1)Dreams 10/10
2)Ran 10/10
3)The Seven Samurai 10/10
4)Ikiru 10/10
5)Red Beard 9/10
6)Rashomon 9/10
7)The Bad Sleep Well 9/10
8)Throne of Blood 9/10
9)Yojimbo 8/10
10)The Hidden Fortress 8/10
11)Sanjuro 8/10
12)Kagemusha 8/10
I haven't seen as many films from one single director as I have with Kurosawa. He's easily my all time favorite.
Last film seen: The Virgin Spring 9/10
This is in order of my favourite Kurosawa films:
1) Yojimbo
2) Red Beard
3) High and Low
4) The Bad Sleep Well
5) Seven Samurai
6) Sanjuro
7) Stray Dog
8) Throne of Blood, Ran, Kagemusha, Rashomon, The Hidden Fortress
I'm about to watch Donzoko, who knows how that'll turn out.
I'm about to watch Donzoko, who knows how that'll turn out.
How did you find it?
Recently I've seen a lot of Kurosawa, I Live in Fear, The Quiet Duel, No Regrets for Our Youth and One Wonderful Sunday. All of which were worthwhile, though some more than others.
Last film seen: One Wonderful Sunday 6/10
1. Ikiru
2. Rashomon
3. Red Beard
4. Dreams
5. Ran
6. The Hidden Fortress
7. Throne of Blood
8. Yojimbo
9. The Seven Samurai
10. Dersu Uzala
11. Kagemusha
12. Sanjuro
13. The Lower Depths
14. Rhapsody in August
15. Madadayo
1. Ikiru 10/10
2. Rashomon 10/10
3. Red Beard 10/10
4. Sanjuro 9/10
5. Yojimbo 8/10
6. The Hidden Fortress 8/10
7. Throne of Blood 8/10
8. Seven Samurai 8/10
9. The Bad Sleep Well 7/10
10.High and Low 7/10
11.Stray Dog 7/10
12.Sanshiro Sugata 6/10
13.Kagemusha 5/10
14.Sanshiro Sugata II 5/10
Great director.
This story is already over
Amazing Films:
High and Low
Throne Of Blood
Stray Dog
Seven Samurai
Red Beard
Ikiru
Really Good:
Rashomon
Hidden Fortress
The Bad Sleep Well
Yojimbo
Sanjuro
Kagemusha
Enjoyable, But Forgetable:
Sanshiro Sugata
Sanshiro Sugata II
****
1. Shichinin no samurai (1954)
2. Ran (1985)
3. Kumonosu jô (1957)
4. Dreams (1990)
5. Yojimbo (1961)
6. Kagemusha (1980)
7. Kakushi-toride no san-akunin (1958)
***1/2
8. Dersua Uzala (1975)
***
9. Rashômon (1950)
10. Tengoku to jigoku (1963)
**1/2
11. Ikiru (1952)
12. Akahige (1965)
13. Hachi-gatsu no kyôshikyoku (1991)
I am a leaf on the wind, watch how I soar.
Here are my ratings of all his films from the sublime to the ridiculous, and all points in between. These are just my opinions, and open to reappraisal if a persuasive case can be made for a certain film.
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MASTERPIECES
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Seven Samurai (1954) A classic and massively influential action/drama, which achieves a richness of characterization and a universality of theme worthy of Shakespeare.
[SCORE: (105%) PLATINUM]
Rashomon (1950) One of Kurosawa's most magical and influential films, perhaps the most innovative and intellectually stimulating also, both nihilistic and at the same time cautiously hopeful.
[SCORE: (105%) PLATINUM]
Ikiru (1952) The most emotionally moving work by Kurosawa, which manages to take the extremely dark subject of Death and somehow turn it into something extremely beautiful while avoiding sentimentality.
[SCORE: (105%) PLATINUM]
Throne of Blood (1957) A perfect film in terms of mood, pacing, and dramatic impact; based on Macbeth, it’s as dark as his later Shakespeare adaption Ran, but with a greater economy of means and robustness of style.
[SCORE: (105%) PLATINUM]
Ran (1985) This samurai epic based on King Lear shows Kurosawa’s fullest mastery of his post-Mifune color film style, though I do find the tightly constructed Macbeth adaption Throne of Blood to be slightly more effective.
[SCORE: (105%) PLATINUM]
Yojimbo (1961) One of Kurosawa’s most famous and influential films, inspiring countless others but never equaled, except perhaps for Kurosawa's own sequel Sanjuro. Mifune’s anti-heroics and the film’s cynical tone were both groundbreaking.
[SCORE: (102.5%) GOLD]
High and Low (1963) The best of Kurosawa’s contemporary crime-related films, and a telling examination of class conflict and what it means it means to be a truly honorable person.
[SCORE: (102.5%) GOLD]
Kagemush (1980) This late period Kurosawa samurai epic is one of his most aesthetically "Japanese" films, but also one of the most rewarding despite its deliberate pace. It’s nearly as bleak as Ran, but much more subtle in its despair.
[SCORE: (102.5%) GOLD]
Dersu Uzala (1975) The first of three period epics from Kurosawa's color period, it's one of his warmest and most intimate films, despite the awesome and epic landscapes in which the film is set.
[SCORE: (100%) SILVER]
Sanjuro (1962) The brilliantly comedic sequel to Yojimbo has some surprising depths under its light-hearted surface. The film is full of witty dialogue, cliff hanger escapes, and outstanding action scenes.
[SCORE: (100%) SILVER]
Hidden Fortress (1959) Another deceptively light-hearted entertainment with hidden thematic depths touching on loyalty, honor, class, and the transitory nature of life, along with some terrific action scenes.
[SCORE: (100%) SILVER]
Stray Dog (1949) One of Kurosawa's finest non-period films, and a vivid snapshot of what Japan was like just after the war under American Occupation. It's also a very good cop thriller.
[SCORE: (100%) SILVER]
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MINOR CLASSICS (“A” AVERAGE)
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Drunken Angel (1948) Nearly as good as the companion piece Stray Dog, but not quite. Both Toshiro Mifune and Takashi Shimura are in top form in this film, which blends cynicism and hope quite nicely indeed.
[SCORE: (97.5%) A+]
The Lower Depths (1957) This film is unusual in that the entire film takes place almost entirely inside two claustrophobic and confined sets. If you can get past that limitation and the obviously theatrical origin of the story, it's one of Kurosawa's best films dealing with poverty and the underclass.
[SCORE: (95%) A]
No Regrets for Our Youth (1946) This is easily Kurosawa's best film before teaming up with Mifune, but somehow it doesn't really feel like a "true" Kurosawa film, perhaps because he didn't write the script himself. The Mizoguchi-esque female hero is unique in Kurosawa's films, and he never returned to female characters with such depth again (unfortunately).
[SCORE: (92.5%) A-]
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NEAR MISSES (“B” AVERAGE)
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The Bad Sleep Well (1960) This film has one of the best opening scenes in all of Kurosawa's work (the lengthy "wedding scene" prologue), and remains engrossing throughout. However, the sluggish and protracted ending is a bit of a let down. It doesn't ruin the film, but it does weaken it considerably.
[SCORE: (87.5%) B+]
Red Beard (1965) I have some issues with this film. I find it excessively lengthy and discursive (the 30 minute double flashback in particular), and a bit too predictable, plus coming dangerously close to sentimental kitsch at times. But don't let that put you off. You've got Kurosawa and Mifune working together, and the results are still quite impressive.
[SCORE: (85%) B]
Scandal (1950) One of Kurosawa's more offbeat films and under-rated films, it's a courtroom drama, featuring one of Takashi Shimura's best parts, a corrupt lawyer who redeems himself, a sort of Japanese version of The Verdict. Mifune plays a young painter who gets caught up in the scandal of the title.
[SCORE: (85%) B]
I Live in Fear (1955) I'm not entirely sure I bought into Mifune in the "old man" make up (why on earth didn't Kurosawa cast Shimura in this part?), but the subject matter and presentation of the issue of nuclear war is interesting, and the film has one of best endings in all of Kurosawa's work.
[SCORE: (82.5%) B-]
Sanshiro Sugata I (1943) This is a very pleasant time-filler, and a pretty impressive debut film for Kurosawa, but it's nothing spectacular or earth shaking, either.
[SCORE: (82.5%) B-]
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INTERSTING BUT DEEPLY FLAWED (“C” OR "D" AVERAGE)
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One Wonderful Sunday (1947) The mawkish "audience participation" ending is cringe-worthy, but this is one of Kurosawa's most offbeat and charming films before that point. It's also only one of two films he didn't write the script for, the other being No Regrets for Our Youth. Not coincidentally, those are also the only two films that feature a strong, three-dimensional female character.
[(SCORE: (77.5%) C+]
Dreams (1990) I loved this film a lot more when I was younger, but I've come to regard it less and less in later years. In short, I find the film too polemical and simplistic, in spite of the astounding visual beauty of the film. The first half of the films was very good, but second half got bogged down in an environmental manifesto.
[SCORE: (77.5%) C+]
Madadayo (1993) This is a very sweet and watchable film, but the characterizations and motivations of both the professor and his fanatically adoring students are a bit too thinly drawn to be entirely convincing.
[SCORE: (75%) C]
Dodes'ka-den (1970) A frustratingly episodic movie that had a few great sequences but never really took off for me. In any case, the theme of poverty was handled in a much more interesting manner in both The Lower Depths and Redbeard.
[SCORE: (75%) C]
Men Who Tread on Tiger's Tails (1945) This is one film I wished that Kurosawa had remade later in life, as the plot is actually quite interesting. It was his first samurai film, but it was made just as World War II was ending, hence the low budget and short running time. It was hampered also by censorship from both the Japanese military government and later the US Occupation authorities. The "comic relief" character in the film was a rather odd touch, as well, and much of the humor was seemingly lost in translation.
[SCORE: (72.5%)C-]
Rhapsody in August (1991) A great performance by the elderly leading lady and an excellent final scene disguise neither the film’s faults nor its lack of honesty in discussing the atomic bombing of Nagasaki. Anyway, the performances by the child actors were so poor that it hardly mattered what point was intended.
[SCORE: (67.5%) D+]
The Quiet Duel (1949) This film is thematically similar to Drunken Angel (VD taking the place of TB), but nowhere near as good or dramatically satisfying.
[SCORE: (65%) D]
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"WHAT WAS KUROSAWA THINKING WHEN HE MADE THESE?"(“F” AVERAGE)
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The Idiot (1951) This bizarre, overheated melodrama (based on the Dostoevsky novel) was severely cut by the studio and nearly half of the film is now presumed lost, perhaps diminishing whatever impact it might have had. However, based on the footage that does exist, the studio may have done him a favor.
[SCORE: (50%) F]
The Most Beautiful (1944) This is a boring World War II propaganda film with little to recommend it.
[SCORE: (40%) F]
Sanshiro Sugata II (1944) The sequel to the mildly entertaining Sanshiro Sugata is nothing more than a boring, incoherent and embarrassingly sloppy World War II propaganda film, and is easily Kurosawa’s worst film.
[SCORE: (30%) F]
Here's my list so far - with an attempt to order and rate them.
Throne of Blood 10*
Seven Samurai 10*
Ran 9.5*
Kagemusha 9.5*
Rashomon 9*
Sanjuro 9*
Red Beard 9*
Ikiru 8*
High and Low 8*
The Bad Sleep Well 8*
The Hidden Fortress 8*
Yojimbo 8*
Stray Dog 7.5*
Drunken Angel 7.5*
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Favourite Movies
http://www.imdb.com/list/rlkIn2JlgFw/