Akira Kurosawa Series -Seven Samurai (1954)

“In life, one finds friends in the strangest of places.” This is a quote spoken by a samurai warrior in 16th-century Japan, but it rings true centuries later all over the word. An array of variables and possibilities in everyday life produce endless permutations for the different relationships you build with people. Your best friends […]

Akira Kurosawa Series – Ikiru (1952)

“What would you do if you only had six months to live?” This is a direct quote from Akira Kurosawa’s 1952 drama, Ikiru, but it also serves as the essence of the story question. Takashi Shimura acts in the lead role of Kanji Watanabe, a bureaucrat who has spent the past 30 years of his […]

Akira Kurosawa Series – Scandal (1951)

In the opening of Akira Kurosawa’s 1950 film Scandal, the artist Ichirô Aoye (Toshirô Mifune) has his canvas set up with a gorgeous view of the looming mountainside. A small crowd of passersby stop by to offer unsolicited critiques of Aoye’s artistic process. Those familiar with Kurosawa’s background as a painter prior to his filmmaking […]

Akira Kurosawa Series – Rashomon (1950)

“In the end, you cannot understand the things men do.” This quote from the character known as “The Commoner” (Kichijirô Ueda) in Akira Kurosawa’s 1950 film Rashomon can be interpreted as the thesis for the entire story. A masterful critique on the very essence of truth and its relationship with humanity, Kurosawa’s adaptation of Ryûnosuke […]

Akira Kurosawa Series – Stray Dog (1949)

By the end of Akira Kurosawa’s 1949 detective drama, Stray Dog, there is not a character that escapes the fray without rolling around in the mud, figuratively and literally. Every decision has consequences, and every action has a reaction. Some, more than others. For the young character of Detective Murikami (Toshirô Mifune), the mistake of […]