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Post by Mr. Atari on Feb 19, 2004 2:23:06 GMT -5
Film is primarily a director's medium- regardless of what the celebrity machine tries to cram down our gullets. And as far as I'm concerned, no one directed better than Kurosawa.
I've seen many of his films, and have yet to experience anything less than amazement.
I'm not going to try ranking them, as each is superior in its own way. But if I had to spend a day watching Ikiru, The Hidden Fortress, The Seven Samurai, and Ran in succession, I wouldn't complain. And I might not get up. Even for the bathroom.
Any other fans out there?
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Post by mightyjack on Feb 19, 2004 2:32:44 GMT -5
I adore Kurosawa and have many of his films on VHS (have yet to update them on DVD)
Those you listed are brilliant, but even his lesser knowns films... "Stray Dog", "Red Beard" or "High and Low" are equally as important and a joy to watch.
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Post by Mr. Atari on Feb 19, 2004 2:34:18 GMT -5
I've seen "High and Low" and loved it. I have yet to see the others, though.
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Post by Ator on Feb 19, 2004 2:40:25 GMT -5
I've been hearing alot about Kurosawa on this board, so i'm gonna have to check it out sometime.
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Post by mightyjack on Feb 19, 2004 2:51:29 GMT -5
Critics were pretty hard on "Red Beard", but I loved it. And a girl at work who is taking a film class at college was telling me that they showed it and it instantly became one of her favorites.
The dark "Yojimbo" and more comedic "Sanjuro" are two others I really like a lot. Sanjuro's the sequel to Yojimbo (which was remade as an Eastwood western I beleive).
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Post by Mr. Atari on Feb 19, 2004 2:59:45 GMT -5
I liked Sanjuro a bit more than Yojimbo. Although they really work well as 2 parts of the same movie.
A few of Kurosawa's movies were remade in America:
Seven Samurai= The Magnificent Seven Yojimbo= A Fist Full of Dollars Rashomon= American Pie
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Post by mightyjack on Feb 19, 2004 3:09:50 GMT -5
AMERICAN PIE!? Funny, I don't remember Toshiro Mifune doing something rude to a dessert in Rashomon?
There was an American version of Rashomon, what was it called... "Outrage"? I can't remember but it starred Paul Newman.
Yojimbo gets the better reviews (And the scene with the Dog with the guys hand was also used by David Lynch in a movie, it's always fun to spot these homages) but I always liked "Sanjuro" better too.
And I loved Mifune, it's too bad he and Kurosawa had a falling out.
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Post by Mr. Atari on Feb 19, 2004 3:35:57 GMT -5
That was a joke. What, you don't remember those peasants in the shelter making that bet that they'd lose their virginity by prom night?
Actually, Rashomon is the source of one of the funniest things ever on the Simpsons (and that's saying something).
Marge: Homer, you don't hate everything Japanese. You liked Rashomon. Homer: That's not how I remember it.
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Post by mightyjack on Feb 19, 2004 3:45:39 GMT -5
Oh man, that is fuuuny! Great line.
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Post by BobJohnson on Feb 19, 2004 15:47:07 GMT -5
I am a huge Kurosawa fan. My favorite is the Hidden Fortress because it reminds me of Star Wars (Since Lucas was inspired by it)
The funny thing about Kurosawa was that he wasn't that popular in Japan but all over the world he was famous.
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Post by Phantom Engineer on Feb 19, 2004 18:08:02 GMT -5
Yeah well if Kurosawa was so great how come he never worked with Gamera?
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Post by Mr. Atari on Feb 19, 2004 21:53:06 GMT -5
In the movies, Gamera may be the friend to all children, but in real life, he's a frickin' prima donna.
As the story goes, they were going to work together on Gamera vs. The Giant Samurai. But Turtleboy wouldn't wear the samurai sword right and there wasn't enough calamari in his trailer. So he started breathing fire on everyone and threw a huge spinning tantrum. Frankly, I don't blame Kurosawa for backing out of the whole deal.
Still, Gamera vs. The Giant Samurai sounds like a great flick.
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Post by nightfalcawk on Feb 19, 2004 21:54:57 GMT -5
Gamera vs. the North Wind sounds better.
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Post by Phantom Engineer on Feb 20, 2004 0:34:15 GMT -5
Hey nightfalcawk, do you think you could make your snow picture just a little bigger?
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Post by Afgncaap5 on Feb 20, 2004 1:01:50 GMT -5
I don't follow Kurosawa, but I think I like his work.
Is Rashomon the one with the murder mystery where lots of people give their own version on the same situation, and by the end it's still impossible to figure out what really happened?
Great film, if I'm thinking of the right one.
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