Drunken Angel is a 1948 Kurosawa movie starring Takashi Shimura as an alcoholic doctor in postwar Japan who treats a young, small-time hood named Matsunaga (ToshirÅ Mifune), after a gunfight with a rival syndicate. The doctor diagnoses the young gangster with tuberculosis, and convinces him to begin treatment for it. The two enjoy an uneasy friendship until the gangster’s former boss is released from prison and seeks to take his gang over once again. The sick young man then stops following the doctor’s advice, slips back into old habits and threatens to kill him, while his life is further endangered by his gangster lifestyle. Read more…
Stray Dog is a 1949 film noir directed by Akira Kurosawa. Rookie homicide detective Murakami (ToshirÅ Mifune) frantically seeks his stolen Colt pistol which, to his shame, has been pickpocketed on a bus. A manhunt begins when the stolen gun is used in a murder. The older and wiser detective, Sato (Takashi Shimura), takes Murakami under his wing. Read more…
Ikiru is a 1952 Japanese film co-written and directed by Akira Kurosawa. The film examines the struggles of a Tokyo bureaucrat and his final quest for meaning. The film stars Takashi Shimura as Kanji Watanabe.
Watanabe is a middle-aged man who has worked in the same monotonous bureaucratic position for thirty years. Furthermore, his relationship with his son has become strained, as his son and daughter-in-law seem to care mainly about his pension and their future inheritance. Read more…
Rashomon is a 1950 Japanese film directed by Akira Kurosawa, working in close collaboration with cinematographer Kazuo Miyagawa. Rashomon introduced Kurosawa and Japanese cinema to Western audiences, and is considered one of his masterpieces winning the Golden Lion at the Venice Film Festival and an Honorary Award at the 24th Academy Awards. Read more…
Seven Samurai is a 1954 Japanese film co-written, edited and directed by Akira Kurosawa. The film takes place in Warring States Period Japan (around 1587/1588). Frequently described as one of the greatest and most influential films ever made, Seven Samurai is the subject of both popular and critical acclaim. It is one of a select few Japanese films to become widely known in the West over an extended period. Read more…
