Did he have communist or socialist leanings? This film which I thoroughly enjoyed on many different levels, seemed to have allot of criticisms about Japanese society and in particular the vast inequity between the upper and lower classes and the neglect of the sick and the exploitation of women.
i don't recall if Kurosawa was ever explicitly or officially dedicated to socialism, but he was a well known sympathizer of a great many marxist beliefs and causes, particularly in his early years. They talk about it, I believe, on the Seven Samurai commentary a bit.
shareKurosawa was a humanist. lower Depths and Do Des Ka Den are both movies about extreme poverty, but when Kurosawa suggested solutions they always centered on human kindness and responsibility, as in Ikiru, rather than on social engineering.
One of his most sympathtic chacharacters was the capitalist businessman in High and Low, so he was not didactic about class.
One of his most sympathtic chacharacters was the capitalist businessman in High and Low, so he was not didactic about class.
No, he wasn't. He was just an ordinary average guy, who's one regret was that he didn't have the courage to say more against the military regime before the second world war (he was too harsh on himself, as he was only a kid at the time).
He liked Japan after the US defeated and reshaped the nation's political and social structure.
He had the compassion towards humanity that most major religions preach but often fall short of. Saying we should end poverty and ignorance shouldn't make people suspect you're a communist. Alas, it often does in my country.
There's always free cheddar in the mousetrap
[deleted]
According to Donald Richie's book The Films of Akira Kurosawa, Akira did flirt with Communism in the film studio unions of the late 1940's. I believe things got so intense that American tanks were actually parked outside of one of the studios (I forgot which one) while Kurosawa was making No Regrets for Our Youth (I think that was the one). Apparently, there was a falling out between Kurosawa and the union members, probably because he was too much of an individualist to toe the party line.
shareI don't think Kurosawa was a communist (not that there would be anything wrong with it if he was), though he definitely seemed to flirt with communism here and there. Particularly in his movie "No Regrets For Our Youth", which contained many communistic themes and, though it never uttered the word, praised the communist-led resistance to the rise of Japanese fascism and militarism.
Japan used to have a large and vibrant communist movement, particularly in the early postwar period, and Kurosawa may have been influenced by it to some extent. The period from the end of WWII until Stalin's death in 1953 (or perhaps until Khrushchev's condemnation of Stalin in 1956) was also when the world communist movement was at the height of its power, unity and prestige, with many many many people around the world looking favorably upon communism and the Soviet Union for industrializing the USSR, uplifting the lives of millions of people, establishing social and economic justice, and playing the leading role in the anti-fascist war and the worldwide anti-colonial struggle. Many intellectuals sympathized with communism and took some inspiration from it even if they weren't communists themselves. Kurosawa may have been one of them.
I think some people here just think of communism as a "bad word" and reject out of hand the notion that Kurosawa may have had anything to do with communism just because they don't like it and are prejudiced against it.