Akira Kurosawa (Japanese: é»'澤明 Kurosawa Akira; March 23, 1910 â€"
September 6, 1998) was a Japanese film director and screenwriter, who
directed 30 films in a career spanning 57 years. He is regarded as one
of the most important and influential filmmakers in the history of
cinema.Kurosawa entered the Japanese film industry in 1936, following
a brief stint as a painter. After years of working on numerous films
as an assistant director and scriptwriter, he made his debut as a
director during World War II with the popular action film Sanshiro
Sugata (a.k.a. Judo Saga). After the war, the critically acclaimed
Drunken Angel (1948), in which Kurosawa cast then-unknown actor
Toshiro Mifune in a starring role, cemented the director's reputation
as one of the most important young filmmakers in Japan. The two men
would go on to collaborate on another 15 films.Rashomon, which
premiered in Tokyo, became the surprise winner of the Golden Lion at
the 1951 Venice Film Festival. The commercial and critical success of
that film opened up Western film markets for the first time to the
products of the Japanese film industry, which in turn led to
international recognition for other Japanese filmmakers. Kurosawa
directed approximately one film per year throughout the 1950s and
early 1960s, including a number of highly regarded (and often adapted)
films, such as Ikiru (1952), Seven Samurai (1954) and Yojimbo (1961).
After the 1960s he became much less prolific; even so, his later
workâ€"including his final two epics, Kagemusha (1980) and Ran
(1985)â€"continued to win awards, though more often abroad than in
Japan.
September 6, 1998) was a Japanese film director and screenwriter, who
directed 30 films in a career spanning 57 years. He is regarded as one
of the most important and influential filmmakers in the history of
cinema.Kurosawa entered the Japanese film industry in 1936, following
a brief stint as a painter. After years of working on numerous films
as an assistant director and scriptwriter, he made his debut as a
director during World War II with the popular action film Sanshiro
Sugata (a.k.a. Judo Saga). After the war, the critically acclaimed
Drunken Angel (1948), in which Kurosawa cast then-unknown actor
Toshiro Mifune in a starring role, cemented the director's reputation
as one of the most important young filmmakers in Japan. The two men
would go on to collaborate on another 15 films.Rashomon, which
premiered in Tokyo, became the surprise winner of the Golden Lion at
the 1951 Venice Film Festival. The commercial and critical success of
that film opened up Western film markets for the first time to the
products of the Japanese film industry, which in turn led to
international recognition for other Japanese filmmakers. Kurosawa
directed approximately one film per year throughout the 1950s and
early 1960s, including a number of highly regarded (and often adapted)
films, such as Ikiru (1952), Seven Samurai (1954) and Yojimbo (1961).
After the 1960s he became much less prolific; even so, his later
workâ€"including his final two epics, Kagemusha (1980) and Ran
(1985)â€"continued to win awards, though more often abroad than in
Japan.
Share this
SUBSCRIBE OUR NEWSLETTER
SUBSCRIBE OUR NEWSLETTER
Join us for free and get valuable content delivered right through your inbox.