meaningful here as the girl instantly takes her place in perfect formation to plant rice and sing along to the beat of drums. And the most staggering, the most gut-wrenching moment Kurosawa has filmed comes just before the famous image of the kitanas in the mounds, and just after Takashi Shimura's final line of dialogue. I am in awe of Shimura's focus and subtlety here. Kanbe is bewildered, haunted, yet he stifles regret and faces his fallen friends. Take a look and you'll see! …right after his final line, just for a second… a slight frown, his head hangs, and his arms cross I believe. The injury, the anger, the understanding! Take a look, and let your heart weep for him.
    Reply

    • Or using your Criterion.com account.

      You are logged in to your Criterion.com account as . Log out.

  • By Colin Brooker
    March 23, 2010
    03:54 AM

    My favorite Kurosawa shot is from Akira Kurosawa's Dreams. In the first dream, Sunshine Through the Rain, the young Akira journey's out into the rain, despite his mothers warnings. The sun was out with the rain and foxes like to have their weddings. They don't want to be seen. The young boy goes anyway, he sees the foxes, and they catch him watching. The young boy rushes home, to find his mother waiting for him. She hands him a tanto and tells them that the foxes are angry and demand he kills himself. She tells him to go to the end of the rainbow, where they live, to beg for the foxes for giveness. He pounds on the gates, wanting to be let in, but his mother refuses. The young Akira begins his quest. The young boy crests the hill, wondering into a colorful field of flowers. He stops. The pouring raining revealing a great rainbow the archs of the valley and mountains. Holding the tanto in his hands, the music swelling, the young boy, not knowing his fate, descends into the valley. Will the foxes forgive his intrusion, or will he before forced to kill himself. It is this shot, of the boy standing in a glorious field of flowers, peering into the distance, into the unknown valley and end of that rainbow, that is my favorite Kurosawa shot. Not only that, but my favorite shot in cinema. It's been a wallpaper on my computer, the poster right above my bed, and even on my cellphone. It reminds me of that journey we all take into the unknown of life. It also leaves me wanting the story to go on. It is a great beginning to a Kurosawa fantasy film that we never got to see. It would work is a great beginning for a Miyazaki film. Is it his best? No, probably not. But Dreams was the third Kurosawa film I saw, right after Seven Samurai and Ran. And while those two represent the best of our sensei of cinema, this one shot in Dreams sums up what I love about Kurosawa. Against all odds, alone, journeying in to the unknown, we all have the potential to achieve.
    Reply

    • Or using your Criterion.com account.

      You are logged in to your Criterion.com account as . Log out.

  • By Rob Hough
    March 23, 2010
    03:58 AM

    The closing scene of I Live in Fear; one person is coming to visit someone in an insane asylum and someone is leaving. It's gorgeous and striking. Who's really entering the world of the mentally ill and who's really leaving it?
    Reply

    • Or using your Criterion.com account.

      You are logged in to your Criterion.com account as . Log out.

  • By The gZa
    March 23, 2010
    06:48 AM

    Seven Samurai - When Kyuzo get shot, falls in the mud, then with his last breath stands and throws his sword in anguish - as Katsushiro looks on (like his idol/God has been felled). Honourable mention to Dersu Uzala - The reuniting of "Cap-e-tan" and Dersu. Temporarily blocked by a huge felled oak.
    Reply

    • Or using your Criterion.com account.

      You are logged in to your Criterion.com account as . Log out.

  • By Helena
    March 23, 2010
    07:55 AM

    As I don't reside in the USA I'm not in the running for prizes, but one scene comes to mind. The scene in Redbeard where the young girl called the Mantis comes into young doctor's lamplit room. The tension, sexual and otherwise, first crackles then builds to an unbearable level as she gets closer and closer to the doctor, all the while recounting her terrible tale in her little girl's voice. As she reaches the climax of her account she twines around the drunken and utterly hypnotised young man and traps him with her clothing. The two characters are exquisitely framed within the wide screen , looking for all the world like embracing lovers in a ukiyo-e print, but with traditional roles reversed - the man passive and prone, and the woman clearly reaching a state of arousal as she raises her hair pin to stab him. And then the scene is snuffed out as Mifune enters, just in time. It would take too long to tease out here just how effective this scene is in delineating both the doctor's character, how out of his depth he is, and the immensity of the task of understanding the human psyche, rather than physical illness, which lies before him. (Not even Redbeard, I think, understands what's wrong with this young woman. Also the idealised patient-doctor relationship depicted in the film, for all its humanitarian underpinnings, is somewhat questionable today.) But I've chosen it because it is simply one of the most creepy, perverse, disturbing, pathetic, sad, exquisitely framed and sexually charged scenes in cinema, despite stiff competition from the director's own 'Ran.'
    Reply

    • Or using your Criterion.com account.

      You are logged in to your Criterion.com account as . Log out.

  • By B Baukol
    March 23, 2010
    08:18 AM

    The image when it says Directed by Akira Kurosawa.
    Reply

    • Or using your Criterion.com account.

      You are logged in to your Criterion.com account as . Log out.

  • By Chris
    March 23, 2010
    09:05 AM

    Tthe scene that would move me almost always would be that harvest scene just after that mid-break in Seven Samurai. but it's not that scene per se, it's this little moment we see in it. I see the fields. I see the women plucking the plants and music joyfully chugs along. And then it's Kikuchiyo we see and we see him smiling. In one close up, he turns his head to us; he is smiling but then, just then! he opens his mouth with surprise. Why? because there are women! And just that look on this character's face, this innocence? wonder? libido? is so overwhelmingly amazing, just that little movement Mr. Mifune does. I would love to see that moment in the silverscreen. I don't live in the US or CAN but i really would just like to point this scene fleeting moment out.
    Reply

    • Or using your Criterion.com account.

      You are logged in to your Criterion.com account as . Log out.

  • By Colton Hammond
    March 23, 2010
    09:09 AM

    I love the final scene in Seven Samurai where all of the remaining samurai stand beside the graves of the fallen. It's a beautiful image that's both emotional and triumphant; a perfect moment of denouement for everything that has gone before.
    Reply

    • Or using your Criterion.com account.

      You are logged in to your Criterion.com account as . Log out.

  • By John Noyd
    March 23, 2010
    09:19 AM

    The scene in Throne of Blood where Washizu chases the ghost through Spider Web's Forest is so desperately tense and full of foreboding. So enthralling!
    Reply

    • Or using your Criterion.com account.

      You are logged in to your Criterion.com account as . Log out.

  • By Benjamin Pelletier
    March 23, 2010
    09:22 AM

    The very first scene of "Rashômon", where the three men sit next to the Rashomon gate. Rain pours. Silence reigns. Mystery already dominates. It is the very first scene I saw from Kurosawa (Rashômon being the first one I saw), and I still can't quite forget the intoxicating effect this very first scene gave to me. Of course, I would later move on to other A.K. films, but this scene was like an instant crush to me.
    Reply

    • Or using your Criterion.com account.

      You are logged in to your Criterion.com account as . Log out.

  • By Jon O'Neill
    March 23, 2010
    09:23 AM

    The shot in the second half of The Seven Samurai when the youngest of the samurai is holding his dying master in his arms. It is beautifully lit, with nice soft focus and a mise en scène that evokes (at least for me, in my American-educated position) nothing more than a Shakespearean tragedy ironically set in the scenery of one of his comedies, perhaps A Midsummer Night's Dream. It poignantly underlines what is elsewhere rather understated: the gentle (and sometimes tragi-comic) homoeroticism of the film.
    Reply

    • Or using your Criterion.com account.

      You are logged in to your Criterion.com account as . Log out.

  • By Carlos Alberto Barbaro
    March 23, 2010
    09:24 AM

    Every scene that has a horse on it, but specially the death of lots of them in the battles on Kagemusha and Ran. In these "animal shots" the master tells more about the human folly than any other moviemaker has ever do. (Kubrick included)
    Reply

    • Or using your Criterion.com account.

      You are logged in to your Criterion.com account as . Log out.

  • By Rafael Rosado
    March 23, 2010
    09:25 AM

    The climactic rain-soaked battle in the third act of Seven Samurai. It doesn't get any better than that. Pure Cinema. The sense of movement, the confusion, the fear...I don't care how many shots Michael Bay injects into an action sequence-he'll never achieve that can kind of poetry.
    Reply

    • Or using your Criterion.com account.

      You are logged in to your Criterion.com account as . Log out.

  • By Robert Biondi.
    March 23, 2010
    09:26 AM

    Throne of Blood. The squeaky slippers.
    Reply

    • Or using your Criterion.com account.

      You are logged in to your Criterion.com account as . Log out.

  • By Carl Brainerd
    March 23, 2010
    09:26 AM

    There's a lot, but maybe in Ran when they attack the castle and Hidetora is walking down the steps of the enflamed castle.
    Reply

    • Or using your Criterion.com account.

      You are logged in to your Criterion.com account as . Log out.

  • By Michael Hirsch
    March 23, 2010
    09:28 AM

    This question is way too hard to answer and is of course fickle to the mind's eye and what one it is feeling at the moment. If I am feeling triumphant and proud, I picture Takashi Shimura on a swingset in the snow at the end of his life as he accomplished his goal of building a playground and creating a legacy in Ikiru. If I am sad, then I imagine the final shots of Kagemusha with the drugged horses flailing on a bloodied battlefield. If I'm in a silly mood, I imagine Mifune is Yojimbo and Sanjuro changing his names and in Sanjuro, justifying his love of the flower of his namesake. Sometimes, I'm angry and I envision an increasingly terrified Mifune getting arrowed to death at the end of Throne of Blood. However, lately, my favorite Kurosawa shot is in the last scene of Dodeskaden. After a hard day of taking his imaginary trolley around the ghetto, Rokkuchan returns home from a hard day's to bemoan the state of his dedraggled machine hoping that the maintenance crew will repair it overnight. The vision of him examining the trolley as the sun sets on the painted set is in itself, a work of out. It is a beautiful, heartbreaking, and colorful display and sums up the point of the movie that everyone needs to have a dream but that it shouldn't blind you to the reality of your life.
    Reply

    • Or using your Criterion.com account.

      You are logged in to your Criterion.com account as . Log out.

  • By Todd Bowser
    March 23, 2010
    09:29 AM

    I love the scene of the first "Mahda-kai" in Madadayo. As I am an unrepentant sentimentalist, this film is one of my favorites ever. It celebrates friendship, respect, and the idea of homage. The scene is like a symphony, arranged to be all at once affectionate, formal, and hilarious.
    Reply

    • Or using your Criterion.com account.

      You are logged in to your Criterion.com account as . Log out.

  • By Richard Hill
    March 23, 2010
    09:29 AM

    My favorite scene in all the Kurosawa films I have seen was the shot when I first saw Mifune's character dressed in a dirty soldier's uniform in Stray Dog. It was a stark contrast to depictions of Japanese soldiers I had seen in films up to that point. These were not the honor driven soldiers I had seen in Tora Tora Tora, these were men without a country, wandering and rejected. I would later see this theme repeat in Kurosawa's samurai films as the dirty wandering ronin reminded me of the same thing. Stray Dog was the first film of his I ever watched so it may be nostalgia talking but its what got me watching more of his work.
    Reply

    • Or using your Criterion.com account.

      You are logged in to your Criterion.com account as . Log out.

  • By John Adair
    March 23, 2010
    09:32 AM

    I love the opening sequence of Red Beard, about eight minutes long, which depicts a tour through the hospital. Dr. Yasumoto has just arrived at the village hospital to pay a call on Dr. Niide (who we find out everyone calls Red Beard, for obvious reasons). The camera follows the young doctor into the hospital, and then through it, as he receives a tour from an outgoing and rather cynical young doctor, Tsugawa. More often than not in this sequence, Kurosawa holds the doctors in a two shot, giving us only a view of the immediate surroundings – enough to see sick patients and workers, but not much else. In this decision, Kurosawa creates a cramped and overcrowded feeling in the hospital. Since Tsugawa is handling the tour, Yasumoto’s picture of this place immediately becomes tainted. And Kurosawa communicates the transference of this attitude beautifully by the amount of time these two spend in the same shot together. It’s as if Tsugawa is passing on his legacy of cynicism and angst to Yasumoto in this rather brief opening sequence. The genius of Kurosawa is that we would probably know that even if we removed the dialogue. He is using his formal decisions to contribute to the narrative. The most interesting shot during the tour comes after they have passed the poor patients, the pharmacy, and the clinic itself. Kurosawa places the camera at the far end of a darkened hallway leading to the men’s ward. Initially, the camera looks as if it’s at a low angle, so that if the doctors were to venture into the hallway, they would literally be descending into darkness. This of course fits beautifully with their current mindset as they hesitate and gaze down it. Yet when they finally step into the hallway, the camera now behind them, we see an area full of activity and light. It’s at this point the two doctors encounter a room of sick men, and we viewers get the first sense this place may not be as bad as it seems. The sick man Sahachi is devoted to Red Beard, realizing that while his rules may require some extra discomfort, they are always in the best interests of the patients. In an otherwise one-sided presentation of the hospital by Tsugawa, this moment stands out, signaling that all may not be as it seems.
    Reply

    • Or using your Criterion.com account.

      You are logged in to your Criterion.com account as . Log out.

  • By Luc Labelle
    March 23, 2010
    09:33 AM

    I think my favorite one is the final scene in "Throne of Blood" where Toshiro Mifune gets killed by a tremendous numbers of arrows when he is pinned to the wall. The whole movie is just full of energy that you really feel through the bones.
    Reply

    • Or using your Criterion.com account.

      You are logged in to your Criterion.com account as . Log out.

  • By Derek Mok
    March 23, 2010
    09:41 AM

    My favourite Kurosawa shot -- or series of shots -- is the pair of shots of Shingen's "Furinkazan" (風林火山) banner in Kagemusha. The first of the pair comes at the end of the Battle of Takatenjin, when the kagemusha successfully reinforces Katsuyori during the night battle. At this point, the banner is shown in reverse because the wind is blowing it the wrong way, with all characters flipped as if they were in a mirror. At the end of the film, when the kagemusha has already been exiled, he sees the destruction of the Takeda clan and joins the battle for no reason, and is shot by the enemy. As he dies and tumbles into the water, we see the banner again -- and this time, it is the correct way around. Where he used to be a mirror image of Shingen, he has now become Shingen himself. Illusion and reality have united. Shinichiro Ikebe's majestic score and Kurosawa's slow-motion give this scene transcendental beauty, blurring the line between tragedy (death and destruction, folly) and triumph (completion of the kagemusha's quest for identity and purpose).
    Reply

    • Or using your Criterion.com account.

      You are logged in to your Criterion.com account as . Log out.

  • By A Orr
    March 23, 2010
    09:54 AM

    My favorite image is the shadow of the leaves of Mifune's face in Rashomon. The way the wind blows gently and wakes him. One of the best character introductions ever shot. I can feel the breeze every time i think about.
    Reply

    • Or using your Criterion.com account.

      You are logged in to your Criterion.com account as . Log out.

  • By Sheldon Isaacs
    March 23, 2010
    10:05 AM

    The climactic scene in "Stray Dog." Kurasawa's great noir film. When Toshiro Mifunie's character, Murakami, duels with the criminal Yusa, Kurasawa perfectly places the concept of samurai warriors in a contemporary and "contradictory" setting. After experiencing all the noir grittiness of the city, we are out in a wooded setting, hearing schoolchildren singing and playing and cutting to the cop and the criminal battling it out. Yusa's face is absolutely memorable - akin to watching Richard Widmark as Tommy Udo after pushing his mother down the stairs in Kiss of Death, or Peter Lorre begging for mercy and revealing his predatory tendencies to the mob in "M." Each of them has been indelibly etched in the frames of my memory.
    Reply

    • Or using your Criterion.com account.

      You are logged in to your Criterion.com account as . Log out.

  • By Grant K. Goodman
    March 23, 2010
    10:11 AM

    Watching "Rashomon" will forever change how your look at your wife, husband, bandits, priests, babies, rain, tree stumps, life, death, and everything else in-between.
    Reply

    • Or using your Criterion.com account.

      You are logged in to your Criterion.com account as . Log out.

  • By David Hering
    March 23, 2010
    10:21 AM

    The film : Seven Samurai. The scene: Kyuzo has just returned from his apparently superhuman task, bringing back the bandit's musket. Katsushiro, who has been watching with awe, cannot contain himself any longer. He rushes over to the resting Kyuzo and tells him that he is an amazing person. He just cannot contain his admiration for his hero any more. Kyuzo sits with his customary stone-faced expression, but then Kurosawa's camera catches the smallest smile playing across his face. This is possibly my favourite scene in all cinema.
    Reply

    • Or using your Criterion.com account.

      You are logged in to your Criterion.com account as . Log out.

  • By Eric Stephenson
    March 23, 2010
    10:23 AM

    Watching a Kurosawa film is like being able to go back in time and see the Beatles perform, it's a chance to experience greatness.
    Reply

    • Or using your Criterion.com account.

      You are logged in to your Criterion.com account as . Log out.

  • By REO
    March 23, 2010
    10:29 AM

    The rain pouring on the gate in Rashomon, such solitude and loneliness.
    Reply

    • Or using your Criterion.com account.

      You are logged in to your Criterion.com account as . Log out.

  • By Cody Cannon
    March 23, 2010
    10:35 AM

    I'll admit to still getting to know Kurosawa's films, but the first one I saw, Rashomon, blew me away. As far as my favorite shot thus far, I would have to say the simple shot of looking up through the trees. It was such an obvious choice, and to me it really helped with the establishing of a perfect pace and flow for the scene. Like in Taxi Driver when Travis is on the phone, and the camera moves down the hall, you don't see him, just hear. The shot was about everything else going on.
    Reply

    • Or using your Criterion.com account.

      You are logged in to your Criterion.com account as . Log out.

  • By robert reilly
    March 23, 2010
    10:37 AM

    I know its not a classic Kurosawa but I always liked "Dreams" when he first steps into the painting.
    Reply

    • Or using your Criterion.com account.

      You are logged in to your Criterion.com account as . Log out.

  • By robert reilly
    March 23, 2010
    10:38 AM

    It's just something I wish I could do.
    Reply

    • Or using your Criterion.com account.

      You are logged in to your Criterion.com account as . Log out.

  • By Steve Briggs
    March 23, 2010
    10:39 AM

    My favorite moment is from RAN, where Lady Kaede admits to the chaos she has caused.. the rage and hatred in her actions and face are so real it is almost frightening.
    Reply

    • Or using your Criterion.com account.

      You are logged in to your Criterion.com account as . Log out.

  • By TJ
    March 23, 2010
    10:43 AM

    There's a split-second in Yojimbo that is by no means the most artistic, important, or profound scene Kurosawa has ever created, but it never fails to make me smile. When Mifune first meets one of the gangs, he's walking along in front of their group, giving them each a smug looking-over, like he knows they're all gonna be pushovers. Then he sees the huge guy with the giant mallet, and he briefly stops in his tracks in surprise and does a double-take, as if to say "holy sh--!" ...and then instantly rearranges his expression back to "eh, no problem." Gets me every time. :)
    Reply

    • Or using your Criterion.com account.

      You are logged in to your Criterion.com account as . Log out.

  • By Anthony R.
    March 23, 2010
    10:55 AM

    Film without Kurosawa, would equate to life before the Renaissance.
    Reply

    • Or using your Criterion.com account.

      You are logged in to your Criterion.com account as . Log out.

  • By Joe
    March 23, 2010
    11:08 AM

    dude, it's kirosawa.
    Reply

    • Or using your Criterion.com account.

      You are logged in to your Criterion.com account as . Log out.

  • By Joe
    March 23, 2010
    11:09 AM

    dude, it's kurosawa.
    Reply

    • Or using your Criterion.com account.

      You are logged in to your Criterion.com account as . Log out.

  • By Aaron Kather
    March 23, 2010
    11:43 AM

    My favorite scene comes from High and Low. Near the end, the kidnapper is being followed as he is buying heroin. He goes down "Junkie Alley" to find an addict to test the drugs on. The alley is characteristic of the futuristic yet decayed, metal-covered look that has become so common in Japanese movies like Akira and Tetsuo: The Iron Man. As the kidnapper descends further into the alley that is hell on earth, he is framed by a rectangular gap in the metal; the arm of the woman junkie that he has chosen to be his guinea pig rises up from the bottom of the frame; the man's sunglasses reflect a bright pinpoint of light, giving him the appearance of inhuman eyes. The metal "frame" in the foreground allows just a small strip of the end of the corridor behind the kidnapper to be seen, and here we see the police agents as they poke their heads out around the corner to watch. We see the kidnapper as an inhuman murderer, his soon to be victim as the lowest form of humanity, and the police as horrified spectators, peering into the most vile world imaginable. The rectangular framing evokes later Kurosawa shots that use rectangular framing such as those from inside the house in Yojimbo. The shot also shows a dark cityscape/wasteland that is strongly reminiscent of classic American film noir imagery. The scene builds the film to its climax and leaves you breathless.
    Reply

    • Or using your Criterion.com account.

      You are logged in to your Criterion.com account as . Log out.

Or using your Criterion.com account.

You are logged in to your Criterion.com account as . Log out.

Categories

RSS

Archive

Month
Year
 
  • All
  • January
  • February
  • March
  • April
  • May
  • June
  • July
  • August
  • September
  • October
  • November
  • December
  • 2012
  • 2011
  • 2010
  • 2009
  • 2008
  • 2007
  • 2006
  • 2005
  • 2004
  • 2003
  • 2002
  • 2001
  • 2000
  • 1999
  • 1998
  • 1997
  • 1996
  • 1995
  • 1994
  • 1993
  • 1992
  • 1991
  • 1990
  • 1989
  • 1988
  • 1987
  • 1986
  • 1985
  • 1984
Go

Recent Comments

  • “Personally in films portraying romance I have never been comfortable being "forced" to witness first hand the progression to graphic sexual intimacy as if I´m an unwitting peeping tom or some such . . .”

    John Townsend on “Riskiest Thing I Ever Did”: Notes on Brief Encounter,
    about 5 hours ago.

  • “Copycat, copycat, copycat.”

    Steven Copycat on Three Reasons: Being John Malkovich,
    about 8 hours ago.

  • “This is my first, and probably one of my favorite Criterion films. Wes Anderson has wowed me in every one of his movies. Even though none of them can compare to the Life Aquatic or Royal Tenenbaums . . .”

    Parker Richardson on The Royal Tenenbaums,
    about 21 hours ago.

  • “Huh, its pretty amazing with what they had back then they could make that.”

    Parker on Did You See This?,
    about 22 hours ago.

  • “Ive got to love you Malkovich, an outstanding scene.”

    Parker on Malkovich, Malkovich, Malkovich,
    about 22 hours ago.

Newsletter

SIGN UP to receive info on new releases, Top 10 lists, contests, giveaways, and special offers