To mark the centenary of his birth, and a decade since the Melbourne Cinémathèque previously profiled the work of Akira Kurosawa (1910–1998) we are pleased to revisit, in greater depth, the work of Japan’s most famous director.

Kurosawa’s renowned humanism –a fascination with social problems & human nature –was made possible only through a strict, geometric – but always highly inventive – formalism. A perfect example of this is the under-appreciated High & Low: sharply bifurcated into radically different acts, punctuated by an explosive chase sequence, the very structure of the film reveals Kurosawa’s vision of Japanese class inequality.

A legendary perfectionist, Kurosawa was already insisting on scrupulous realism in the earliest film in the season, 1944’s The Most Beautiful, having his actresses live, in costume, in the factory dorms of the shoot in order to understand their roles. The post-war personal statements No Regrets for Our Youth & the rarely seen Scandal were followed by the international breakthrough of Rashomon – a radical film that has influenced countless others. The Hidden Fortress, the other jidai-geki (period drama) in this season –the genre with which Kurosawa is still most commonly associated – provided the key inspiration for George Lucas’ Star Wars.

7:00 - SCANDAL
Akira Kurosawa (1950) 104 mins

Sceptical & dismissive of the media after a negative personal experience with the popular press early in his career, this key early Kurosawa work is an expository critique of the rise of the Western-style tabloid press in post-war Japan. Ichiro Aoye (Toshiro Mifune), a celebrated painter, unexpectedly meets Miyako Saijo (Shirley Yamaguchi), a famous young singer, & engages her in a cordial conversation that attracts the unwanted attention of some paparazzi. Takashi Shimura’s deft performance is an important precursor to his lead role in Ikiru

35mm print courtesy of The Japan Foundation.

Trailer @ Youtube

8:55 - THE HIDDEN FORTRESS
Akira Kurosawa (1958) 139 mins PG

Fantastic, brutal & comic Kurosawa epic adventure starring Toshiro Mifune. This seminal film was the first Japanese film to fully utilise widescreen & is renowned for its influence on George Lucas’ Star Wars. Mifune plays a general, who with the help of his two comic sidekicks (think C3P0 & R2D2), smuggles a cache of gold & a princess (Misa Uehara) through enemy territory. An extraordinary palimpsest of Western & Eastern influences, Kurosawa’s film stands as “one of the greatest action-adventure films ever made” & amongst “the finest achievements of its creator” (Armond White).

CTEQ Annotation:
'The Hidden Fortress' by Jaime N. Christley

Trailer @ Nippon Cinema

7:00 - RASHOMON
Akira Kurosawa (1950) 88 minutes M

Kurosawa’s first & arguably greatest international success. Unveiled at the 1951 Venice Film Festival, it re-introduced Japanese language cinema to the world, & went on to win the Best Foreign Film Oscar. Set in 12th-century Japan, the film is split into four subjective perspectives as a suspect, the surviving victim & two witnesses recount a horrible crime. The brilliance of its conception, the superlative acting (with Toshiro Mifune as the vermin-ridden bandit), & Kurosawa’s flawless, detailed composition produced a film of great dramatic intensity.

Restored by The Academy Film Archive, The National Film Center of the National Museum of Modern Art, Tokyo and Kadokawa Pictures, Inc. Funding provided by Kadokawa Culture Promotion Foundation and The Film Foundation.

Trailer @ Youtube

8:40 - NO REGRETS FOR OUR YOUTH
Akira Kurosawa (1946) 110 mins

This is Kurosawa’s first post-WWII film. He cast Setsuko Hara (from Ozu’s later “Noriko trilogy”) as young Yukie, a strong female protagonist whose strength & determination unfold through her role as the wife in a marriage to both her husband (played by Susumu Fujita who starred in Kurosawa’s debut feature, Sugata Sanshiro) & the socialist cause. This is a tale of the silence of Old Japan & the unrest of a generation who survived the horrors of war to fight for the New Japan.

Print courtesy of The Japan Foundation.

7:00 - HIGH & LOW
Akira Kurosawa (1963) 142 mins PG

Brilliant investigation of Japanese class tensions, featuring Toshiro Mifune as an honest, wealthy industrialist held to ransom over the kidnapping of his chauffeur’s child. A stylish & truly elemental adaptation of Ed McBain’s American pulp thriller, King’s Ransom, Kurosawa’s wildly underrated film is actually one of his greatest & most demanding works, creating a charged, tense atmosphere through its unusually structured use of widescreen cinematography, dynamic pacing & expressive locations. With Tatsuya Nakadai, Kyoko Kagawa & Takashi Shimura.

CTEQ Annotation:
'High and Low' by Patrick Garson

Trailer @ Youtube

9:35 - THE MOST BEAUTIFUL
Akira Kurosawa (1944) 85 mins

Kurosawa’s second film is a patriotic look at the work of a group of young women in a factory manufacturing lenses, “weapons of light”, for the war effort. Rarely seen, the film offers an interesting insight into Kurosawa’s artistic development as he finds ways to integrate the government’s propaganda themes of increased productivity & personal sacrifice with more personal insights into the innocence & youthful camaraderie of the workers. Takashi Shimura appears as the factory foreman.

Print courtesy of The Japan Foundation.