RanKurosawa generally is recognized as the best of the modern Japanese filmmakers. He was the first Japanese director to gain international recognition, partly because his storytelling technique is not culture-bound. Rashomon (1950), a story of rape and terror that is told from several different viewpoints, received first prize at the Venice Film Festival in 1951; the film's title has become synonymous with the concept of subjective truth expressed in widely varying versions of the same story. The Seven Samurai (1954), a humanistic tale of samurai risking their lives to defend a poor village, is another Kurosawa classic. Kurosawa has always been attracted to Western literature, and two of his most notable films are based on Shakespeare's plays: Throne of Blood (1957), a retelling of Macbeth, and Ran (1985), a masterly reinterpretation of King Lear. |
Common terms and phrases
AKIRA KUROSAWA Amitabha armor and helmet arrows AZUSA CASTLE Azusa Field banners and bannerets Black smoke blood bows Buddha CASTLE DONJON TOP CASTLE FRONT GATE CASTLE GATE comes corpses DAY Hidetora DAY Jiro DAY Tango DONJON TOP FLOOR enemy EXTERIOR REMAINS EXTERIOR SECOND CASTLE EXTERIOR SKY EXTERIOR THIRD CASTLE eyes face Fujimaki and Ayabe gallop gazing grass hand harakiri Hatakeyama head Hidetora looks horse House of Ichimonji Ichimonji standard Ikoma and Ogura INTERIOR FIRST CASTLE Jiro looks Jiro's army Kagemusha killed Kurogane Lady Kaede Lady Sué Lord Jiro Lord Saburo Lord Taro lords Fujimaki Master Saburo messenger old woman REMAINS OF AZUSA ridge Saburo and Tango Saburo's troops saké Samurai seated shouts silent soldiers spears staggers stairs stands stares stone wall suddenly SUNSET sword Tango and Kyoami TANGO Great Lord TANGO Kyoami Taro Takatora Taro's retainers Tsurumaru turns UNDERGROUND STOREROOM voice Wait watching