I recently came across a bundle of cheap Kurosawa DVDs. Until then I only owned Dreams and Jojimbo.
Yesterday I watched the Throne of Blood, which I really enjoyed for its special kontrastive black and white look and the spooky atmosphere.
The stongest impression on me had Dreams, especially when I had the fortune of watching it in a cinema. Most of the episodes are really strong and stay in your mind for days.
What are your Kurosawa experiences?
I’ve only seen one Kurosawa :’( which was Kagemusha and I really enjoyed it, so I’m always on the lookout for some more.
Throne of Blood is my favourite Kurosawa, followed closely by Rashomon.
What is Kagemusha like? It looks somewhat similar to Ran, which I was quite disappointed with.
If you like Throne of Blood, I see no reason not too like Kagemusha.
What’s wrong with Ran?
I’ve only seen Yojimbo. Wow Sergio really ripped off this guy. FFD is a scene by scene remake!
My brother has the entire Criterion collection DVDs of Mifune/Kurusawa I really have to get around to borrowing them from him and watching all of them.
What’s so great about it, Stanton? Apart from this one magnificent mute sequence that is?
I saw it once in cinema and never felt the urge to go back to it. (I rewatched that one scene a few times on TV and You Tube)
My favorite Kurosawa’s include:
YOJIMBO
STRAY DOG
SANJURO
SEVEN SAMURAI
THE BAD SLEEP WELL
HIGH AND LOW
THE HIDDEN FORTRESS
THRONE OF BLOOD
I can’t think of any Kurosawa films that I have seen that I didn’t enjoy on some level.
But, the above films are true standouts among my cinema experiences.
[quote=“scherpschutter, post:6, topic:2098”]What’s so great about it, Stanton? Apart from this one magnificent mute sequence that is?
I saw it once in cinema and never felt the urge to go back to it. (I rewatched that one scene a few times on TV and You Tube)[/quote]
Good question. It was long ago the last time I saw it.
The acting wasn’t that good, but that’s a general problem for me with films from Asia. There were also some pretentious dialogues. But I remember also a lot of impressive scenes, at least the action looked great.
[quote=“The Gringo, post:3, topic:2098”]Throne of Blood is my favourite Kurosawa, followed closely by Rashomon.
What is Kagemusha like? It looks somewhat similar to Ran, which I was quite disappointed with.[/quote]
Kagemusha is very slow. The camera is static for most of the time, so it all depends on the acting and direction, which are both very good. The final battle is well done, too. It also looks magnificent.
Just finished watching The Hidden Fortress and I loved it. 9/10. Spectacular movie. Very light hearted and humorous as I was expecting a more serious toned film. Nice seeing the George Lucas interview as well.
I think I’m gonna watch Rashomon next.
The John Ford of Asia? Or perhaps the John Ford of the samurai film? I throw that out for debate.
I’ve seen only the most widely distributed Kurosawas - Seven Samurai, Yojimbo, Sanjuro (does this contain the first arterial blood spray in cinema?), Throne of Blood, Rashomon, The Hidden Fortress, Stray Dog - all damn near impeccable.
Kagemusha and Ran are much harder going - impressive in many respects, but maybe too self-conscious and not very entertaining (and yes, it’s possible to entertain and enlighten at the same time - Kurosawa himself did that many times).
I think I’ve seen 17 Kurosawa films, so apart from Rashomon I’ve seen all his most known/best films. Dersu Uzala is my favorite, I think.
I tried to watch a couple of Kurosawa’s when i wasa teenager and found them boring.
I really should check them out again now that i am older and more mature.
Well, older anyway… 
The only Kurosawa I’ve seen (not Yojimbo even) is The Hidden Fortress - which I thoroughly enjoyed. The mate I went to the flics with kept bangin’ on about Star Wars as well - but I thought it was a dubious link, all in all. Great fun.